At the core of Maljković’s (Rijeka, 1973) practice is a regimented exploration of formalist concerns. Whilst narrative is the driving element at the origin of a project, the artist’s varied means of visual implementation consistently and profoundly modifies and compromises its supremacy, whether that is through photography, video, sculpture, installation, collage or painting. The process of construction within a set of formal directives encrypts his narratives and postulates what he describes as a new semantic logic. Virtually all of Maljković’s work is engaged with historical and technological markers that are characterized by situations both local and universal. In each, the erosion and corruption of memory are the subjects that are left to the viewer.
Maljković is known for a multifaceted practice that, through a collagist approach referencing the works of other artists and his own earlier works and exhibitions, considers individual and collective attitudes toward the complexity of time, whilst also playing with the nature of the gaze. Through painting, he continues to address the themes he has also examined through photography, film, installation, sculpture, and collage.
David Maljković was born in Rijeka, Croatia. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Zagreb and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, and is currently based in Zagreb. Among Maljković’s selected solo exhibitions are: The Renaissance Society, Chicago; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Kunstmuseum Sankt Gallen; BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead; GAMeC, Bergamo; CAC Vilnius; Sculpture Center, New York; Kunsthalle Basel; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Secession, Vienna; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Whitechapel, London; CAPC Musee d’art Contemporain, Bordeaux; and MOMA PS1. His work has been exhibited in museums such as Kunsthaus Bregenz; MAXXI Rome; MUSAC Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y Léon, Spain; The Power Plant, Toronto; Wiels Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels; and Centre Pompidou, Paris. He has participated in numerous large-scale group shows, including the 11th Gwangju Biennale; 56th Biennale di Venezia; La Triennale, Paris; the 29th Sao Paulo Biennial; 11th and 9th Istanbul Biennial; the 4th Tirana Biennial; and the 5th Berlin Biennale, among others. His works are part of major public collections, such as Centre Pompidou, Paris; MUMOK, Vienna; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; MOMA, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Tate Collection, London, among others.