Rebecca Đuran-Šilėnas, presenting as Bekki, is an artist from Croatia born in 1991. She graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka (Croatia) with a Master’s degree in Painting, 2017. She participated in the Erasmus student exchange 2013/2014 at the Academy of Fine Arts, Jan Matejko in Krakow (Poland). In 2017 she moved to Vilnius, Lithuania to study MA program at the Vilnius Art Academy, and in 2019 she graduated with a Master’s degree in Photography and Media Art. She exhibited in Croatia and international exhibitions, few of which are XVIII Biennale of Drawings in Beograd, 2015, 9th Croatian Triennale of Aquarelle in Zagreb / Karlovac / Slavonski Brod, 2022, 2nd Drawing Triennial in Pula, and a solo exhibition at Menų Spaustuvė, Vilnius, 2023. Her paintings found home in many countries across the globe, from USA to Australia, Canada, Spain, France, Italy and many more. She is living in Vilnius, Lithuania and work as a full time painter in her art studio.
Her conceptual artworks are exploring the relationships between the artist and the society, artists and curators and inner struggles of the author. Most of her artworks are interactive installations in which the viewer is needed for the artwork to be completed. Since 2019 she continues to be focused solely on painting.
While she was creating interactive artworks, she always envied the silence that paintings can offer. There were no explanations, no essays on what author wanted to say, no distractions, paintings simply existed. Something that is rare today. And since coming back to painting, she was determined to keep that burst of simplicity that paintings can offer. Beautiful to look at, unspoiled by the outside, pure clarity of what’s in front of you. A floating space, in which she plays the role of a conductor. Her paintings reflect the feel of control, movement and freedom. She often uses bright rich colors, dynamic compositions, and odd shapes that defines the space on the painting. She feels the need to celebrate colors and bring the deconstructed space on the painting to a balance. Every aspect of the painting is well thought through, even the title of the painting sometimes feels like an additional part of the painting. Instead of demystifying painting by giving it’s description, she puts the emphasis on the viewer and his vision of the painting. She believes that once artist dwells into the explanation of the painting to a viewer, the artwork starts existing only between what was said, and does not go beyond it. It becomes “information” rather than a visual body of work.
Education:
2017. – 2019.
Master’s Degree
Photography and Media Art
Vilnius Academy of Arts
Vilnius, Lithuania
2015. – 2017.
Master’s Degree
Painting Department
Academy of Applied Arts
Rijeka, Croatia
2011. – 2015.
Bachelor’s Degree
Painting Department
Academy of Applied Arts
Rijeka, Croatia
2013. – 2014.
Erasmus exchange
Painting department
Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts
Krakow, Poland
Selected exhibitions:
2023.
Pula, HDLU Gallery, 2nd Drawing Triennial, Croatia
Stockholm, Stockholm Affordable Art Fair, Sweden
Vilnius, Solo exhibition “When it’s sunny”, Menų Spaustuvė, Lithuania
2022.
Vilnius, Art Compensa Art Fair, Lithuania
Karlovac, Gallery Vjekoslav Karas, 9. Croatian Triennial of Aquarelle, Croatia
Zagreb, HDLU, 9. Croatian Triennial of Aquarelle, Croatia
Slavonski Brod, Galerija umjetnina, 9. Croatian Triennial of Aquarelle, Croatia
2019.
Vilnius, Gallery Titanikas, “Masters of Photography and Media Art”, Lithuania
2017.
Rijeka, Gallery Kortil, “Graduation works”, Croatia
2016.
Zagreb, Gallery Šira, „Art books“, Croatia
Rijeka, group exhibition in part of project “ArtBazaar”, Croatia
Rijeka, Gallery Principij, “ Županija u jednom danu / County in one day”, Croatia
Rovinj, “GrisiaYouth”, Udruga Faro11, Croatia
Lovran, Gallery Laurus, “Introspekcija/ Introspections”, Croatia
Rijeka, Gallery APURI, Noć muzeja, Croatia
2015.
Rijeka, APURi, Solo Exhibition “ Dijalog/Dialog “, Croatia
Beograd, Dom kulture Studentski grad, “XVIII Biennale of students drawings”, Serbia
2014.
Rijeka, APURI, “Nominations exhibition”
Rijeka, Udruga Pravac , “ Art de light”, Poland
Krakow, Gallery Browar Lubicz, “Dzikošć serca, Poland
Krakow, Gallery Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna, “Handmade papers”, Poland
2013.
Rijeka, APURI, “Izlazak/zalazak sunca / Sunrise / sunset“, Croatia
2010.
Zabok, National Competition, “Kaleidoskop” 2008. – Zadar , National Competition, “Isječak prostora i trenutak vremena”, Croatia