GATES OF HELL

Product Code: GATESOFHELL18

Availability: Pre-Order (send inquiry)

Info: [email protected]

Summary

Year 1978

Bronze relief

Author Josip Konta
Limited edition 2/8 (bronze casting is made to order)

Certificate of authenticity

Short description:

Relief, patinated bronze:
height 55,5 cm
width 102 cm
depth 15 cm

Total weight 53,5 kg

Delivery of artwork

All the artworks of Josip Konta come with a certificate of authenticity issued by the artist himself and a certificate of authorship from the Croatian Society of Fine Artists.

The artist provides free shipping of his works to any location worldwide, enabling art lovers to take delivery of his works without any additional costs, thereby saving time.

The sculptures are shipped in wooden crates custom-made for sculptures, which are certified for international shipping, ensuring the safety and protection of the artworks during transit to their new destination.

The weight of the crate is 41 kg, plus a protective filling made of light material.
The total weight of the wooden crate and sculpture is 94,5 kg.

This item usually ships within 10 business days.
Delivery Partner: DHL Express

This type of shipment is usually dispatched within 10 working days.

The price of the artwork does not include potential customs charges in the destination country. All customs fees are the responsibility of the buyer. It is the buyer's responsibility to fully inform themselves about the possible customs costs of the chosen artwork in the destination country.

Biography

Josip Konta (May 18, 1946 - December 7, 2023) was a prominent Croatian sculptor and painter whose art enriched the cultural scene of Croatia and abroad. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1972, and then continued his education through postgraduate studies as an associate in the master workshop of Professor Antun Augustinčić from 1972 to 1974.

From 1974 to 1977, he served as the director of the Foundry of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. After this period, Josip Konta lived and worked as a freelance artist in Zagreb, where he left a deep mark with his exceptional talent and passion for art.

His works have found their place in both Croatian and private collections around the world. Josip Konta passed away on December 7, 2023, but his legacy in the world of art remains vibrant, and his artistic achievements will continue to inspire generations of future artists and art lovers.

Learn more:

Analysis of the sculpture and possible meaning

Gates of Hell, also known as Festival of Alienation, is an impressive work from 1978 that strikingly portrays the complex and dramatic theme of human alienation and social nonconformity. This bronze relief, created using Konta’s signature sculptural technique, explores the deep emotional and psychological agony that people experience, even when surrounded by loved ones.

Konta brings these feelings of alienation and tension to life through dynamic and expressive forms, which simultaneously depict the loss and suffering of the characters through their various emotional states. The artist employs strong contrasts and textures to emphasize the emotional weight of this scene while introducing a disturbing sense of dissonance and instability.

With their carefully coordinated positions and movements, the labyrinth of human figures strikingly creates the illusion of ongoing struggle and internal conflict. Their intertwined bodies depict a tragic game of alienation, where closeness and distance coexist simultaneously. Each character in this work carries a kind of burden – emotional, psychological, and inevitably physical – further emphasizing an inability to adapt to the surrounding world. Konta successfully conveys universal feelings of anxiety and isolation that permeate human existence, underscoring the need for understanding, compassion, and connection.

The Gates of Hell shows that Josip Konta has crafted a powerful visual and emotional narrative that unmistakably points to the complexity of human experience and alienation. This impressive relief not only demonstrates Konta’s artistic virtuosity but also invites viewers to reflect on our roles in creating and overcoming societal alienation.

Main features of sculptural artworks

Josip Konta’s sculptural works reflect the artist’s deep fascination with themes of alienation, various states of the human spirit, and the individual’s position in society. Through his sculptures, Konta explores the complexity of human nature and the internal conflicts that accompany contemporary society.

His sculptural technique includes voids and irregularities in modeling, which are closely tied to the concept of negative space, further emphasizing the importance of the relationship between form and void in his works.

Konta uses negative space to achieve a specific aesthetic and convey a message in his works. The voids and irregularities in the sculptures symbolize feelings of alienation, emotional emptiness, or a lack of communication, further reinforcing his explored themes. The horse in Konta’s sculptural works often symbolizes humanity’s ideal reflection – that sought-after, better part of us that is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to achieve. The artist uses this motif to underscore the necessity of introspection for every individual.

Notably, the artist supports complete interpretive freedom for viewers of his sculptures, acknowledging that each interpretation of the work is subject to each individual’s personal experience based on their life experiences and understanding of the world.

Josip Konta’s bronze sculptures are produced exclusively in a limited edition of no more than eight original copies (1/1-1/8).