Edita Schubert: Self-Portrait Behind a Perforated Canvas

Edita Schubert dedicated her entire artistic output to a continuous exploration of the challenge of representing the self and the human body. Her work was influenced by her role as a draughtsperson at the Anatomy Institute of the University of Zagreb’s Medical School, leading her to break down the barriers between different mediums and disciplines. Through her insightful investigations into the anatomy of both art and the self, she left a remarkable legacy.

The exhibition is titled after her 1977 piece “Self-Portrait Behind a Perforated Canvas” and it revolves around a collection of her sizeable perforated canvases from 1977-78. These artworks are brought to life through a photographic performance, where she interacted with her creations by inserting various body parts through the perforations in the canvas, capturing these moments on camera.

While Schubert received wide recognition in her home country of Croatia over her three decades of artistic production, including her representation of Yugoslavia at the Venice Biennale in 1982 and a comprehensive retrospective at the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery in Zagreb in 2015, “Self-Portrait Behind a Perforated Canvas” introduces her work to the German audience for the first time. This exhibition offers an opportunity to engage with her unique perspective on the relationship between art, anatomy, and the self.