Karlavaris Bogomil – Pjaceta

About the author:

He was born in 1924 in Perlez, Vojvodina. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, he continued his academic development by earning a doctorate in art pedagogy in Greifswald. His impressive pedagogical career spanned from 1961 to 1995, during which he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, and finally at the Faculty of Education in Rijeka.

He became a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia (ULUS) in 1955 and of the Croatian Society of Fine Artists Rijeka (HDLUR) in 1981. He began his solo exhibiting activity in 1955 in Novi Sad, and throughout his long career, he realized an impressive 150 solo and over 200 group exhibitions worldwide. His oeuvre is documented through two retrospective exhibitions and two monographs.

As a prolific theorist, he published 50 books on the theory and methodology of visual culture and several hundred texts on visual arts. For his artistic and pedagogical work, he received numerous recognitions and awards.

Karlavaris’s painting oeuvre is characterized by a pronounced abstract orientation, with rare depictions of the human figure. His latest works carry a deep philosophical message, warning about the paradox of civilizational progress that increasingly becomes a threat to humans as their own creators. Through his art, he sublimates long-standing reflections on the fate of humanity in the contemporary world. Even today, in advanced age, he lives and works in Kastav, where he continues his artistic and intellectual practice.