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Touch of art
Written by: Nataša Bodrožiæ Photo: Danilo Balaban Lapidarij u Novigradu / Lapidarium in Novigrad
Art historian, decorative painter and interior designer,
educated in Rijeka and London, he has
started a business for artistic creativity “Heritage”,
and has used his interventions to ennoble
the spaces of archaic villas, churches, but also other
residential objects with owners that simply want a different
ambience, in which they could feel comfortable
and special. Practicing slightly forgotten techniques,
such as mural painting and “al fresco” painting, which
were maybe more present in the sacral art of the past,
he creates unusual surroundings and adds spirituality to
everyday-life spaces.
We talked to Arsen Pletenac about his work, Istria and
the ambiences he creates.
You graduated art history and painting at the Art Department
of the Faculty of Philosophy in Rijeka, and then
went to London for specialization and studying decorative
painting. What is, precisely, decorative painting and
what does it encompass?
Long story short, decorative painting is applied painting.
Decorative painting deals with similar issues and problems
that you also encounter in easel painting, but the
difference is that decorative painting works with hundreds-of-times
larger surfaces. The second main difference
is in the definitive location of the painted surface
in relation to other painting and non-painting elements
of a certain space. There is a whole string of decorative-painting
techniques that, thanks to the right choice
of brushes and other tools, as well as usage of special
materials, allows us to achieve the necessary effect on
these large surfaces in an easier way. There are very
often some special demands that we must meet, such
as resisting the atmospherics or something like that. During
my education process in London, we have gone
through many indorsed techniques in great detail, such
as various ways of achieving perfect imitations of different
types of marble and wood, as well as the process
of gilding, types of coating, and many other traditional
and contemporary techniques. The nineteenth century
is considered to be the golden age of decorative
painting, but in my opinion, this period can contribute
just as much. Modern technology gives us so many new,
wonderful options, and the people’s need to make
themselves different and distinguished, along with the
construction boom and a phenomenal level of acquiring
information, provides us with terrific opportunities to
achieve works of very high value by combining all these
elements.
Therefore, decorative painting is a noble craft that is
preformed with the mind, heart and hands.
You’re working as an interior designer and decorative
painter. According to the displayed gallery at your official
website (www.arsenpletenac.com), it seems that
you mostly create rustic ambiences. Does that reflect
your interest and sensibility, or is it more connected to
the orders you receive?
It is mostly influenced by the orders I receive. The first orders
I ever got were on rustic objects and churches, and
it is predominantly like that today as well. In every individual
project, I have always attempted to find something
that would result in a casual space, and more often
than not, the way to achieve that was to rely on the
style of the surrounding. Istria, especially its central part,
is pretty exempt from unattractive new buildings, and is
filled with wonderful examples, samples and combinations,
so it’s only logical to use them. That fact led me
to the conclusion that, while I was searching for such an
image, I was more and more returning to original techniques,
because it was unnecessary to imitate something
that could be accomplished “for real”. Still, I have
worked on more than several modern objects, with very
contemporary forms and ways of designing the interior
and exterior, which clearly show that decorative painting
is certainly not something that is bound to be connected
with the archaic or the rustic. When working in
such spaces, we take special satisfaction in using traditional
techniques without the desire to evoke any other
time besides the present, and we do an excellent job,
if I may add.
You also do some mural painting and “al fresco” painting,
as well as illusionist painting. How big is the interest
to revive those slightly forgotten techniques and who orders
such specific projects?
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