Vlasta Delimar

Vlasta Delimar (Zagreb, 1956) began her artistic work in the late 1970s, rejecting formal education as inadequate, conservative and outdated, and breaking with traditional principles of art development by focusing on actions, happenings and performances. By choosing her own body as the primary medium of her own work, Vlasta Delimar defined her position as a respected, autonomous artist without direct successors, but also without predecessors. She constantly and consistently refuses to construct her work through the terms “feminine” or “feminist”, insisting on universal art that is not divided into feminine and masculine, and thus constantly refuses to identify or join any ideology, which is ultimately reproached in accordance with established canons of fixed art-historical and theoretical practices. The continuity of performance from the late 1970s to the present day, including intimate performances, often provocative and now anthological, classifies Vlasta Delimar – along with Tomislav Gotovac / Antonio Lauer – among the most relevant Croatian performers who use the (artistic) body to expand borders of fine art and conquer the space of freedom.