Milica Vučković: When You Say Art, What Exactly You Mean

September 11^th – 18^th, 2021
Opening ceremony: Saturday, September 11^th, 2021, at 7.00 p.m.

Mentor: Prof. Daniela Fulgosi
Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade

Milica Vučković’s exhibition is an integral part of her PhD thesis called Perception of the Work of Art by Viewers of Different Classes: An Interactive Exhibition of Paintings and Spatial Installations. You must have already assumed that the viewers of different classes are actually you, as Duchamp would say, “the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications.” Therefore, the genesis of this exhibition has its final outcome in the impressions which the visitors gain and which they then have the opportunity to articulate through a questionnaire they should fill in at the end of the tour.

……The exhibition set-up consists of three units based on a single theme – a composition of four nudes around a laid table. The artist did not accidentally choose the nude and the table. These are the timeless motifs of art that persistently endured. The nude as the ultimate ode of art to man, his imperfect nature, symbol of sensuality, and the table as gifts of nature and gods, as glorification of life, as abundance, and a ceremonial act of handing over the gifts of nature to that same man… there are many associations… The Luncheon on the Grass, The Supper at Emmaus are only some of the many. The artist’s nudes are motionless, there are no signs of their movement – it is clear that they are posing, and such experience of studying composition, attitudes and the relationship between the model and the artist is unequivocally emphasised in this work as a symbol of old painting traditions. It is important to pay attention to the fact that all the characters are facing the viewer, which means that the author once again underlined the exhibition’s focus – its audience. The faces are hidden because the emotion in this case needs to be read by the audience. In addition, such covering of the faces and hands (a well-known tool of the attribution method) with basic colour can also be interpreted as a clear resistance to the processes of Morellian attribution of the work to the artist, that instinctive urge of the viewer to interpret the work in relation to his knowledge of the artist. Therefore, the artist erases the traces behind her, leaving the audience with an empty space. Furthermore, the faces and hands are covered in red, leaving the impression of two-dimensionality in contrast with the almost achromatically modelled rest of the composition. Red circles can also remind us of Kandinsky. A single theme is presented here in three ways. The first representation is a monumental photo reprint of the composition on canvas. This painterly photo has its roots in the meticulousness of the Northern Renaissance and the unavoidable chiaroscuro lighting technique which represents another reference to the canons of the history of art. It also reminds us of Erwin Olaf’s photographs. Moreover, by placing a photo print on canvas, i.e., by making a technically reproduced artwork, and presenting it as the purest oil on canvas with hundreds of varnish coats so dear to the hyperrealistic language of the Northern Renaissance, the artist unequivocally replaces an authentic work of art with the technical reproduction. At the same time, she symbolically refers to Benjamin’s essay and reminds us of the lasting relevance of the cult of the work of art’s aura present among the audience. The fact that the artist placed this work in a richly decorated golden frame with a red border (which symbolises the museum practice of exhibiting works of high art) can be understood as a paraphrase, not without irony, of the museum canons that we are all so familiar with. The very fact that the work of a highly realistic form is the one that, at this exhibition, was given the role of a magnificent museum exhibit plays with the assumptions that an ideal imitation of nature, i.e., reality remains as the only criterion of the widest art audience….

……..The author is trying to sketch in what way and with what kind of emotions today’s audience perceives certain media, styles, and even the presentation of the artwork in space. What is even more important is the second part of that social process, which is posed as a big question, and that is: How does such audience feedback later reflect on artists and to what extent does it affect their future choices?

taken from the catalogue text by Isidora Vučić, graduate art historian

In 2012, she graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, Department of Applied Painting, class of Professor Miroslav Lazović, from which she also acquired her Master’s degree. She defended her PhD art project at the same faculty, with the exhibition displayed at the Museum of Applied Art.

She attended a year-long Darmasiswa art programme in Bali (Indonesia), where she participated in various painting, drawing and sculpture colonies, thus continuing her professional development. After her graduation, she had nine solo exhibitions and participated in several group exhibitions.

In 2014, she published a collection of short stories called Swarm (published by Apostrof) which she also illustrated. In the same year, she became a member of ULUPUDS (Association of Applied Arts Artists and Designers of Serbia), holding the status of an independent artist.

2017 – Won the first prize in the Biber Regional Short Story Contest, for her story called People Eat Even without Legs.

2019 – Published her first novel called Baldwin for the Lom publishing house in Belgrade, with which she was shortlisted for the Vital Award and Biljana Jovanović Award.

2021 – Published her second novel called The Fatal Outcome of Athletic Injuries (published by BOOKA).

Solo exhibitions:

2012 – First solo exhibition, Čukarica Cultural Centre, Belgrade

2013 – Dreamland, Čukarica Cultural Centre, Belgrade

2014 – Getting to Know Each Other, Novi Sad Cultural Centre, Novi Sad

2014 – Iron Drop, Čukarica Cultural Centre, Belgrade

2014 – Swarm, book promotion and painting exhibition, Štab Gallery, Belgrade

2015 – V, Parobrod Cultural Centre, Belgrade

2017 – 1/3, Ostavinska Gallery, Belgrade

2019 – Other Me, Serbian Cultural Association Prosvjeta, Zagreb

2019 – Nothing to See Here, Baraka Cultural Centre, Belgrade

Group exhibitions:

2012 – Graduation exhibition of the Faculty of Applied Arts students, Museum of Applied Art, Belgrade

2012 – Let’s Make This Day Happy, Mikser House, Belgrade

2013 – From Idea to Realisation, Student Cultural Centre, Belgrade

2014 – Exhibition of Master’s Works, Youth Centre, Belgrade

Scenography:

2014 – Othello, directed by Paolo Bajoko, National Theatre, Belgrade – assistant set designer

2015 – My Child, directed by Ana Đorđević, Belgrade Drama Theatre, Belgrade – set designer

2016 – Norma, directed by Giancarlo del Monaco – assistant set designer

2017 – The Last Term, directed by Valery Kirillov – set designer

Contact info:

e-mail: milicavuckovic1@gmail.com / phone: +381643229243