Arhiv Vojvodine, Žarka Vasiljevića 2a, Novi Sad
22. 02 – 02.03. 2021.
Ciklus slika Izmeštanja Dragane B. Stevanović nastao je nezavisno, ali paralelno sa radom na njenom doktorsko-umetničkom projektu „Pokret i pogled – izvođenje linije iz vizuelne, zvučne i kinestetičke beleške“. Iako Izmeštanja predstavljaju umetničin prvi nefiguralni ciklus, veza sa telesnim, antropomorfnim aspektom i dalje je prisutna – kao i u njenoj dosadašnjoj praksi, dimenzija radova određena je ličnim fizičkim karakteristikama umetnice, njenom visinom, širinom obuhvata i snagom, kao emotivna, mentalna i fizička ekstenzija umetničkog bića.
Stevanovićeva preispituje mogućnosti percepcije umetničkog izraza iskazanog kvalitetima linije, ali i čitljivost radova postavljenih u različite moguće položaje (rotacija u odnosu na površinu zida). Idejom okretanja/rotiranja slike bavili su se u prošlosti mnogi umetnici – najpoznatiji je Man Ray sa svojim “roto slikama” (rotoreliefs) koje su imale za cilj da učine vidljivim nestalnost forme i hipnotišu posmatrača (preteča današnjih “spin paintings” od kojih su možda najpoznatiji radovi Damiena Hirsta), kao i Georg Baselitz sa svojim Obrnutim slikama ili “Rotation paintings” Keitha Wilsona. Za razliku od njih, Dragana B. Stevanović teži da ispita današnji potencijal sagledivosti i prirode medija slike i crteža, izvlačeći u prvi plan kompleksnost procesa stvaranja umetničkog rada koji podrazumeva njegovo iščitavanje sa više strana. Umetnica ukida isključivu determinisanost samo jednog, suštinski nametnutog, prostornog pozicioniranja rada i potencira promenljivost i drugačije mogućnosti percepcije, poštujući potencijal različitih tumačenja i individualnog osećaja za kompoziciju svakog čoveka.
Umetnica smatra da su “procesualnost i samoanaliza radnog procesa važni aspekti ovog ciklusa. Telesna gestualnost (koja se izvodi i levom i desnom rukom, ili sa obe ruke istovremeno) i naizmeničnom fizičkom rotacijom slikane/crtane površine, dovodi do postepene pojavnosti, odnosno uobličavanja formi stvorenih gestom na površini platna. U tom trenutku prekidam rad i analiziram trenutnu „količinu vizuelne sugestivnosti“ kako bih ukinula formiranje očiglednih/prepoznatljivih formi. Potom se ovaj postupak ponavlja“. Uklanjanjem svakog prisećanja ili prepoznavanja figuralnosti kroz brisanje makar i tragova mimetičke insinuacije, Stevanovićeva prečišćava umetnički izraz i fokusira pažnju posmatrača na sam postupak stvaranja.
U svetlu današnje površnosti i promenljivosti informacija, privlačnost Draganinih radova zasniva se na snazi istinite i snažne komunikacije autora sa publikom. Draganina iskrena slikarska praksa ogoljava umetnički poziv i samog umetnika, iznoseći pred posmatrača sve uzbudljivosti postuapka istraživanja koja prate stvaralački proces i prethode konačnom ishodu – realizovanom umetničkom delu.
Ivona Fregl, istoričar umetnosti
Dragana B. Stevanović’s cycle of paintings Transpositions was created independently, but simultaneously with the work on her doctoral-artistic project ‘Movement and View – Drawing a Line from a Visual, Sound and Kinesthetic Note’. Although Transpositions represents the artist’s first non-figurative cycle, the connection with the physical, anthropomorphic aspect is still present – as in her previous practise, the dimension of the artworks is determined by the artist’s physical characteristics, height, the width of her embrace and strength, as an emotional, mental and physical extension of her artistic being.
Stevanović re-examines the potentialities of perception of artistic expression manifested by the line qualities and the legibility of artworks placed in different potential positions (rotation in respect to the wall surface). In the past, many artists practised the idea of rotating the images – the most famous being ‘rotoreliefs’ by Man Ray who intended to make the instability of form visible and hypnotize the observer (the forerunner of today’s ‘spin paintings’ out of which the most famous artworks may be of Damien Hirst), as well as Georg Baselitz with his Inverted paintings or ‘Rotation paintings’ by Keith Wilson. Unlike them, Dragana B. Stevanović seeks to explore the contemporary potential of observability and the nature of the painting and drawing media, highlighting the complexity of the process of creating an artwork that involves interpreting it from multiple sides. The artist abolishes the exclusive determinism of the only one, practically imposed, spatial position of work of art and emphasizes the variability and different possibilities of perception, respecting the potential of different interpretations and individual sense of the composition of each person.
In addition to the possibility of rotating the painting regarding the 2D surface of the wall, Stevanović also “turns” the work inside out, transposing the interior to the outside and vice versa. In Transpositions cycle, the process of artistic creation is on the very surface, in the foreground of readability. The emphasis is on the visualization of actions and reflections that represent a constitutive part of the act of creation per se, as they form the backbone of the structure of compositions in this cycle.
Stevanović’s elaboration of the visual ‘narrative’ is based on the study of the initially recorded gesture, which she studiously investigates through ‘ascertainment’, ‘reinterpretation’ and ‘notes’. By repeating the same gesture, she applies new layers of paint (‘ascertainment’), and by reducing the dimensions and multiplying already existing strokes (‘reinterpretation’) with different drawing techniques (acrylic paint applied with a brush, oil paint stick) she creates visual ‘notes’ that appear on in the same place of the original gestural move (one on top of the other), or in a different location within the same composition, always acting as an echo whose sound is different from the original. With her new cycle Transpositions, Stevanović re-examines not only her own deep intuitive but also cognitive insights.
The artist believes that ‘processuality and auto-analysis of the work process are important aspects of this series. Physical gesturality (performed with both left and right hand or with both hands simultaneously) and alternating physical rotation of the painted/drawn surface leads to a gradual appearance (shaping) of the forms created by the gesture on the canvas surface. At that point, I stop working and analyze the current ‘amount of visual suggestiveness’ to eliminate the formation of obvious/recognizable forms. Then this procedure is repeated.’ Stevanović removes any recollection or recognition of the figural and erases even the smallest traces of mimetic insinuation, thus purifying artistic expression and focuses the observer’s attention on the very process of creation.
In light of today’s superficiality and variability of information, the appeal of Dragana’s artworks is based on the truthful and powerful communication with the audience. Dragana’s honest painting practice exposes the artistic vocation as well as the artist herself, presenting to the observer all the excitements of the research analyses that accompany the creative process and precedes the outcome – the accomplished work of art.
Ivona Fregl, art historian
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