Exhibition De-Lighted in Gallery ULUS (Association of Fine Artist of Serbia) Belgrade.
de-lighted
LIT BY SCREEN LIGHT
Ivan Milenkovic is a young artist who has already taken noticeable artistic steps and his current opus could be divided into two parts. The first group of artworks focuses on cultural objects, mostly museums; the museums were closed for many years and this provoked the artist to react and use his painting skills in order to fight for the right of citizens and artists to learn more about their cultural heritage. Closed museums are represented as dysfunctional packets and a clear message is sent to the authorities about the social need for continued exposure and consumption of cultural heritage and modern artistic products within institutions. In addition to other forms of social pressure, echoes of Ivan's artworks, which have been on display on multiple occasions, have had an effect on the speeding up of construction works. The reconstruction of cultural institutions is perhaps the most serious of duties a society must undertake.
The second group of artworks deals with the phenomenon of screen culture - the socio-political, psychological, artistic and aesthetic aspects.
Historians, sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists of the future will be able to peer into the true character of our digital revolution and its effects on society and the lives of individuals; it is only then that we will know all the interactive consequences which change the paradigm of civilization. Today, however, we are in direct contact - we are participants in the formation of civilization and, as everyone, there's not much we can do but let the charming effects of easy communication and visual simulation of the outside world take over.
Unlike the everyman, Ivan took upon himself an obligation to deal with the problems of modern technology. Artists do have that ability to condense the aspects and meanings of reality and to objectify the phenomenon, re-represent it and return it to the public in a tightly packed form of visually articulated messages. The paintings of Ivan Milenkovic offer us a glimpse into the very essence of digital revolution.
The author constructs the paintings as different, although phenomenologically similar situations, where people's personalities permanently interact with the magic of the screen. The contexts used are not repetitive; on the contrary, the different manifestations of technology use illustrate a widespread pathology which is becoming a global issue.
He defines our relationship with the screen as an everyday ritual which repeats itself permanently, as a walk across the Mobius strip. This pulls our personality inside a vicious cycle of fascination and addiction; the tiny shimmering windows on the screen offer everything: knowledge, games, joy, pleasure, possibilities to connect the past, the present and the future with ease and a million worlds at our disposal to explore. Actually, is there anything like this?
As a counterbalance to the fascination with shimmering light of digital screens there is a question the artist poses – are there negative consequences? What is being lost in this obsessive relationship which overwhelms most modern people?
By using the classical technique of chiaroscurro (contrast of light and dark) he aims to dramatize the visual exposure and emphasize the strength of the relationship between man and machine – this in turn points to a religious, almost magical connection we have with our devices. The artist, as the knot which ties everything together, reminds us how we feel and this solitude is deep, almost cosmic. The strong relationship between personality and technology enables dynamic and instant virtual communication; this leads to a lack of direct, physical contact. Solitude is an unexpected consequence of hyper-communication.
The paradox which emerges from the relationship of real and virtual is formulated by Milenkovic as a new artistic algorithm which is supposed to alarm us and increase our awareness about the conditioning, perhaps even entrapment, of humankind by modern technology.
Slavko Timotijevic
Curator and Art Historian
Exhibition (Un)Natural at Prodajna Gallery in Belgrade 2022.
(Un) Natural
The series of artworks titled ‘Light of technology’ was made by observing the environment where people are obsessed by mobile phones - one of the most popular ways of social communication which is connecting and alienating people at the same time. Modern society experiences life as fast-paced and time as instant; society thus forces individuals to accept the progress of technology which, on the surface, solves some of our problems but also creates new ones. Is the abundance of information enabled by our phones an ideal world for us? Or, is the person communicating via social networks actually creating an ideal illusion for himself/herself?
The focus of my artworks are people enthralled by the virtual world, seduced by modern devices where the only source of light originates from the displays showing us a better, parallel existence. Those people are lonely and deeply focused on their virtual worlds, their personal parallel universes. Their intimate space alienated from the rest of the world is juxtaposed with Nature, an unignorable constant of our existence. ‘(Un)Natural’ is a new series of paintings initiated as a logical continuation of ‘Light of technology’ and it further explores the issue of alienation.
COVID-19 caught most of humanity unprepared. Its unknown properties and the many victims it caused led to panicked behavior and further reliance on gadgets and computers to ease the uncertainty and ignorance. Man was further sucked into a frenzy of virtual information and disinformation. The political classes, equally ignorant as to how to deal with the virus, relied on social distancing, social isolation and lockdowns to solve the problem. Life was changed, new strict rules of behavior were enforced, a new regime of living was introduced.
Hidden behind a protective mask, hidden inside the cloister of their home (if they are lucky enough to have one), humans fear the invisible killer lurking everywhere. Hiding and isolation is for our protection, after all. The psychological pressure endured due to social isolation, emotional distance, police curfew and overall state of emergency, causes a need in people to get away from the concrete prison of cities and go back to Nature where they feel more free; this is for some the only exit from a nearly psychotic situation. Will going back to Nature really help, however? Or is it just a seemingly good solution? It is certain, however, that lockdowns have made people even more blinded by the light of technology.
The newest artworks portray figures of people contrasted with the beauty of Nature which has become a secondary thing in comparison to the ever-increasing new content on the screens of smartphones. Portraits of people with masks have been painted during the COVID-19 crysis when direct communication between people was reduced to a minimum and social isolation had a major psychological impact on individuals; going back to Nature seemed like the only solution to alleviate suffering and feel free again.
Ivan Milenković