In the face of the crumbling world whose hostility is intensified by (petty) personal issues, looking back at the accomplishments in 2022 feels like a welcome relief, so I hope no one will mind me evoking the events that lent meaning to my collage art practice, as well as to my enthusiasm for films.
From March 24 to April 6, my fourth solo exhibition, ‘Hypnos II’, took place at the Gallery of the Center for Culture and Art Aleksinac, and it was wonderfully organized and curated. Two of the pieces hanging there as canvas prints – ‘La Perla’ (The Pearl) and ‘Il Regno (The Kingdom)’, both parts of the extensive ‘Bianco/Nero’ series – were selected by the creative committee of ARTBOX.PROJECT Venezia 1.0, and presented digitally at Tana Art Space in Venice, May 1 – May 31. Among 5 other collages that also reached ‘City of Bridges’, ‘Ultrafantasia: The Spirits Gathering’ was the most successful, winning the place among the 10 finalists, and being on display until the end of July.
‘I Pirati della Superluna’ (The Pirates of the Supermoon) was featured in Vol. 1 of the 50th issue of Artist Portfolio Magazine (in May), and earning a double spread in the 51st edition (October) were ‘A Graceful Apparition’ and ‘Herald's Reincarnation’. Summer and autumn were marked by three group exhibitions – ‘The Demigod of Ominous Silence’ and its counterpart ‘La Sensualité du Narcissisme’ animated by Martin Gerigk, at the Festival of Contemporary Collage Kaos (in Kranj, Slovenia, June 10 – August 13), ‘A Hazy Memory of Ariadna’s Song’ + ‘Labirinto a Cappella’ at Echo of Music (art colony in Negotin, Serbia, July/September) and finally, ‘The Last Fairy Tale’ + ‘A Landscape with Three Convergent Suns Dying Inside’ at Collage 2022 (online, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, October).
Demigod of Ominous Silence
I was pretty excited to see my short debut ‘Untold’ on the big screen at the 69th edition of Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival that also premiered ‘Once I Passed’ – the second collaboration between composer / filmmaker Martin Gerigk and I, and being in the company of friends made the watching experience richer. The latter film was officially selected by nearly 100 festivals and shown all around the globe, winning a number of awards: Cinematic Achievement Award (Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival, Greece), Best Film (Feedback Animation Film & Screenplay Festival, Canada), Jury Special Award (FilmArte Festival, Germany), Best Short + Best Animation Film (Golden Harvest Film Festival, Japan), Best Experimental Film (Annual Tiburon International Film Festival, USA), Best International Experimental, Innovation & Creativity Award and Best Score (Canberra Short Film Festival, Australia), and the list doesn’t end here. Martin invited me to collaborate on another project – an audio-visual essay ‘Demi-Gods’ – which also received some accolades, from Honorable Mention at NFT | New Media | Experimental | Digital Arts Film Festival (England) to Best Experimental Film at Sipontum Arthouse International Film Festival (Italy) and Dubai Film Fest (UAE).
The Soviet avant-garde-inspired poster I designed for Martin Del Carpio’s upcoming short ‘Vuk: Murder in a Blue World’ was awarded ‘1st runner-up’ in the ‘Best Poster’ category at the fall edition of Alternative Film Festival (Canada), and got ‘Honorable Mention’ at the November edition of Best IFF organized by students and teachers from universities, colleges and schools from around the world.
‘Bianco/Nero’ was revived on a couple of occasions, to approach its 521st ‘chapter’, and three more collage series were born – ‘Acrostic’, ‘Les Fleurs du Mal’ and ‘Melancholia (Non) Grata’.
Energized by these precious memories, I wish you a year of good health, tons of luck, and perhaps, a miraculous utopian twist? Happy 2023!
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