I will not say anything that is not known. But to repeat something, I remember something, and I witnessed something first hand. Stanic, the sign of Montenegro and Montenegro has been recognized by it for almost seven decades inside and outside of it. Governments and times changed, artists appeared, big ones, and those who were forgotten for a longer or shorter time, he was rare among artists both in Montenegro and in wider areas, who was continuously relevant. A phenomenon I've been thinking about. Intriguing, without showing any desire to intrigue and interest, arouses attention, imposes himself and his work. He was far from all that, unimaginable. He was modest, perhaps too much so, and such modesty is justified by a great work. Only with a great work can one be modest. And that's normal. What can be more than that?!
The work covers everything, makes up for it, it is the reason for permanent interest in this painter. Many went to him without him calling them, and he welcomed them all equally. He lived in seclusion at Škver in Herzegnov, from where he could see the whole world through one window. That world smiles on his canvases, the work carries a strong message. One or more messages go through each picture. Nothing is thrown by chance, nor done by chance, there is no accidental move, not even when it is done, not even when it looks childishly naive. With him, everything is natural, and this naturalness has kept him alive, made him always relevant. He was and will remain recognizable by her. Few can touch the natural state. And those who are touched have the privilege and power to communicate truths, to be inviolable.
Stanić is not an institution but a super-institution, which stands above all changes. Now that he has left this world, what remains is his work, which will only gain importance. I will try to use simple and modest words, so that he doesn't get mad. It was precisely those two features that made him stand out.
When Vojo received the Thirteenth of July Lifetime Achievement Award, a journalist asked him: has Montenegro finally repaid you, and he answered: She didn't owe me anything. I am indebted to her. Second or first or both equal and first, Dado Đurić, in the book Conversations with Dada Branke Bogavac to the question: what is the most important thing in his life, he answers: Not to embarrass Montenegro. Aesthetics is just as much as ethics (he said Brodsky!) or are inseparable from each other, examples are Vojo and Dado.
I have forever remembered these two sentences, which speak about Stanic and Đurić, their personalities, greatness and morality.
Vojo radiated kindness and spontaneity, with him the door was open to all people, whom he did not separate by functions and titles, as the fishermen from Škver know best, with whom he has been hanging out for a whole century. Open to Djilas, when all doors were closed before him. When he once came to Herceg Novm, everything was closed in front of him, and he walked upright. Lalić hung out with him. One evening he knocked on Voj's door, he wanted to see the pictures and Voj.
Now, when he has departed from life, his work, more permanent than life, enters the scene!
And now what is remembered...
July 19th, 2002, Voj's exhibition in Dubrovnik. Gallery "Trinita" in Palmotićeva, which opens onto Stradun. I went with Branka Bogavac and Dr. Zaim Kalamperović, both live in Paris. Zaim is a surgeon and a passionate collector of works of art, and I don't need to explain anything about Branka, everything is known about her. An unforgettable, somewhat unbelievable picture. Stradun is full. One has the impression that the whole city came to the exhibition. Many did not even manage to get close to the paintings that evening, it was impossible to approach the gallery. Dubrovnik rose to its feet to pay tribute to Stanić for his paintings and a letter from the early 1990s, which he wrote to the then Montenegrin leadership, a reaction to the pointless military expedition to that city. That letter is probably kept in one of the archives and it is a witness that great artists cannot make mistakes. That is remembered and that counts! Dubrovnik was on its feet. And Dubrovnik doesn't often rise to everyone's feet!
This is a fact for history, that's why I highlight it and want it to be heard again and written down. Although it has been spoken and written about, it should be repeated. Because of the courage of man and artist in a cowardly time - a storm. He didn't get an answer. History has vindicated him. Not to those who kept silent about his letter.
When asked by a NIN journalist, after the opening of the exhibition, how he felt, Stanić answered:How did I feel? I had stage fright as an actor. Luko Paljetak opened the exhibition for me, there were many dear people I hadn't seen in so many years and I was literally their guest for two days. I stayed at the "Lero" hotel and they didn't let me spend a single dinar, let alone a euro."
Seemingly soft, one would say he wouldn't step on an ant, but personally brave. He did not hesitate to express his opinion, to stand behind what he said. That's how he was during his life, that's how he lived.
Stanić is a painter who can rightly bear the epithet - worldly! He measured life by himself and himself by life! Now these measures have passed into the eternal, they have an imperishable dimension. They are measured by eternity. More permanent than any life.
***
Finally, let this also be written down. I was with Voj Stanić on November 10, 2016 with the intention of doing an interview for Radio Herceg Novi. Knowing that he is often confused in front of cameras and microphones, and that without them he speaks wisely and brilliantly, I turned on the tape recorder without telling him. We talked for an hour and a half, I asked him many questions, and he had answers to everything, in his own style and in his own way. In my journalistic career, this is the only secret recording. Finally, when we were done, I told him that he was being filmed. He didn't complain, he smiled and said: Well, let it, if that's what's going on. It was valid! I regret that that interview has not been preserved. The joint photo accompanying this text was taken in his house in Škver, that November day.
(Herceg Novi, November 20, 2024)
Bonus video:
