Kupa river in Ladešići 2019

Curator: This drawing, rendered in ink on paper, is titled "Kupa river in Ladešići". It was created in 2019 by Alfred Freddy Krupa. I'm struck immediately by its almost calligraphic quality. It evokes such a feeling of tranquility. Editor: It certainly invites contemplation. For me, though, the immediate feeling is one of movement, almost turbulent despite the black and white restraint. I see a distinct challenge to landscape traditions, an attempt to question representations of nature. Curator: Yes, I see what you mean. It almost rejects typical landscape representation, which aligns with much of Krupa’s work exploring the tension between abstract expression and realism. He challenges those established artistic hierarchies, pushing us to question the conventional role of art as a neutral mirror reflecting nature. How interesting that the river, in this context, becomes less about a placid vista and more a site of active, even disruptive, force. Editor: The contrast and the quick strokes really give me a feeling of instability but also a primal response. These swift brushstrokes resonate, almost echoing East Asian ink wash paintings, particularly in its philosophical undertones concerning humans' relationships to place, but its abstraction offers a distinct commentary. Curator: I see that echo too. Water, in symbolic language across cultures, is connected to cleansing and transition. The rapid, decisive movements, the thick black ink contrasted with bare paper – is Krupa perhaps speaking to the power, even the potential for destruction, within what we typically perceive as serene? I wonder if the social landscape of Croatia in 2019 further contributes to this symbolic reading. Editor: Possibly. Or, maybe, its powerful lines signify memory; memory encoded into landscape, place holding a narrative. Perhaps the artist is inviting us not just to look at the landscape but also to understand and unpack the weight it carries. Curator: A truly compelling proposition – memory embodied in form. Thanks to that insight, I view this ink drawing with even greater sensitivity now. Editor: Yes, exactly. Alfred Freddy Krupa asks that we explore how, in a deceptively minimal representation, our emotional geographies interact.