An exhibition of a Montenegrin painter was organized in the "Roman Petrović" gallery in Sarajevo Oliver Erakovic under the name "Liberte". During the 20 days that the exhibition lasted, visitors had the opportunity to see the works of the artist, who is recognized for her strong contrasting colors that are connected through the drawing.
Her art is a distorted picture of contemporary life, and with graffiti she connects the visual and the verbal. Visitors could also see for themselves that the artist did not name the exhibition, which featured 30 oil paintings on canvas, "Liberte" (freedom) by chance.
"My image is pure freedom. In the process of work, I am completely free, on my own. I do what is my choice. And art is my choice. And through my pictures I talk about the freedom of living. That freedom is observing life with open eyes, with all its difficulties and beautiful moments that life brings. The painting on which there is the graffiti of 'liberty' is a figure who observes life with wide-open eyes," the painter, who likes to play with colors and naively believes that art will change the world, told "Vijesti".
Naivety is a characteristic of a child, and Eraković does not allow the child in him to grow up. She is too serious to give up that privilege so easily.
"My pictures are accompanied by textual records that often stem from my real experiences. The text points to laughter through which we see things more clearly and it doesn't always have to be fun. He is also a critic. It represents only one of the layers of the work, and under it there may be something related to an essence that is unfathomable. The presence of a child's drawing indicates naivety. As Vojo Stanić would say: Naivety is a characteristic of a child, and fortunately there are people who are too serious to allow themselves to lose that naivety".
The painter points out that she finds the closest parallels in the characteristic features of pop art, which has been of interest to her throughout the history of art as an artistic direction.
"In my own way, I evoke certain life moments that I present with an already recognizable color, a combination of text, graffiti and drawings. I portray people and their moods, connect verbally and pictorially, and compose portraits on pictures as if they were cut from a film strip. Through a fragmented space viewed through a unique optical prism, I create a new reality of estranged, lonely, isolated individuals, who, in addition to visual identification, decipher signs and symbols. Characters that are repeated consciously or unconsciously, become symbols that have a deep background and reflect attitudes and thoughts".
Her art is open, and its strength comes from the interaction with the viewer, from the desire not to give answers, but to ask questions that make the audience think.
The exhibition in Sarajevo, organized by the "Roman Petrović" gallery, which operates under the Association of Fine Artists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was opened by a journalist Dževdet Tuzlić.
"That kind of 'brutal beauty', that need for the painter not to try to illuminate the viewer's face with some kind of harmonious perfect lines and color, but with the philosophy of the image, something that offers a challenge to the eye of the observer. With Olivera, there is a unique combination of drawings, paintings, comics, film footage, an expression that leaves no one indifferent," said Tuzlić.
He noticed in the approach of the painter a childlike naivety with which the author, as he said, seems to want to "free the viewer from the thought that he came to the world of art that he does not understand".
"On the contrary, if he came to the spaces that were close to him, if they themselves drew, and their parents jealously kept them in the drawers, writing down the dates on the back to serve as sweet memories of a better past. And that's why I'm not surprised that, for example, at the Mostar exhibition of Olivera, she reached for her son's drawings. There, the artist finds a basis and proof of the messianic role of art that will save the world. We all know it won't happen, but we want to believe it," said Tuzlić.
According to him, the reflection of strong and striking colors in our eyes influences the making of different conclusions about meanings, about the world we live in, about its duality, imperfection, about political reality...
"In a world bound by many restrictions, prohibitions, limits, hurdles, obstacles... the exhibition entitled 'Liberte' offers a completely different perspective - it is a space of inspiration precisely by freedom", said Tuzlić.
According to the words Ljiljane Zeković, art historian, Olivera belongs to urban painters, and her painting is a world in miniature, reduced to a close correlation of structural elements, conceptual discourse and semantic equivalent.
"In the wonderful world of Olivera Eraković, everything is possible and everything has its raison d'être. Freedom of expression, creative values, and above all, a serious approach and a sensitive note in the realization of the work indicate an artist who boldly opens the door to new creative spaces", Zeković pointed out.
Olivera Eraković graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Trebinje, department of painting, in the class of prof. Marko Musovic. She received her master's degree at AGRFT in Ljubljana, majoring in costume design in the class of prof. Janje Korun, and is currently a doctoral student at the University of Ljubljana in the class of prof. Janez Bogataj on the topic "Contemporary creative interpretation of the Montenegrin costume". She is employed as a curator-museum advisor at the JU "Museums and Galleries" Nikšić, and is engaged as a lecturer at the University of Donja Gorica.
She exhibited independently in the country and abroad, and as a costume designer she made costumes for numerous theater plays by prominent directors. She collaborated as a costume designer with the director Veljko Bulajić on the film "Escape to the Sea".
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