Adam Cvijanovic
Adam Cvijanovic (born 28 October 1960) is a New York City–based painter who developed his practice independently. While he often works in oil, he is best known for his large-scale paintings on Tyvek—a durable, lightweight material that allows for easy installation and removal. This medium enables Cvijanovic to create expansive, site-specific installations that integrate seamlessly into architectural spaces.[1] For over four decades, Cvijanovic has explored the genre of history painting, often depicting real and imagined landscapes that reflect the complex intersections of place, people, and politics within American cultural narratives. Public commissions have become a prominent aspect of Cvijanovic’s practice. Notable projects include What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding[2], the first major art commission at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City since 1949, installed at the Fifth Avenue entrance; 10,000 Feet (2013)[3], a panoramic depiction of the Indiana countryside for the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis; Thunderheads (2017)[4], a four-panel oil painting for Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; City Tree (2020)[5], a monumental tile mosaic for a Brooklyn public school; and a mural project for the Bean Federal Center in Indianapolis (2022)[6]. For the Bean Center, Cvijanovic created 164 individual Tyvek murals spanning over 7,000 square feet. Installed throughout the building’s corridors, these murals depict American battlefields from the colonial era to the present, embedding art within the daily environment of one of the world’s largest military finance operations. Cvijanovic’s work is recognized for its dialogue with Hudson River School landscapes, technical precision, adaptability to built environments, and ambitious scale. Of Thomas Cole, he writes: “[His] paintings are a fascinating and curiously American hybrid of observational realism, romantic interpretation, ethical narrative, Christian allegory, nostalgic sentimentality, and futurist fantasy.”[7] Cvijanovic engages deeply with this legacy, reinterpreting the landscape and narrative tradition for contemporary audiences. ExhibitionsCvijanovic's solo institutional exhibitions include Hammer Projects at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts (2004); UCLA Hammer Museum (2005)[8]; Niagra Fall at UB Center for the Arts, Buffalo, New York (2006)[9]; Landscape: Another Dimension, Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia (2013)[10]; Rolling Panorama Number 1 (2013)[11] at Moot Gallery, Hong Kong; and American Montage (2015)[12], a ten-year survey at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Selected two-person and group exhibitions include Adam Cvijanovic and Peter Garfield: Unhinged (2007)[13] at MASS MoCA; Prospect.1 New Orleans Biennial (2008)[14][15]; Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes (2008), organized by the Walker Art Center and traveling to the Carnegie Museum of Art and Tate Liverpool during the Liverpool Biennial; the 18th Biennale of Sydney (2012); Beyond Earth (2014) at the Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University; and Weird Science (2015)[16] at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York. His work is held in the collections of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art[17], Kansas City; the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection; Atlanta; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York[18]; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston[19], RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island[20]; the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah; West Collection; the Wieland Collection[21], Atlanta; and numerous private collections. CareerCvijanovic’s work draws on the traditions of American landscape painting, particularly the Hudson River School and cinema[22]. Influenced by early American visual culture, he often addresses the effects of industry and commerce on the environment through scenes that suggest post-apocalyptic or transitional landscapes. Many of his works function as immersive tableaux, combining two- and three-dimensional elements that emphasize time, narrative, and spatial perception in painting[23]. Allegory is central to Cvijanovic’s approach. He combines historical and contemporary American imagery into cohesive montages that layer personal and collective experiences. Drawing on postproduction strategies, Cvijanovic reinserts familiar cultural objects into new contexts, presenting representations of the past and present simultaneously. His works often reference cinematic techniques to convey temporality and narrative complexity[24]. Cvijanovic’s paintings are frequently adapted to specific spaces but remain portable due to the Tyvek material. Notable site-related works include Glacier (2005) at the Hammer Museum and Bayou (2008) in New Orleans, which integrate architecture and landscape to create immersive environments. His approach parallels historical decorative murals and panoramic cycloramas, blending realism and constructed illusion to engage viewers. From the “anti-gravitational” series of 2005[25] to later projects such as All the Wine I Ever Drank I Drank at Sea (2010) and the Natural History series (2011–2012)[26], Cvijanovic has explored deep staging, tableau composition, and cinematic perspectives. He often reimagines museum dioramas, architectural façades, and landscapes, collapsing distinctions between painting and environment while situating historical and contemporary American narratives within immersive, multilayered visual compositions. WorkMuralsCvijanovic is particularly known for his mural-scale works, which transform architectural spaces into immersive landscapes. Painted directly onto Tyvek, a flexible and portable material, these works can be cut, reshaped, and reinstalled in different locations, combining site-specific illusion with adaptability. Early examples include Glacier (2005) at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where a massive ice formation ascended a stairwell, and The Bayou (2008) in New Orleans, a wetland scene seamlessly integrated into the building’s architecture. The Union Pacific Main Line (Laramie, Wyoming) (2005)[27] was created for an international exhibition inspired by the redevelopment of New York’s High Line, depicting the railroad tracks at a dramatic perspective across the landscape. Cvijanovic has also completed nearly 7,000 square feet of murals illustrating American battlefields at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service’s Bean Federal Center in Indianapolis[28]. Drawing on historical precedents such as 19th-century decorative murals and panoramic cycloramas, Cvijanovic blurs the boundaries between painting, environment, and viewer, producing layered montages that combine multiple temporalities and perspectives while allowing audiences to experience the work as a constructed spatial tableau. In 2023, Cvijanovic won the leading commission from a group of six artists for St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City curated by Suzanne Geiss. The massive mural-scale painting What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding debuted September 21, 2025 and is a 21 foot tall, 12 panel installation depicting the arrival of immigrants to New York City in the 19th century and the present. Anti-gravityBeginning in 2005, Cvijanovic developed his “anti-gravitational” series, in which objects, structures, and figures appear suspended or floating within large-scale compositions. These works fragment space and perspective, emphasizing multiple temporalities. They were in response to the artist's witnessing of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in New York City. Notable examples include Iolanthe (2005) and Nuart (2006), in which interior and exterior spaces are disassembled and rearranged, creating dreamlike tableaux that explore impermanence, memory, and the reconstruction of American landscapes. The series also reflects Cvijanovic’s ongoing interest in cinematic techniques and allegorical storytelling, translating the temporal and narrative qualities of film into painterly form. Natural HistoryCvijanovic creates large-scale paintings that reinterpret the wildlife tableaux of New York’s American Museum of Natural History, originally painted by James Perry Wilson and others. The Natural History works reimagine wildlife dioramas, using Flashe and latex paint on Tyvek mounted directly on walls. A central work, Discovery of America (65 feet), spans two walls, juxtaposing a prehistoric panorama of Late Pleistocene creatures with a depiction of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush, contrasting an America without humans with one shaped by settlers. Other works reinterpret museum dioramas, abstracting landscapes, blending expressionistic gestures, and replacing naturalistic animals with cartoons or carcasses. Cvijanovic combines realism, abstraction, and narrative to explore painting’s ability to transform real, historic, and imagined spaces. Personal lifeCvijanovic married Julia Carbonetta in 2012. Cvijanovic was married to the cabaret singer and psychic Peri Lyons from 1992 to 2007. References
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