Using elements and symbols drawn from contemporary culture and everyday life, the Montenegrin painter Zoran Živković clearly expresses his attitude, criticism, thought and vision, thus creating clear and multi-layered art, rich in symbolism.
This was noticed by the art historian Anja Marković, who on Tuesday evening opened his solo exhibition "Bright moments" in the Centar gallery in Podgorica.
In an interview with "Vijesti", Živković confirms that irony in some way becomes the ideology of the postmodernist approach, and often of abstract works, but he also says that his works are sometimes ironic and self-ironic, and sometimes not. "I believe that historical processes are cyclical. This should be an anthem or a visual expression of an idea about future freedom and solidarity and simply the idea that people will be closer to each other again, or at least in a better way. In a way, it's an introspective idea, because I've been thinking a lot about the time that formed me and how much influence that social consciousness to which I belonged as a young being had on me. As they say: 'When the waters are muddy, it's best to return to the source,'" says Živković.
He further reveals that he is motivated by the social heritage he carries with him... "Somewhere I am motivated by that heritage... The largest number of works was created as a reflection on one monument of Dušan Džamonja, because it follows the formality and form of those 'petals' - with on one side three, on the other side two, like a kind of pentacle that is formed as a subordinate world. This idea of the pentacle as an embryo, as a life that is frozen somewhere, has potential, in my opinion and is alive, it still exists and I believe that it will happen, that we will get to it, due to the cyclical nature of time, and especially after decades of darkness and capitalist rot, which already has the characteristics of fascism or radical nationalism, which I think is the last stage... So I believe that a time will come that is more fitting for people and that carries a greater dose of humanism. I don't believe that ethics is always and only the necessary foundation of aesthetics, but I think that somewhere in that heritage, ethical and aesthetic are very close to each other, not only because of the endemic content and Yugoslav socialism, the monumental heritage and everything that arose from those fascist, i.e. of anti-fascist ideas, so this exhibition of mine is an ode to all that," explains Živković.
The installation "Bright moments" is available until January 31, and Živković adds that the original idea of the installation has been overcome quite spontaneously, which can also be noticed in the gallery space.
"It seems to me that this exhibition, originally planned with only the works exhibited in the lower part of the gallery, was conceived only as such... However, what is an indirect consequence of the corona virus and the quarantine are the works that are, nevertheless, exhibited in the upper part of the gallery , created during the last months, in the last half year. In many ways, they are ironic and self-ironic, but in a way, they also reveal that part of my character that I suppose I have in a better and better way. I would recommend to everyone who comes to visit the exhibition that, in addition to the paintings displayed in the lower part of the gallery, they should also visit the ones displayed upstairs, because it seems to me that they are more personal, more spontaneous and somehow unencumbered by ambition", Živković points out and jokes that his works on the second level of the gallery, a bit silly, but to show self-irony, they show everything that is experienced during the quarantine period, and at the same time they are liberating...
"Although these works belong to the domain of abstraction, Zoran belongs to that group of engaged artists who most often express their work in a pop-art manner. Using elements and symbols drawn from contemporary culture and everyday life, he clearly expresses his attitude, criticism, thought and vision - he creates art that is clear and multi-layered, rich in symbolism. One of the special values of Živković's work is precisely the ironic context under which there is actually a sharp criticism or, as in the case of the series of abstract paintings from the cycle 'Bright moments', the evaluation and respect of an idea and a system", remarked the art historian Marković.
Živković confirms that he does not like and does not strive for recognizable methods and works... "I believe that painting and art is an interesting journey only if you do not know what will happen while you travel. In that sense, this exhibition was done in a way that I have not done before. I made a large number of sketches, some on A4 paper, some even in Photoshop... I was simply looking for that kind of intuitive, somewhat aesthetic recognition. There are deviations, but they are realistic and allowed, and in a way everything spontaneously turned out that way. I don't believe that I will continue to work in a similar way, so in that sense this exhibition is special in my work", says Živković for "Vijesti".
At the opening, Marković said that the very name of the exhibition represents "a reflection of a deep penetration into the bright moments of the self shaped by circumstances and the environment in which we grow and mature as individuals", recalling the translation "which finds its original in the Latin legal institute lucida intervalla".
"Bright moments are those rare, precious sequences of complete clarity and pure consciousness that has undergone a kind of expansion. These are the moments that appear as oppositions to the unconscious, the incorrect and the obscure, and they also appear in the historical and collective consciousness. Živković's experience of those moments within social consciousness represents the period in which he grew up and the system in which he was formed; recognizes them in the ideological, but also in the material, monumental legacy of the National Liberation Struggle and anti-fascism. By choosing simple shapes and playing with their positioning on the canvas, taking into account the relationship between the center and the periphery of the painting, he reflects more deeply on wider social relationships and processes", adds Marković, and the artist further explains:
"I wanted to say that lucid intervalla is interesting because, realistically, as much as the world can be explained retrospectively through historical events, all these explanations are usually confused and without a clear idea of what is happening and how it is progressing. .. I say again - that time still colored a strong ethical, with which came an aesthetic and another conceptual paradigm that essentially formed my feeling to make something like this. It's difficult to talk about all that, a lot of it is unspeakable and of course all these explanations are of very little use", says Živković, whose works carry diversity, but also a clear and pronounced artistic and personal stamp.
However, the real impression is obtained only when the viewer, the observer, the lover of painting, finds himself in front of his works and comes to his own conclusions about the presented works.
"Because it's not important what I wanted to say, but what I said and whether it means anything to anyone," Živković concludes.
Whoever wants to visit the exhibition, he will, regardless of the circumstances
When asked how he is affected by the circumstances in which the exhibition takes place and opens, Živković says that he is, nevertheless, indifferent to it and points out that those who want to, will find their way to art.
"I do not believe in the enormous importance of what we do. Realistically, people consume other types of entertainment more often or, to put it simply, they have different interests, so those people who plan to visit the exhibition will definitely come. Epidemiological measures and the state in which we collectively find ourselves are something that cannot be controlled, at least from this aspect, so I am quite indifferent to it," he said.
Zoran Živković was born in Kotor in 1969. He received his master's degree in mosaic and wall painting in 2009 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cetinje, where he previously graduated from the painting department. He previously graduated from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade.
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