He is waiting for his Mona Lisa and life "in color"

Egzon Beća from Nikšić, whom his painting teacher says is an "unpolished stone", in a break between work and life - drawing and painting

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Egzon Beća, Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Egzon Beća, Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

"I like doing graphics the most. Black, so I shade. There's something about that black color. My life is also black, so it somehow fit in," says the twenty-two-year-old young artist from Nikšić Exon Beca.

He knows that life can also be in color, but...

While talking, he smiles shyly, and as soon as he receives a compliment, he shuts up, while his eyes vibrate with a special glow that only humble people have.

On the wall, a certificate that he successfully passed the course for an artist, and his works, as well as the words of a professor of painting, an academic painter Draška Karadžić, best speak of this success. He does not spare words of praise either Jelena Milic, director of the Defendologia center, whose users are Egzon and his family members.

"When I was in the fifth grade, I saw that I had a gift for painting. I got five plus every time. It's the only subject I've done. While the others studied, I just drew. So, for example, everyone is learning English, and I look at the picture on my bag and draw. When I went with my father to his friends, I always carried a notebook and drew. Father and friends drink, and I draw and be in my own world. I had several notebooks. Now I don't have them anymore".

Young artist and his teacher Draško Karadžić
Young artist and his teacher Draško Karadžićphoto: Svetlana Mandić

As in school you had to study and not just draw, Egzon stopped his education. He started working early because in his family, parents and seven children, there was always a shortage of bread. Now he attends a school for adults in Ozrinići, he is in the seventh grade, and this time he does not intend to stop his education.

"When I met Draško, I began to draw more seriously. I came to him regularly and did not run away from those classes. Ask him", says Egzon somewhat proudly.

Inspiration comes from work, and Egzon's talent is unquestionable

"My cooperation with Exon has been going on for three years. I saw that he had enormous potential. He is like an unpolished stone and when we talk about his progress, as a young artist, I must point out that he developed very quickly. He immediately mastered the basics - how to pose a human figure, which is perhaps, even in an academic connotation, the most difficult part, to do a human correctly, anatomically. When I saw that he very quickly mastered the angle of seeing how something really looks, how he should set up the composition itself, I realized that we can move on to experimenting with other styles, to get to know literature, which is very important for every young artist, to get to know painters and their works, various styles and to try to find what suits him, not me as a professor. I can say that I like the way he thinks, the way he functions, the way he approaches work. It can be seen that he has a great feeling. The most difficult thing is to control that feeling and how to present it in the right way, and he has it from the beginning and that's how inspiration comes. Inspiration does not come from idleness, but from work. Egzon enjoys what he does, he is persistent in it and you can see huge progress", says Draško and shows Egzon's works, which are proudly preserved in the Defendologia center and shown to everyone who visits them.

Egzon keeps the rest of the work he did in Draško's classes at home.

"I have about 30 works. My favorite is the torso that I shaded. I would never sell those works. I would make new ones and sell them. I would keep these to remember the beginnings. I also draw at home whenever I have free time, because I work wherever I can find work. In one bag, I keep the works I do at home, and the ones I did at Draško's I framed and hang on the wall. Everyone is surprised when they come to us and see the works. My parents say it's my work, but others don't believe it. The Mona Lisa in the house of Beća, even if I did it. Impossible", says Egzon with a smile.

And "difficult" is when it comes to the story. This is the most that could be "extracted" from him. He is stingy with words. Not with a smile and talent. There are plenty of them.

Exon Beća
photo: Svetlana Mandić

"Egzon won't say it, but quite often he draws home under the batten. They didn't have electricity for a very long time, but that didn't stop Egzon from drawing. Those works he did under the batten are excellent. And his younger brothers, Abedin i Fato, they also take good pictures. But Exon is complete. He is a very nice guy, well-mannered, responsible for everything. Only he was not responsible towards the school. He is especially responsible towards his family. They live in extremely difficult conditions, the father's serious illness has progressed, and despite all these life's misfortunes, he grows into a wonderful guy who is aware of everything and who, it seems to me, transfers it all to paper. No wonder he said he likes that dark color a lot," says Jelena.

If Draško and Jelena would talk for him, then he would like to have an exhibition

"Egzon does not copy works, but uses certain works of art and uses them to try to develop a specific cubist image. Or to put a different color, because from his point of view, that color would look better instead of the original. I like that a lot and I appreciate that a lot in him because he tries to develop an authentic style. He likes the combination of realism and cubism very much. It has a Cubism thread and I really liked that. The years are ahead of him and only now will he be formed in the right form. His time is just beginning and the right things for him to do will emerge, and I'm here to help him whenever he needs it. I know how important it is for young artists when an older colleague is by their side and guides them in a way that pleases the young artist," says Draško, and Egzon's eyes light up even more every time his teacher calls him an artist.

With Draška, he went through various painting epochs, got acquainted with the works of world-famous painters, and was most delighted by the works Leonardo da Vinci, especially the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. At home, until he found "his" Mona Lisa, he very successfully did Da Vinci's.

Exon Beća
photo: Svetlana Mandić

"Other colleagues have heard about Egzon and are talking about him, so painting can be an inspiring story for him. I hope that he will continue to do this, that he will make a living from painting, that later he will have a studio, his own corner where he can create", the academic painter points out.

At the moment, Egzon does not dream of having a studio, of being an artist, of making money from it. No time for imagination. He shyly says that "I guess he would like" to be the way his teacher said. To be a painter. And he would like to show everyone that everything he is doing was worth it.

And while he answers many questions with "I guess" and it takes time for him to come up with an answer, there is a question to which he answers "like a cannon" - has he overcome the teacher.

"Draško is the only painter I know. His works are excellent. He is 300 times better than me. I hear 300 - much more".

He says that he sees his future in the city under Trebjes. But better than the present. He will make an effort for it. And he will build a better house, as he says. And would you like to have an exhibition?

"Let's say I would. I'm too shy. When they compliment me, I feel even more embarrassed. I don't like to be praised. If only Draško and Jelena could talk at that exhibition, then I would like it to happen".

Exon Beća
photo: Svetlana Mandić

And it will happen, says Jelena.

"We are thinking of organizing an exhibition of a sales character, although, I must admit, we are sorry to give these pictures away, because we keep them like dry gold".

I also believe that after the exhibition, the introduction of this text would be different:

"My name is Egzon Beća. I'm an artist. I like doing graphics the most, but I also like colors because they remind me of joy. That's how my life is too".

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