Tomislav Topić

Born in 1985 in Hannover, Germany, Tomislav Topić is an artist whose practice delves into a comprehensive inquiry into colour and colour theory. 

After studying Colour Design at the University of Applied Science and Art, Hildesheim, Germany as well as at University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA, his curiosity was piqued by encounters with non-representational and American Expressionist art. This combined with a history of being a graffiti writer during his youth, led Tomislav to develop an agile and rhythmic approach towards his painting practice. 

His process involves a calculative approach while determining what colour combinations to paint with. His mediums, whether canvas or a wall, diffuse a sharp gestural style of painting with gradients that are created using a variety of paints. While painting Tomislav enters a state of deep immersion which is almost like a meditative act of control and letting go. The joy found in the process coupled with a search for the unknown remains undefined until the last moment of finishing a particular artwork. He states, “The process is a play between chaos and clarity, between turmoil and ecstasy. I allow my intuition to guide the gestures that make marks onto a surface, colliding two states of being — the child who resists rules and seeks to preserve an untamed sensation and the adult who has absorbed colours, experiences, and moments, now distilling and merging into a united singular expression.”

Tomislav’s oeuvre as an independent artist and as part of the duo Quintessenz until 2020 includes numerous site-specific installations and murals worldwide. For more than a decade, the artist’s work has received increasing international recognition having exhibited his works with ArtNow Gallery, Berlin; DANYSZ Gallery, Paris; Straat Museum, Amsterdam; Foundation Fiminco, Paris, among others. His works have also been showcased at public art festivals, and artist residencies in multiple countries such as Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Mauritius, Qatar, Georgia, USA, China, and now India, where with Gallery XXL, he presents his first solo exhibition in the country.