The misery of Sebastijan Vojvoda’s plagiarism is behind me by now, or so I sincerely hope. We have reached an agreement of sorts, and I thus desisted from asking that the plagiarized paintings be removed from his current show in Galerija Forum. I was more than ready to engage my lawyer, too. What got me particularly angry was not Vojvoda, who has been quite supple the last few days, but the boss of the gallery, a certain Emil Matešić. At least in his own mind, he is a somebody in the local intellectual circles. In our exchange of photographs in connection with Vojvoda’s plagiarisms, I alerted him to one of my paintings that can be found on the World Wide Web. As it turned out, the photograph also showed a painting of a simple meander. He responded by ridiculing my complaint against Vojvoda on account of my plagiarism of Knifer. I immediately sent him a piece written about this painting that comes from my Cave Art Now (2003), which is available on the Ca’ Bon Gallery website (“Homage to Julije Knifer,” August 4, 2006). The piece shows that the homage was merely a joke on the artist. I also advised Matešić to check my book before challenging me pointlessly next time, and then I informed him that our communication was over. Enough of silly banter! But comparing me with a nobody such as Knifer made me angry beyond belief. In fact, I was seething with it for hours. The late artist is a great star in Zagreb, which only demonstrates the city’s palpable provincialism. At any rate, Matešić’s faux pas almost cost his gallery and Vojvoda a lawsuit. But I have calmed down by now, as I already said. It is my own fault that I have elected to live on the edges of civilization rather than theirs. Malo nodo malus quaerendus cuneus.

Addendum I (September 3, 2015)

The last few months, this piece has been among the most popular on my Residua website. Why? I have no idea, but I can imagine that many a Croatian artist and art aficionado find this piece boastful past compare. For them, Knifer is a major artist, and not only in Croatia. Even though this piece was written in quite some anger, I still think of Knifer as a minor artist. His prominence in these parts can be explained only by the fact that Zagreb is a minor European capital, as well. For crying out loud, he has never come up with anything but thicker and thinner meanders in black and white! What annoys me even more, his meanders are on the verge of being pretty, or at least embarrassingly elegant. In simple words, Knifer has never come even close to anything fundamental in geometric art. The prehistoric origin of entoptic forms was entirely beyond him, to be sure. Enough, though. Let Croatian artists and art aficionados have their fun.

Addendum II (September 20, 2015)

According to a series of photographs I have found on my Internet service provider’s website today, Emil Matešić is a celebrity in Zagreb. His photo appears together with the photos of many other celebrities captured walking through the pedestrian area in the center of the city. That was yesterday, which was a Saturday. And this is the day when all celebrities in the city crawl out of their nests in their best clothes to be captured by the local paparazzi. Interestingly, I do not know a single name listed. Celebrities? It took me a while to remember where I have heard Matešić’s name, too. When I searched for it on my Residua website, it popped out at once in connection with Sebastijan Vojvoda, the plagiarist. Dealing first hand with a celebrity in this city is supposed to be quite an honor for me, I imagine. At any rate, this is the Croatian capital in a nutshell. Provincial to boot.