EUROPEAN CONTEX TS OF THE 20 T H CENTURY ART IN VOJVODINA The Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 2008 Book Concept: Miško Šuvaković i Dragomir Ugren Editors: Miško Šuvaković i Dragomir Ugren Editorial Staff: Živko Grozdanić, Ješa Denegri, Vladimir Mitrović, Miško Šuvaković i Dragomir Ugren Authors: Marija Cindori, Ješa Denegri, Nevena Daković, Nikola Dedić, Milica Doroški, Sanja Kojić Mladenov, Slo- bodan Ivkov, Olga Kovačev Ninkov, Kristian Lukić, Jelena Matić, Nebojša Milenković, Vladimir Mitrović, Miroslav Mušić, Ferenc Nemet, Gordana Nikolić, Tijana Palkovljević, Lidija Prišing, Milica Radulović, Miško Šuvaković, Slađana Varagić, Ana Vilenica, Suzana Vuksanović Original text selection: Miško Šuvaković Review: dr Aleksandar Ignjatović i dr Nikola Šuica TABLE OF CONTENTS: Vojvodinian Art Space 7 Ješa Denegri The 20th Century Art in Vojvodina: Contradictions and Hybrid Characteristics of the 20th Century Art in Vojvodina 13 Miško Šuvaković  Ješa Denegri Vojvodinian artistic space It should be said at the very beginning that the use and the sults, in a �ord – their o�n opuses, artists as unique personali� advocation of terms such as “Vojvodinian art”, “art in Vojvo� ties – every�here, and in Vojvodina as �ell – represent the ��ey dina”, “Vojvodinian art scene”, “Vojvodinian artistic space”, indicator of artistic processes and artistic values. Only from an “Vojvodinian visual arts space” and of similar ones does not a posteriori understanding of these processes and values, and have any connotations relating to everyday politics, particularly not from an a priori constructed model of its supposed charac� those coming from the standpoints of “autonomy” or “seces� teristic qualities, can realistic insight into the identity of each sion” from the Serbian or Belgrade artistic situation, nor does separate cultural and artistic environment ensue.1 it intend to suggest the relationship bet�een the “margin” and Comprehensive, diverse and indispensable material for the the “center” center”” from �hich this supposed margin tries to brea�� free understanding of the genesis and the developmental currents and separate. Contemporary pluralism�based history of modern of different language modalities and ideological standpoints art gladly discusses “comparative histories”, “parallel narratives”, �ithin the modern/contemporary art in Vojvodina �as col� “separate �orlds”, “equal�footed developments”, and each of lected and analysed in the catalogues to the follo�ing e�hibi� these (histories, narratives, �orlds or developments) in such a tions: Slikarstvo u Vojvodini ��������� (Painting in Vojvodina frame�or�� has its o�n speci��c features. �othing else and noth� ���������)2, Likovna umetnost u Vojvodini �������5� (Visual ing more is required from the artistic issues and artistic produc� Arts in Vojvodina �������5�)3, Slikarstvo u Vojvodini ��55� tion that originate in the geographical and cultural sphere of ��72 (Painting in Vojvodina ��55���72)4, Skulptura u Vojvodini Vojvodina, only that they are recognized and appreciated – by (Sculpture in Vojvodina)5, Grafika u Vojvodini (Graphic Arts in themselves and by others – as speci��c, unique, different, in other Vojvodina)6, Grupa KÔD (∃�KÔD (The Group “Code”, “(∃”,““ ∃� �ords, as an artistic situation independent and equal to all oth� Code”” ) 7, Aktuelnosti u slikarstvu Vojvodine ��73����3 (Current ers both in principle and in its starting point, �ithin the �idest Issues in the Painting of Vojvodina ��73����3)8, Centralnoevrop� possible present�day global and multicultural conte�t. ski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi ��2��2��� (Central Euro� To discuss the speci��c qualities of modern/contemporary Avant�Garde)9, and Fatalne pean Aspects of the Vojvodinian Avant�Garde Vojvodinian art does not mean to discuss its prede��ned or devedesete (Fatal Nineties)10, all of them organized by the �al� predetermined identity (�hich �as once believed to respond to lery of Contemporary Visual Arts, later renamed �useum of “lo�land painting” or the “landscape of plains”, in the sense of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina in �ovi Sad. �umerous other the imperative of “rootedness in homeland”), nor should one solo, monographic and retrospective e�hibitions of leading insist on the particular qualities that arise from different ethnic protagonists of the Vojvodinian art scene represent another communities, their traditions and mentalities, �hich indeed are source of this material,, along �ith a number of thematic and characteristic of Vojvodina’s multinational, social and cultural authorial critical e�hibitions, but the data on these �ould be con��guration. For, �hen modern and contemporary art are con� simply impossible to quote here. cerned, differences bet�een one environment and another origi� Any future historicization of artistic events �ithin the nate primarily in the individual traits of the artists themselves as geographical and cultural space of Vojvodina must ta��e into the indisputable protagonists of the artistic �orld, �hose artistic account all of this material provided by art history, and even pro��les, the �ays in �hich they are formed and the problems from the most super��cial of insights into these events a conclu� they deal �ith in their �or�� are al�ays signi��cantly and e�clu� sion unavoidably suggests itself: �hat is at hand is a rich and sively individual, simply because in modern and contemporary fertile continuity of artistic life, lasting over a hundred years, art only as such, individual, can they ever e�ist. �ith an array of generations of artists during this period, and Artists from several consecutive generations, �ith their each of these generations internalized current artistic e�peri� o�n characteristics and personal obsessions, challenges, re� ences in their closer or �ider environment,, in accordance �ith 7  the possibilities and circumstances of the given historical con� practices in several Vojvodinian to�ns �ere, in places recently te�t, and performed its o�n creative underta��ings. E�actly in torn from oblivion and illuminated to the smallest details these underta��ings lies the origin of the entire issue of Vojvo� o�ing to e�tensive historiographic research.11 Based on this dinian art or art in Vojvodina throughout the 20th century. research,, a��er more than seven decades, �hat surfaces is an e�� The prevailing stereotype concerning modern art in Vojvo� citing atmosphere spar��ed by the publication of the magazine dina is the model of art that e�ists in a small multinational and Ut in �ovi Sad bet�een 1922 and 1925, pervading the matinees multicultural environment, in �hich this art comes to life at in �ovi Sad (held to mar�� the publication of the ��rst issue of the intersection of different in��uences that originate in larger Ut on 1st April 1922), and in Subotica (9th �ovember 1922), in neighboring sources. These in��uences initially came from Veli��i Beč��ere��, and perhaps in Sombor and Srbobran (there is �unich and Budapest, their sources then transferred to Zagreb no reliable data about the last t�o). All of these can be seen as and Belgrade as centers of education, �here Vojvodinian artists an integral part of the spiritual climate and public appearances stayed for shorter or longer periods and e�hibited their �or��, by the representatives of the Hungarian activist and Dadaist �hile all of these in��uences in fact shared the common root in movement, led by Lajos �assa�� and Sandor Bart. the e�periences of visual arts aesthetics of �aris, as the capital The period from mid�1930s on�ard and throughout the of European �odernism in the ��rst half of the 20th century. In 1940s is referred to in the entire European historical and the second half of the 20th century, Vojvodinian artists �ere artistic periodization as the period of “return to order”, �ith in��uenced primarily by local artistic schools, in Belgrade and many variations in each of the separate local cultural scenes. more recently �ovi Sad,, only a fe� of them in Zagreb or Sara� Essentially identical or similar processes �ere in motion jevo, or, on the other hand, came from circles outside of the �ithin the Serbian artistic scene and the Vojvodinian scene profession,, li��e many members of the Conceptualist groups. as �ell as its component, and the painting practices �ithin In the conte�t of such a comple� and in many �ays distinctive them are termed by our historiography “E�pressionism of social and cultural bac��ground, during a century of e�ist� color,, coloristic Realism, Intimism and poetic Realism” (�. ence there emerged in Vojvodina an artistic scene of unique B. �rotić)..12 These terms are more or less suitable for naming a composition, �ithin �hich the reactions to outer stimuli �ere conceptual turn to�ards subjective painting that relied on the signi��ed by the appearance of a number of original and valu� artist’s personal e�perience of the nature that surrounded him, able individual and sometimes group artistic forms.. his o�n living environment, his outloo�� on the people, objects Regardless of a certain local signi��cance of the art of the and scenes from the everyday,, all of this artistically shaped by “prelude period” (as �. Arsić terms the period in Vojvodin� the cultivation of pictorial culture according to the ideals of ian art roughly bet�een 1890 and 1920), a modern typology of spirit and taste of the �arisian school in the period bet�een the painting based on Western European, primarily �arisian artis� t�o �orld �ars. This type of domestic painting �as seen, in the tic achievements, adopted directly or indirectly, �as achieved sociological sense, as “the highest e�pression of citizen art” (L. in the 1920s, �ithin the circle of authors �ith stri��ingly Trifunović)..13 The advance of such a notion of painting in the modernist features, �ho �ere active in Vojvodina or �ere na� corpus of Serbian modern art �as announced by The Sixth Yu� tive Vojvodinians, including Dobrović, Šumanović, �onjović,, goslav Exhibition, held in �ovi Sad in 1927. Leading artists of Radović, Balaž and Taba��ović. The receptions and realizations this style of painting, �ho �ere tied to the Vojvodinian artistic in question �ere those of moderately Cubist and Cubist�E�� environment in the 1920s and 1930s by being and e�hibiting pressionist e�periences, further e�plorations of Lhote’s version in Vojvodina, included the coloristic Dobrović and �onjović,, of post�Cubism, the application of the technical operations the neo�Classicist Šumanović, the Intimist Radović, the late of the Cubist collage, the resonances of Hungarian �odern� Šumanović of the Šid period, �omorišac �ith his Self�portrait ism of the group “Osmorica” (“The Eight”) and the social art from 1932, Taba��ović, �ho precisely during his stay in �ovi in the spirit of the �erman New Reality; that is to say,, they Sad bet�een 1930 and 1937 renounced the ideas of social art, �ere renderings of quite different, yet pronouncedly European �hich had its pea�� in the e�quisite painting Genius from 1929, artistic e�pressions. Consequently, o�ing to the �ide ��no�l� and came closer to a certain type of Intimism, �ith a clima� edge, curiosity and courage of several leading young artists, the in Blue Inn from 1937, and ��nally Šerban and Šuput, �hose processes of modernization in the Vojvodinian artistic space dramatic Skulls from 1939, immediately before the outbrea�� of spread considerably and quic��ly joined the contemporary World War II, symbolically put an end not only to a period in international artistic developments of the time. painting and art, but a historical period as �ell. The e�treme position of historical Avant�garde �garde garde move� Similarly to other art environments in post��ar Yugoslavia, ments �ithin international conte�tualization stems from ho� the socialist ocialist Realist episode did not miss the Vojvodinian scene surprisingly up�to�date the appearance of activist and Dadaist of the time either, manifesting itself in ideologically motivated  Vojvodinian artistic space �ritings about the function of art, rather than in the humble Such �as the case �ith the appearance of Informel and artistic production. Amidst this intolerant situation there �as �atter painting at the beginning of the 1960s in Vojvodina, �onjović, �ho, despite trying to adjust his distinctive artistic �hich, primarily due to the lac�� of timely support in theory and language to the ne� subject matter (in his paintings Liberation promotional criticism, remained until recent historical revalori� of Sombor, 1944 and Construction of the Bridge near Bogojevo, zations unjustly overshado�ed by the related phenomenon of 1947), �as not spared from contestations and accusations on Informel in Belgrade.18 In the chronicles and the history of In� the part of the propagators of socialist Realism. In an alto� formel painting in Serbia, several ��ey developments are associat� gether different social and political climate a��er 1948, �ith his ed �ith the events hosted in Vojvodina: the ��rst solo e�hibition e�hibition Ljudi (People), 1951, �onjović secured the priority of of the leading representative of Serbian Informel painting, B. the visual over the thematic approach to painting, as �as indi� �rotić, �as held at the Tribina mladih (Youth Tribune) in �ovi cated in his t�o Still Lives, 1953,, emblematic of that time. From Sad in �ovember 1959, featuring a group e�hibition entitled the mid�1960s on�ard there �as in Vojvodina an onset and Đokonda nije ona ista (Gioconda Is Not Who She Used to Be) in spread of the predominance of moderate “socialist �odern� 1962, as a joint appearance of the members of Belgrade Informel ism” rendered in practice by a gro�ing artistic class gathered and the Mediala; at the same time, in Sombor, an e�hibition �as under the institutional �ing of the Association of Fine Artists. organized under the name Dvadeset sedam savremenih slikara The manner of organization of artistic life in the 20th century (Twenty�Seven Contemporary Painters), �ith participants from particularly characteristic of the Vojvodinian scene of the Yugoslavia,, �hich �as the last date in the ascending trajectory 50s �as the emergence of numerous painting colonies, �hose of this innovative trend in domestic artistic conditions,, right be� activities had controversial results.14 fore the famous political attac�� on abstract art.19 Along �ith the It has been observed that the phenomenon of the domes� early �ovi Sad phase of B. �rotić,, �ho �ent on to realize most of tic “moderate �odernism” “met the requirements of artistic his opus in Belgrade, other crucial chapters in the history of Vo� autonomy, but also the need of the ruling political and party jvodinian Informel painting and �atter painting �ere contained system to neutralize art in the aesthetic, cultural, social and in the mutually separate and independent contributions of Acs, political sense.”.””15 �etri�� and Bogdan��a �oznanović. This observation corresponds in principle to the de� An entirely independent development �ithin ne�er Vo� bate concerning the appearance and the notion of “socialist jvodinian art, once placed �ithin the realms of the so�called Aestheticism”, as this characteristic art form is ambiguously “�aive painting” (�hose leading representative is still Feješ), interpreted, that is, both positively and negatively, in Serbian and today e�plored in the light of “individual mythologies”, is post��ar criticism by �. B. �rotić and L. Trifunović.16 This the “Bosilj Bosilj phenomenon”. This “affair”, �hich remains un� �as, namely, the mainstream in the visual art disciplines, that solved and unsolvable before the history of modern art and is, painting, sculpture and graphic arts, on the Serbian art art criticism, despite all interpretative effort, con��rms, in a scene of the 50s and 60s,, �ith numerous individual e�amples truly surprising manner, that the source of remar��able art in the Vojvodinian artistic situation of the time as �ell. can appear �here it is least e�pected according to the usual The follo�ing remar�� of �. Arsić is indicative �hen it predictions.20 A separate conte�tualization of Bosilj’s artistic comes to the modernization of Vojvodinian painting bet�een standpoint is suggested in the provisory phenomenon of the 1955 and 1972: “�ainting in this region did not lose the traits “Šid Trio” (Šumanović, Šumanović,, Bosilj, �angelos). 21 associated �ith Vojvodinian idiosyncrasies,, but it did not gain A development on the Vojvodinian art scene that repre� (as it �as at one political point �ished and demanded) the sented a decisive step a�ay from the local moderate �odern� meaning of autonomous Vojvodinian painting. �ainters from ism, and the local Informel, and �hich, as a result, represented Vojvodina al�ays formed a relatively de��ned and, spea��ing �ithin its environment a radical “epistemological cut” in favor in terms of visual arts and their program, articulated artistic of neo� and post�Avant�garde formations, �as the phenomenon circle of several generations of painters �ith different ori� of Vojvodinian Te�tualism and the �ost�Object and Conceptual entations. The painters in question have a similar repertoire art of the Bosch+Bosch group from Subotica (�at��ović, Szom� of motifs, li��e a constant of Antaeus�li��e nature, as part of a bathy, Szalma, Czerni��;; �ere��eš, Ladi�� and others), the groups crucial connection bet�een them and their invariable readi� KÔD (Radojičić, Bogdanović, �andić, Vranešević, Tišma, ness to respond to the challenges of the landscape spaces and �ocijančić) and (∃ (�opicl, Ra��ović, Drča, Živanović) from atmospheres of Vojvodina.”17 Outside of this dominant local �ovi Sad, and ��nally the authorial duo under the name of Ver� artistic climate, there e�isted only rarely single lonely varia� bumprogram (�ulić��attioni), active in Ruma. This “cut” �as tions that e�plored possible ans�ers to more urgent and radical contained, above all, in the changed status of the artistic prod� artistic enquiries. uct, �hich �as transferred from the aesthetic object, a painting, Vojvodinian artistic space   sculpture or graphics,, into the realms of mental propositions, and revalorization of earlier artistic developments, as �ell as in bodily actions, interventions that too�� place outside the gallery, redirecting those that �ere to yet to come.26 in nature or in the city, including the social critical behavior of To�ards the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s, the the artist, �ho spo��e in the ��rst person, challenging, as a result, �orld of contemporary art and culture on the �hole �as deeply a �hole myriad of adverse repercussions, misunderstandings, affected by another signi��cant change of the overall paradigm: resistances, prohibitions, and drastic jailing measures against this �as the period of the emergence and unstoppable spread t�o members of �ovi Sad’s Conceptualist groups, incompre� of a spiritual climate �e call “postmodern”. The reasons for hensible even today. This leads to a justi��ed conclusion that the this landmar�� change �ere many, ranging from political and developments in question had, or e�hibited, subversive traits economic, to civilizational and cultural. The symptoms of this �ith direct or indirect political implications. At the moment of change �ithin the area of visual arts manifested themselves as their emergence, these developments �ere altogether ignored by the “revival of painting” and the “return to painting”, led by the professional artistic class and the critics favorable to�ards the �erman neo�E�pressionism �E�pressionism and the Italian trans�Avant� it, only to �itness over time no less than three �aves of histori� garde, and the speci��c modalities of such a turn to�ards one’s cal revalorization, the ��rst �ith the e�hibition Nova umjetnicka tradition – justi��ed by the idea of genius loci – did not miss praksa ��66–��78 (New Artistic Practice ��66���78) in Zagreb almost any of the local artistic environments. The Vojvodinian in 197822, then in the retrospectives of the groups KÔD and (∃, art scene of the eighties �as no e�ception, and it also featured (∃�KÔD and the Verbumprogram duo in 199523, and ��nally �ith numerous representatives and follo�ers of this unburdened the e�hibition Centralnoevropski aspeksti vojvođanskih avangardi pluralist mood, characterized by “the need for a painting.” .””27 ��2��2���, in 200224 and, in its �a��e, the monographic publica� Li��e once �ith moderate �odernism, one could spea�� of tions on three protagonists of the Vojvodinian ne� art of the moderate �ostmodernism, or even anti��odernism, ��odernism, Retro� 1970s – �at��ović, Szombathy and �opicl.25 garde and retro�Avant�garde. �Avant�garde. In such a situation, authors Vojvodinian Te�tualism and Conceptualism (to use these �ho brought into their painting the e�istential input and the terms, �hich are o��en in use but are in fact inappropriately and operational e�perience of the art of the seventies �ere rare, but overly simpli��ed) represented an integral part of a �ider, related precisely these artists �ere the sole entirely original e�ponents Yugoslav artistic situation of the 1970s,, and together they too�� of the life and artistic mood e�pressed through a psychosis of part in the spiritual and cultural atmosphere created as a result authentic traumatic “horrors of the language of the painting”, of the refusal of youth and intellectual minorities to accept in as �as the case �ith t�o former members of Subotica’s group advance the e�istential conditions that �ere given or forced Bosch+Bosch. One of them �as �ere��eš, as the ��rst and e�is� upon them. In such a boiling social and political atmosphere, tentially justi��ed convert from the ne� art of the early 70s into there emerged in Vojvodina the ne� art of the seventies as a the ne� painting of the late 80s,, and the other �as �at��ović problem phenomenon synchronous �ith international artistic in his dramatic confessional epilogue in small format dra�� currents and events, independent of the Belgrade artistic scene, ings and oil pastels in the cycle titled Ja tako slikam (I paint like �hich it even preceded slightly and differed from stri��ingly in that), from the last years of his life.28 character and in the consequences of its artistic orientations. Finally, the 90s,, the last decade of the previous century, the This �as art created by theoretically educated and ideologi� period of the Serbian and Vojvodinian art scene, �hich is called cally a�are young authors, �hose education, erudition and s��ill “the the art of post�socialism, the epoch of entropy”29, for no� con� (in the areas of literature, linguistics, philosophy, architecture,, clude the entire centennial ��o� of artistic events of the region, roc�� music) radically changed the image of the modern art� e�plored in these considerations. This is a situation,, �hich,, ist, from someone �ell�versed in formative techniques, into a observed from every e�pected point of vie�, seems parado�i� self�con��dent critical intellectual and a �illing outcast from the cal, almost impossible and abnormal. �amely,, in the time of a ruling cultural, social and political currents, �hich they strove complete crisis of the Serbian society in the 90s,, �hich naturally to oppose and create a countercultural position, generationally affected Vojvodina as �ell, �e can observe an unusually fertile interconnected,, in the spirit of the “ne� sensibility” of 1968 artistic climate, in artistic production itself as �ell as in the and its corresponding microcollectives �ith shared lifestyles organization of numerous events, and in the ideas and practical and socialising habits. Thus, �hen Vojvodinian neo� and post� underta��ings of the critics.30 This production �as characterized Avant�garde movements are concerned, they cannot be seen by pluralistic “complete immensity” of language, media, acts, as a single artistic trend, ne� for its time, but rather a special separate authorial poetics and standpoints, among �hich one social and cultural phenomenon that transformed the notions should mention Szombathy, Ugren, �rozdanić, Santrač, �ulić, of contemporary art �ithin its surroundings in many �ays, �rđa��uzmanov, Š��ulec, Jelen��ović, �ojić, Antić, �avlović, causing considerable repercussions,, both in the questioning �ar��uš, �rubanov, V. To��in, �. Teo��lović, Asocijacija Apso� 10 Vojvodinian artistic space lutno, and Led Art. Among these one should point to the pro��le veka i početkom XXI veka; contents: J. Denegri, Opstanak umetnosti u vremenu krize; N. Milenković, Ludi zbunjeni i još neki..., Jedan mogući pogled na vojvođansku umetnost of artists equally devoted to their o�n production and to activist devedesetih; S. Mladenov, Neizolovani proctor; S. Stepanov, Devedesete i godine posle. Umetnost u zatvorenom društvu. Poricanje zatvorenog sistema umetnosti; S. Vuksanović behavior as they ran galleries and museums, started and edited Soleša, 1999-2001. Verzije: Kraj. Početak; J. Denegri, Vojvođanski umetnički prostor magazines, e�hibited engaged political vie�points that ena� devedesetih. Modeli lokalno-globalno u uslovima tranzicije; M. Šuvaković, Umetnost i fatalne slabosti kulture. Rasprava o statusu i funkcijama ”umetnosti“ i ”kulture“ na kraju XX i bled them to resist the adverse position of “art �ithin a closed početkom XXI veka; Novi Sad, September 2001. 11 V. Golubović, Dada u Subotici, a section in Književnost, 7-8, Belgrade, 1990, pp. 1383- society”, such as Ugren or �rozdenović. Events that mar��ed 1423; M. Cindori, Aktivistička dadaistička matineja u Subotici, in Centralnoevropski aspekti the developments on the Vojvodinian art scene of the 90s vojvođanskih avangardi (exhibition catalogue), Novi Sad, September 2002, pp. 30-49. 12 M. B. Protić, Srpska umetnost XX veka, I. Belgrade, Nolit, 1970, M. B. Protić, Četvrta included numerous e�hibitions in the Contemporary �allery decenija: ekspresionizam boje, poetski realizam, intimizam, koloristički realizam, in Četvrta decenija – ekspresionizam boje – poetski realizam (exhibition catalogue), Belgrade, in �ančevo31, the Biennial of Young Artists in Vršac,, launched Museum of Contemporary Art, June-July 1971. and subsequently held several times, and other e�hibitions in 13 L. Trifunović, Srpsko slikarstvo 1900-1950, Belgrade, Nolit, 1973. 14 B. Duranci, Umetničke kolonije, Subotica, Osvit, 1989. the �on��ordija Center in Vršac, including Energije – savremena 15 M. Šuvaković, Pojmovnik suvremene umjetnosti, Zagreb, Horetzky, 2005, p. 646. 16 J. Denegri, Šta je to (bio) socijalistički estetizam?, Dnevnik, 1965, Novi Sad, 13th January umetnost u Vojvodini (Energies – Contemporary Art in Vojvo� 1999; J. Denegri, Kontroverze oko ”socijalističkog estetizma“, Sveske, 45-6, Pančevo, 1999, dina) in 1995 and Prestupničke forme (Transgressive Forms) in pp. 135-140. 17 M. Arsić, Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1995-1972, Novi Sad, 1989, p.7. 199832, e�hibitions held in the �useum of Contemporary Art 18 J. Denegri, Enformel u Vojvodini, in: Šezdesete – teme srpske umetnosti, Novi Sad, Svetovi, of Vojvodina, the Zlatno O��o cultural center,, the �ost �al� 1995, pp. 48-54; J. Denegri, Enformel i slikarstvo materije, in Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi (exhibition catalogue), Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 52-53; J. Denegri, lery,, all of the e�hibitions in �ovi Sad, and some of those held Koincidencije i paralele: enformel u Španiji i u Srbiji, Annual Zbornik katedre za istoriju moderne umetnosti Filozofskog fakulteta, Belgrade, 2006, pp. 21-31. in �i��inda and Apatin. Critical theses that contributed to the 19 Dvadeset sedam savremenih slikara, II Likovna jesen, Participants: Acs, Bajić, Baretić, understanding and interpretation of the situation present on Bogojević, Božićković-Popović, Dogan, Horvat, Jemec, Kalina, Knifer, Kotnik, Kregar, Kulmer, Mjer, Marković, Meško, Murtić, B. Omčikus, Pavlović, Perić, Popović, B. Protić, the Vojvodinian art scene of the 90s are “discreet �odernism” Sablić, Srnec, Todorović, Turinski, Vozarević. Sombor, Town Museum, November-De- cember 1962. (Stepanov)33, “regional�universal” and “open sensitivity” (�lad� 20 D. Bašičević Mangelos, Moj otac Ilija, Nacrt za antimonografiju; edited and published enov)34. Li��e never before, there �as a rich publishing produc� by V. Bašičević; contributions: G. Gamulin, B. Tomić, V. Đurić, J. Denegri; Novi Sad, 1995; Svet po Iliji; contributions: N. Milenković, J. Denegri, J. Kallir; publisher; V. Bašičević, tion, in the form of catalogues and magazines (Košava, Zlatno Novi Sad, 2006. 21 M. Šuvaković, Individualne mitologije: šidska trojka ili logika granice, in Centralnoevropski oko, Projeka®t, Transkatalog, Artcontext). O�ing to all these in� aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi (exhibition catalogue), Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 64-65. tensive and high�quality artistic developments, during the nine� 22 M. Radojičić, Aktivnost grupe KÔD. Umetnička aktivnost van grupa u Novom Sadu; B. Szombathy, Značajni momenti u radu grupe Bosch+Bosch; R. Kulić – V. Mattioni, ties in the region of Vojvodina a decentralized, polycentric and Verbumprogram, in Nova umjetnička praksa 1966-1978 (exhibition catalogue); Zagreb, Gallery of Contemporary Art, 1978, pp. 36-47, 48-50, 64. demetropolized art scene established itself irrevocably, �hich in 23 M. Šuvaković, KÔD, (∃ -KÔD, Novi Sad, Gallery of Contemporary Visual Arts, May 1995. effect results in Belgrade’s no longer being the sole complete and J. Denegri, Verbumprogram, Gallery of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, March- April 1995. unquestionable center,, and in turn terms li��e “contemporary 24 D. Đurić, Vojvođanski tekstualizam; N. Milenković, Umetnost kao istraživanje umetnosti, in Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi (exhibition catalogue), Novi Sad, Vojvodinian art”, “Vojvodinian art scene”, “Vojvodinian Vojvodinian visual 2002, pp. 84-86, 90-95. arts space” along �ith the artistic developments understood by 25 Authorial exhibitions of N. Milenković at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Novi Sad: S. Matković, 2005; B. Szombathy, 2005; V. Kopicl, 2007. these terms, have de��nitely �on the right to their o�n legitimate 26 For more on these developments in a wider Yugoslav cultural and political context of 1970s, see the recent publication Izostavljena istorija, a transcript of a debate held identity as a separate issue. on 18th November 2005 at te Museum of Contemporary Art in Novi Sad, to mark the exhibition titled Trajni čas umetnosti. Novosadska avangarda 60-ih i 70-ih godina prošlog veka; participants: Ž. Žilnik, M. Šuvaković, L. Perović, Z. Maković, B. Szombathy, 1 As the starting premise in relation to artistic developments in Vojvodina in the sec- L. Stojanović, ed. Kuda.org, Novi Sad, 2006. ond half of the 20th century, this principle is propounded in the collection of essays 27 S. Stepanov, Potreba za slikom, Pančevo, Contemporary Gallery of the Olga Petrov Fragmenti – šezdesete–devedesete. Umetnici iz Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Prometej, 1994. Cultural Centre; 1988. 2 Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900-1944; contents: M. Arsić, Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900-1944, R. 28 N. Milenković, Neoekspresionizam, Užasi jezika slike, in Centralnoevropski aspekti Kulić, Slikarstvo u Novom Sadu1900-1944, M. Džepina, Slikarske škole u Novom Sadu1900- vojvođanskih avangardi (exhibition catalogue), Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 180-185. 1944, J. Knežević, Slikarstvo u Zrenjaninu 1900-1944, S. Mihajlović-Radivojević, Slikarstvo 29 M. Šuvaković, Umetnost postsocijalizma. Epoha entropije i brisani sablasni tragovi, in u južnom Banatu 1900-1944, H. Hofman, Slikarstvo u Somboru 1900-1944, A. Baranji, Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi (exhibition catalogue), Novi Sad, Slikarstvo u Subotici 1900-1944; Novi Sad, June-August 1991. 2002, pp. 180-185. 3 Likovna umetnost u Vojvodini 1944-1954, introduction by M. Arsić, Novi Sad, 1980. 30 S. Stepanov, Destrukcija, dekonstrukcija, konstrukcija ili o umetnosti na prekretnici vekova, 4 Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1955-1972, introduction by M. Arsić, Novi Sad, June-August 1989. in Regionalno-univerzalno, texts from a conference, Novi Sad, Zlatno oko Cultural 5 Skulptura u Vojvodini, introduction by Lj. Ivanović, Razvoj skulpture u Vojvodini 1895- Centre, December 2006, pp. 35-41; S. Stepanov, Ideje i akcije likovne kritike u Vojvodini 1980, Novi Sad, December 1984 – February 1985. tokom devedesetih, in Regionalno-univerzalno, texts from a conference, Pančevo, Gal- 6 Grafika u Vojvodini 1900–1985, introduction by M. Arsić, Novi Sad, June-August 1985. lery of Contemporary Art, June 2002, pp. 75-93. 7 Grupa KÔD, (∃-KÔD, introduction by M. Šuvaković, Novi Sad, May 1995. 31 S. Stepanov, Ka univerzalnim poukama. Autorske i promotivne izložbe u Savremenoj 8 Aktuelnosti u slikarstvu Vojvodine 1973–1993, introduction by M. Arsić, Novi Sad, galeriji Centra za kulturu u Pančevu tokom osamdesetih i devedesetih godina, in Region- December 1994. alno-univerzalno, presentations at a conference, Pančevo, Gallery of Contemporary 9 Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920-2000: granični fenomeni – feno- Art, May 2001, pp. 27-45. meni granice; contents: M. Šuvaković – D. Šimičić, Introduction; J. Denegri, Primeri 32 Galerija Konkordija 1994-2000. – Izlagačka praksa kao kulturno-politička strategija, Vršac, istorijskog modernizma; S. Vuksanović-Soleša, Fenomen pomeranja granica stvarnosti June 2004. i umetnosti do granice saznanja i tajni (Ivan Tabaković, Genius); M. Cindori, Aktivistička 33 S. Stepanov, O diskretnoj obnovi modernizma, in Tendencije devedesetih: diskretni dadaistička matineja u Subotici; J. Denegri, Enformel i slikarstvo materije; M. Šuvaković, In- modernizam (exhibition catalogue), Novi Sad, Zlatno oko Centre for Visual Culture, dividualne mitologije: šidska trojka ili logika granice; J. Denegri, Postenformelna reduktivna 1996, reprinted in Hijatusi modernizma i postmodernizma, a theoretical controversy, apstrakcija; D. Đurić, Vojvođanski tekstualizam; N. Milenković, Umetnost kao istraživanje Projeka®t, 11-15, Novi Sad, 2001, pp. 298-303. umetnosti; N. Milenković, Mail-art – umetnost postumetničke ere; M. Šuvaković, Ženski 34 S. Mladenov, Regionalno-univerzalno, in Regionalno-univerzalno, Gallery of Contempo- performans: mapiranje identiteta; N. Milenković, Neoekspresionizam: užasi jezika slike; S. rary Art, Pančevo, 2001, pp. 9-17; S. Mladenov, Regionalno-univerzalno, in Regionalno- Vuksanović Soleša, Prostori slike: mišljenje slikarstva; M. Šuvaković, Umetnost postsocijal- univerzalno, Novi Sad, Zlatno oko Centre for Visual Culture, 2005, pp. 3-11. izma: epoha entropije i brisani sablasni tragovi; Novi Sad, Septemer 2002. 10 Fatalne devedesete: strategije otpora i konfrontacije – Umetnost uVojvodini na kraju XX Vojvodinian artistic space 11 Miško Šuvaković 20TH CENTURY ART IN VOJVODINA CONTRADICTIONS AND HYBRIDITIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY ART IN VOJVODINA 1. “History �as not given to us, �e are as��ing you to help us certain and uncertain hierarchies of beliefs in �hat Vojvodina construct it”. art represents here and no�, �ith all its historic, political, ideo� Ir�in, �S� logical and esthetic narratives. For this reason, the ��rst step is a move from “Vojvodinian art” to�ards “art in Vojvodina.” 2. Once there lived t�o ��ies in a large bo�. One of them lived in the center of the bo�, ��e� around constantly, buzzing: “I am free!” As if there �ere more than one art in Vojvodina?! This step is a step a�ay from narratives on centralizing identification The other lived on the inner �all of the bo� and constantly qualities of art to�ards temporary, changeable and une�pected screamed in tears: “I am a prisoner.” functions of art as an instrument, a to��en, a mediator or an 3. “Sade 1 is a materialist because he substitutes the language of a accidental “inde�” in the performance of a comple� de�centerd secret �ith the language of practice: he does not conclude a scene and temporally changeable identi��cation matri�. In this social, �ith the revelation of truth (gender), but �ith pleasure.” cultural, and political space �e call Vojvodina, �hat too�� place Roland Barthes �ere comple� struggles, changes, productions, interpretations, and, ultimately, constitutions of a cultural practice in �hich life shaped itself, becoming visible, accessible to senses, an Introduction: Towards a new museum 2 and identi��ably attractive and present �orld bet�een The Law and towards new history (Serbian edition, p.21) The Desire, in other �ords The Truth and The Pleasure. Fascination of and yearning for “art” is not a simple turn We are tal��ing, by all means, about fascinations and yearn� to�ards great, e�quisite and above all authentic masterpieces, ings of a ne� or a different vie� of the art of the 20th century. it is an obsessive search for the une�pected, hidden, repressed, The ne� museum – the �useum of Contemporary Art in crossed out or forgotten riddle bet�een art and life. The dis� Vojvodina – appears to be e�pecting a ne� e�hibit as �ell, or a covery of the unexpected, in the struggle to understand and ne� project that �ould perform, recycle, reconstruct and once interpret in an expected �ay, represents a contradiction, �hich again analyze and interpret art in Vojvodina during the 20th leads every historical overvie� or movement through the past. century. It is about the demand for ��no�ledge and �ith ��no�l� Ho�ever, turning to�ards the past does not simply represent edge about art and in art, in local, small, dynamic surround� receiving “gi��s” – ta��ing from tradition. On the contrary, ings. History is not provided, �e need to reconstruct it and to turning to�ards the past is al�ays and solely a present act of introduce the discourse of culture. A small museum in a small constructing a contemporary subject and relationship be� province/region in the center of Europe requires a thorough t�een subjects that �ill use and rename out of oblivion �hat process of ree�amination, choosing, reordering, signing in, is offered to memory as a present picture for a dramatic and placing and reading about the manner in �hich art too�� place, contradictory no�. This is e�actly �hat has been said in the appeared and vanished. sense in �hich it has been indicated in the studies of culture The ne� e�hibit of art of the 20th century must be some that “tradition” is the representative face of the canon. Culture ��ind of a rebellion. It is, in fact, a rebellion of knowledge! �ot as and art in the form of tradition participate in the social regula� much against particular pieces, but against the consequences of tions of current events, in other �ords, they participate in the establishment of a social and political hegemony. That is �hy tradition is not what the past leaves behind as “heritage” to the 1 Sade – this refers to the pornographer, the raconteur, the philosopher and the political present and the future. Tradition is al�ays a current “choice” thinker Marquis de Sade (Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade; June 2nd 1740 or “a current tradition” bet�een a variety of possibilities. It is – December 2nd 1814). 2 New Museum – The Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 2007. established as dominant, hegemonic, in social struggles for the 13  articulation of the current. For e�ample, the English cultural The e�hibition and the boo��, �hich should be forerunners theoretician Raymond Williams de��nes tradition as, of the permanent e�hibit of the future �useum of Contempo� “[a]n intentionally shaped version of the past and reshaped pres� rary Art of Vojvodina, are not conceived as a presentation of ent, �hich is po�erfully operational in the process of social and masterpieces from the museum collection or as a careful artis� cultural determination and identi��cation.” 3 tic, historic and aesthetic analysis of the collection (the archive Tradition, for this reason, sho�s its o�n unavoidability and the depot) of the museum, but as an optimum projection of by annulling or hiding the fact that it is derived as a selection the future interdisciplinary and inter�media e�hibit of the mu� from different practices, meanings and identi��cations of gen� seum and its dynamic relation to�ards masterpieces, canonical der, class, ethnicity and race. This is �hy Williams 4 underlines realizations, normative – average – productions, une�pected that �hat can be said of any tradition is that it is an aspect of and provocative e�cesses and transgressions, but also to�ards a contemporary social and cultural organization derived from the oh�so important and determining forgetfulness, impossible the interest of domination of a speci��c class, �hich, �e could subversions, and current contradictions in the struggle for vis� add, establishes its po�er over the ��eld of e�istence. ibility, the struggle for being present in contemporary art and What does it mean to remember amidst a practice �e culture. Derivation of the optimum projection of a dynamic and recognize as a curatorial underta��ing led by the history of art? open e�hibit of the museum is based on documents from the What does it mean to conjure the memory an image, a sound, a history of society, on one side, and on the other, on the docu� smell, a �ord, a touch, an identi��cation, a rejection, a moment ments and art productions of cultural and artistic practices, of pleasure or a time of despair in the derivation of a narrative such as: painting, sculpture, graphic art, photography, per� on a comple� and hybrid cultural space? What is a memory? It formance, e�perimental literature, ��lm, architecture, e�peri� is shaping a screen full of bluntness and blurriness that refers mental music and pop�roc�� music. It is not possible to locate to something in the past. Ho�ever, memory is not a certain a single ideal and autonomous art practice, rather one must and frozen “clue” in the past, but an uncertain intervening and go through inter�e�changes and circulations bet�een arts. interpretive event �ithin the ��eld of culture – a ��eld �hich �oreover, the selection of pieces for the e�hibition and the appears to be quite autonomous �ithin society, �hen, in fact, boo�� �as guided not only by the possible availability of pieces it is not autonomous in any respect. �emory is �oven into in the territory of Vojvodina, but also by the e�ternal mar��s of a vast �eaving of differences that change from case to case, Vojvodinian art or art from Vojvodina in “e�ternal” collections, from signing in to conjuring and from conjuring to erasing in Belgrade, Zagreb, and Budapest. Attention �as also given to in any, never simply given conte�t. �emories seem to be and authors �ho �ere born in Vojvodina but �ho established their resemble “te�ts”, but they do not possess stability, or durabil� careers in Hungarian, Austrian, Serbian or e��Yugoslav space. ity of the te�ts in a library or paintings in a museum. This is Relations – of openness, dynamics and the inner and outer because memories represent one of the events through �hich – are important for the understanding of dynamics and the the e�pectation of my current “I” is played out, and this “I” character of the appearance of modern art during the 20th must create an interpretive ��eld to even recognize �ithin itself century. This boo�� and e�hibition have been made for the fol� the “I”. That is �hy I must distant myself from psychoanalyz� lo�ing three reasons: ing self�e�istence through cultural analysis and move to�ards 1. To recognize, inde�, distinguish and present dynamic social analysis that �ill attempt to demonstrate ho� “memo� “images” and “narratives” related to artistic and cultural prac� ries” in a public event relate to contradictory “paradigms” or tice in the 20th century in Vojvodina; “images” of modern, postmodern and global art. 2. To once more 6 conduct an investigation, analysis and in� That is my ��rst tas��: to construct a comple� and hybrid terpretation of the character of the great �odernism and local map or, merely, a pattern of “memories” of the art in Vojvodina �odernisms on an e�ceptionally “problematic” ground such as in the 20th century. 5 This map or pattern of “memories” is a artistic, cultural and social space of Vojvodina both diachron� ��ind of a te�t that �ill be realized in the form of a boo�� and in ically and synchronically; and the manner of an e�hibition. 3. To ma��e visible the possibilities of the optimum projec� tion of a comple� and multi�connotative presentation of the 3 Raymond Williams, “Traditions, Institutions, and Formations”, - Marxism and Literature, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1977, pp. 115. 6 See in bibliography a list of catalogues edited by art historian and longstanding 4 Ibid, pp. 116. curator of the Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina Miloš Arsić 5 Systematic investigation of the Vojvodina Modernisms and Avant-gardes began with (1941). His thorough analysis of historic, artistic and bibliographic “material” represents the following projects: Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃-KÔD, a valuable starting point for any researcher and interpreter of 20th century art in Contemporary Visual Art Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995; and Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralno Vojvodina. See numerous studies, essays, introductions, journals and memories of art evropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920.-2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni historian Bela Duranci (1931). Bela Duranci worked as a curator of the City Museum of granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002. Novi Sad and was an associate of the “Likovni susret” Gallery in Subotica (1959-1962). 14 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina relation bet�een artistic and cultural practice in Vojvodina garian and Hungarian imperialism, Serbian �odernism and – in fact, a search for the indicative visibility of relations in 20th nationalism, Croatian reception and canonization of European century art represents the basic tas�� of this endeavor. modernity, etc. This boo�� and e�hibition, therefore, represent a sensual Every chapter of this boo�� represents a re�activation of and intellectual presentation of invisible interconnections of local – minority – ��no�ledge of art in Vojvodina, and the productions and narratives that compose art life or the world of assertion of cross�references, overlaps and inter��eavings of art in this borderline area bet�een Europe and the Bal��ans. those local practices in different diachronic and synchronic potentials. This “local” ��no�ledge is not a narrative merely on provincial isolation of small communities, but also on the Rebellion of knowledge, or On the relations of local potentials of local ��no�ledge to overcome boundaries of norms knowledge and the imperial, international, and global and canons of a larger culture by “getting on board” �ith inter� knowledge “about” and “in” art (Serbian edition, p.24) national production of �odernism, post��odernism and the global age. Today, ho�ever – by today �e mean the last decade In �hat �ay are �e supposed to understand a given history of of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century – the art, and even an open, dynamic history – for instance, the his� situation has changed �ith regards to triangles and overlaps tory of 20th century art in Vojvodina? of the local, the close dominant and the international, since Of course, there is a ��eld of analysis of “artistic”, “cultural” �e are dealing �ith models and, thus, �ith protocols of the and “social” facts of art there and there, since then and then. performing vastness of hybrid localities and multi�totalizing This positive ��eld of inde�ation and description leads to�ards globalities. a history that relies theoretically on the autonomy of art �ithin culture and the autonomy of art �ithin conditions and circum� stances of a historical society. The notion of a “fact” is norma� Politics, culture, geography, history and art – tively set and leads to the recognition of certain and uncertain territorialization and deterritorialization 7 (Serbian edition, p.24) representations of events, subjectivity and products of art in Vojvodina in the 20th century. Whenever �e are discussing societies, cultures and arts in 20th Ho�ever, it is necessary to distinguish a different ��eld of century Vojvodina, it is necessary to de��ne the concept and the important differences of art in Vojvodina, �hich is determined term of “Vojvodina”. 8 It is a changeable cultural and geo� by projects of development, interruption, passing over, censor� graphic paradigm. The name Serbian Vojvodina refers to the ship, innovation or annulment �ithin imperial, provincial, autonomous region in the Austrian empire in the revolutionary international, national, multinational and global models of period of 1848 and 1849. Serbian Vojvodina included: northern modernity, and, ultimately, contemporariness in art. Unli��e Srem, Banat and Bač��a �ith the to�ns of Ilo�� and Ruma. �a� Serbian, Croatian or Hungarian art of the 20th century, art in jor cities of the Duchy �ere Srems��i �arlovci, Zemun, Veli��i Vojvodina does not have a uniform, cohesive ��o� of develop� Beč��ere�� (�etrovgrad or Zrenjanin) and Timişoara. This region ment of national modernity or of the development of national �as transformed into Serbian Vojvodina and Tamiš Banat modernity �ith regards to international productions. It is in 1849 and e�isted until 1869. Serbian Vojvodina and Tamiš rather a matter of hybrid relation of the dynamics of national Banat �as a Duchy �ithin the Austrian empire, and the Em� cultures �ith the changeable artistic, cultural and social peror himself �ore the title of the Grand Duke of the Serbian centers of po�er and dominance, and �ith the important Duchy (Großwoiwode der Woiwodschaft Serbien). Territories interruptions of these and such developments and relations of Serbian Vojvodina and Tamiš Banat �ere anne�ed to the in local e�cesses, above all, e�cesses that �ere the products of Hungarian ��ingdom (Banat and Bač��a) in 1867. Srem �as an� Dada, Te�tualism and conceptual art, that is, postmodern and ne�ed to Slavonia in 1860, and �ith the uni��cation of Slavonia global art. These local e�cesses signi��ed an important passing and Croatia in 1868, it became a part of this ne� autonomous over or a step for�ard from the dominant meta�language of a community. Follo�ing a contract bet�een the Croatian�Sla� culture to�ards international acceleration of contemporariness vonian ��ingdom and the Hungarian ��ingdom during 1869, in �odernism and Avant�garde and in e�pansive divergence an autonomous part of the Austro�Hungarian ��ingdom by in post��odernism. Discourse of art in Vojvodina is, there� the name of Translitania �as created. Srem became a part of fore, not determinable by a single canonized story, but rather it is possible by mapping cases of singular events that assume 7 Dimitrije Boarov, Politička istorija Vojvodine: u trideset i tri priloga, Europanon consulting, artistic, cultural and social positions �ith regards to local Novi Sad, 2001. narratives, and e�ternal conte�tualization by the Austro�Hun� 8 See maps of Vojvodina taken from site Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Vojvodina. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 15  the �ingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 29th October be uni��cation of Serbia and the regions that �ere a single entity 1918. The Republic of Banat �as formed in Timişoara on 31st under the Austro�Hungarian rule. 12 This political controversy October 1918. The Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other remained open throughout the 20th century. Vojvodina became peoples pronounced the uni��cation of Vojvodina (Bač��a, a part of the �ingdom of SCS on 1st December 1918. A��er state Banat, Srem) �ith the Serbian �ingdom on 25th �ovember reorganization of the �ingdom of SCS into the �ingdom of 1918. The Serbian�Hungarian Republic of Baranja (Baranya Yugoslavia, Danube Banovina, comprising of Srem, Banat, – Baja) �as founded, or, in other �ords, self�proclaimed on 14th Bač��a, Šumadija and Braničevo, �as formed, �ith the regional August 1921. The Republic �as composed of the territories of capital in �ovi Sad. Danube Banovina e�isted until the begin� Baranja and northern Bač��a. 9 The president of this country ning of World War II in 1941. During World War II, Bač��a and �as modernist painter �etar Dobrović. 10 The capital �as �ečuj. Baranja became part of Hungary, Srem �as under the rule of The Baranja Republic �as an area under the control of the the Independent State of Croatia, Banat �as an autonomous Serbian army a��er the brea��do�n of Austro�Hungary, though, province under �erman rule, and Danube Banovina formally at the same time, under the control of the le����ing Hungar� included Banat, but in reality Šumadija and Braničevo, �ith ian republicans. 11 This parado�ical double government turned the center in Smederevo. Srem, Banat and Bač��a �ere, a��er this territory into an uncertain free zone. This is �here many World War II, under the name of Vojvodina, proclaimed an le����ing Hungarians, communists and revolutionaries sought Autonomous �rovince of Vojvodina �ithin the �eople’s Re� refuge a��er the counter�revolution of Admiral �i��loś Horthy. public of Serbia. The capital of A� Vojvodina �as and is �ovi The territory of the Republic of Baranja �as divided bet�een Sad. The Yugoslav part of Baranja �as anne�ed to the �eople’s Hungary and the �ingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on Republic of Croatia in 1945. The Socialist Autonomous �rov� 21st�25th August 1921. The Republic �as sti��ed by the interven� ince of Vojvodina received signi��cant political constitutional tion and the pressure of �estern forces of the Entente, �hich autonomy in the constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic gave their support to Admiral Horthy against the Hungarian of Yugoslavia in 1974. 13 A large part of that autonomy �as lost le����ing revolution. In the time of the formation of the �ing� during the period of dictatorship of Slobodan �ilošević in dom of Yugoslavia, there �as some political ��ghting bet�een 1990. With the beginning of armed con��ict SAO East Slavonia, Serbian politicians and, above others, Croatian politicians on Baranja and �est Srem �as formed on the territory of the sec� the question of �hether there �ould be an anne�ation of Vo� ond Yugoslavia, by �ar separation from the Republic of Croatia jvodina to Serbia �ithin the �ingdom of SCS or if there �ould in 1991. These areas �ere a part of the Republic Srps��a �rajina bet�een 1991 and 1995. The area Srem�Baranja �as under the administrative government of the United �ations bet�een 9 Leslie C. Tihany, “The Baranja Republic and the Treaty of Trianon” and M�ria Ormos, “The Hungarian Soviet Republic and Intervention by the Entente” – Béla Kir�ly, 1995 and 1997. The county of Osije���Baranja has been a part of Pétér P�sztor, Ivan Sanders (eds.), War and Society in East Central Europe, Vol. VI Essays on World War I: Total War and Peacemaking, A case study on Trianon, http://www. the Republic of Croatia since 1997. hungarian-history.hu/lib/tria/tria00.htm; Dimitrije Boarov, ”Trijanonski ugovor“, from: Very different national and ethnic groups have lived in such Dimitrije Boarov, Politička istorija Vojvodine: u trideset i tri priloga, Europanon consult- ing, Novi Sad, 2001, pp.113–118. a hybrid and unstable society and cultural space: Serbs, Hungar� 10 Petar Dobrović, ”Uprava u Baranji“, Jedinstvo, Novi Sad, November 7th 1919, 145, 1; and ians, Slova��s, Croats, Bunjevci, Romany, �ermans, Romanians, Petar Dobrović, ”Uprava u Baranji“, Jedinstvo, Novi Sad, November 20th 1919, 155, 1. Republished in: Olga Dobrović (ed.), Dokumentacija o stvaralaštvu Petra Dobrovića III, U��rainians, Rusyns, Czechs, etc. The cultural in��uences �ere Likovne kritike, intervjui, politički članci, pisma, Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. different – and if one follo�s the ��eld of visual art, one could 109–113 and 114–119. 11 The breakdown of Austro-Hungary happened in the summer of 1918. There was an spea��, ��rst and foremost, of the in��uences of the Austrian, outburst of demonstrations against the Austrian emperor-king and the Habsburg Hungarian, Serbian and Croatian cultures throughout the 19th monarchy in October 1918. The radical bourgeoisie, led by Mihaly K�rolyi, formed the National Council of Hungary on 25th October. Simultaneously with formation of the and 20th centuries, that is, of the cultural dominance and impact National Council, the Workers’ Soviet was formed in Budapest, which acted on secur- ing power of soviets in factories and in the country. The Republic was declared on of cities such as Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Zagreb. In that 16th November. The Communist party under the leadership of Béla Kun was formed. sense, the theses 14 on “central�European” aspects of Vojvodina The Communists prepared for the armed rebellion. The Entente sent an ultimatum to the Hungarian government. The Entente army occupied Debrecen and its surround- �odernisms and Avant�gardes are quite justi��able. ings. The Romanian army was given the right to enter 100km into the Hungarian territory. In this situation K�rolyi resigned. The Communist-directed democratic revolution towards a communist one. The Temporary Revolutionary Council was formed. The following was issued in the decree of the revolutionary government: 12 Ivan Meštrović, ”Propast Austro-Ugarske monarhije“, from Uspomene na političke ljude i “The Hungarian proletariat will fight against imperialism alongside the Russian Soviet događaje, Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 1969, pp. 99-102. Republic and the proletariat of the world, alongside all those who realize that for the victory of socialism there is no other way than a common revolutionary action 13 Dimitrije Boarov, ”Stvarna autonomija napokon“, from: Dimitrije Boarov, Politička of workers, soldiers and peasants.” On 25th March all private mining, industrial and istorija Vojvodine: u trideset i tri priloga, Europanon consulting, Novi Sad, 2001, pp. commercial companies, with more than 20 workers a company, were transformed 201–206 into public property. An international military intervention followed. Béla Kun with 14 Miško Šuvaković, Darko Šimičić, ”Uvodni tekst – Centralnoevropski aspekti a majority of associates ran to Vienna on 2nd August, where they were interned by vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. Granični fenomeni, fenomeni granica“, from: the Austrian authorities. The Romanian army entered Budapest. The Hungarian com- Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … mune lasted for 130 days, and it was replaced by the white terror of the occupation Granični fenomeni, fenomeni granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, forces and troops of Admiral Mikloś Horthy. 2002, pp. 8–13. 1 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina  Confrontations and overlaps, colonization and e�odus art, political art) reactions to moderate �odernisms and of cultural identities ma��e this space so characteristic and fetishes of indifference of modern art in self�governing social� different from any other, and yet, more or less, all important ist conditions of highly�bureaucratized and technocratized appearances of European �odernisms can be recognized in society. Characteristic anarchist and underground criticism the culture of Vojvodina and its speci��c localizations, provin� of local and international �odernisms is connected �ith the cialisms and, as opposed to them, in internationalisms and appearance of �eo�Avant�garde and conceptual art. Then, globalizations. It is, therefore, possible to tal�� about an impe� problems of �odernisms are displayed using deconstructional� rial relation of Austrian and Hungarian culture to�ards the re� ist tactics of post��odernisms during the 80s. �ostmodern de� gional culture of Vojvodina, and, particularly, to�ards Serbian constructions of �odernism �ere realized by means of eclectic culture from the turn of the 20th century until the end of World self�criticisms and provocations of the autonomies of great War I and the creation of the �ingdom of SCS, and the �ing� �odernism, but also by means of demysti��cations, of e�ces� dom of Yugoslavia. Ho�ever, it is also possible to tal�� about the sive mysti��cations of illusions and traps of artistic freedoms in dominance of the Serbian national modern culture over ethnic socialist �odernisms of the 60s and the 70s. �ost��odernisms and national minorities a��er 1918. By all means, a parado�ical appeared as problematic and many�meaningful: moment of political�demographic “turn” in Vojvodina a��er a) Tendencies of the move to�ards Western proposals of 1990 can be identi��ed, �hen the paradigm of Serbian national overcoming modernity (trans�Avant�garde, neo�E�pression� culture became established as an unquestionable criterion of ism, bad art); identi��cation, but �hen simultaneously, “contemporary art of b) Tendencies of artistic and cultural confrontations Vojvodina” became, in its vital appearance, global, in concep� �ith the limits of socialist �odernism (ne� decorative� tual, ne��media and culturally oriented productions. ness, neo�geo, post�pop�art, ne� sculpture, �odernism a��er post��odernism); c) Tendencies of building art of the late socialism and post� Art of the 20th century: open and closed borders (p.28) socialism (retro art, neo�conceptual art, ne� political art). Art in Vojvodina in the 20th century �as, in fact, caught Art of the 20th century in Vojvodina is the art of noticeable in a fatal modernist �eb made by the Austro�Hungarian and emancipation and confrontation �ith imperial (Romanti� Hungarian imperialism, Hungarian nationalism, Serbian cism, Scholastics, Secession) and international (Impression� nationalism, European modernist internationalisms, socialist ism, post�Impressionisms, E�pressionism, Cubism, Futurism, �odernism, and, ��nally, by today’s neo�liberal, trans�econom� Abstraction) projects of great modernity. What could also ic and multimedia globalism. be distinguished are local and provincial modi��cations of projects of great modernity �ith different forms of civic and national Romanticism and Realism, and modernist Intimism. Institutions of culture, art, modern everyday life – art in Avant�garde tendencies (Cubism, Dada, SurRealism) are visible the century of institutionalization of artistic practices (p.30) simultaneously as “forerunners” or “forbearers” of modernist emancipation, but also as criticisms of establishing �odern� The creation of an “artist” and “art” in Vojvodina, just li��e ism in moderate modernist and provincial practices. What any�here else on the planet, �as connected �ith the creation is characteristic is the poetics and ideology of anti�modern� of city – urban cultures (�ovi Beč��ere��, Subotica, Sombor, ist�and�yet�modernist (�eoclassicisms, the return to order, �ovi Sad, Vršac, Bela Cr��va, Bač��a �alan��a, Bač��a Topola, ne� objectivity) reactions to an optimistic increase of rate or Bač��i �etrovac) and the creation of the “�orlds of art” and the a critical slo�ing do�n of international and local �odern� “institutions of art”, that is, �ith the development of an urban ism. Also important are the narratives on facing international and bourgeoisie middle class in Hungarian, �erman, and con� processes of deriving social and socialist art from re��ections of sequently, Je�ish, Serbian, Slova�� and Bunjevac society. 15 art and graphics in national�bourgeois society (social Realism, Urbanization of Vojvodina can be vie�ed simultaneously in socially engaged art), through party�guided and controlled the sphere of “basis” (industrialization) and “superstructure” Realism (socialist Realism in the national ��ght for liberation (establishment of cultural institutions and politics). At the and during the ��rst years of a revolutionary government), on to symbolic plain, it is possible to say that the industrial archi� party�tolerated and supported socialist �odernism (socialist tecture, for instance in Veli��i Beč��ere��: the bre�ery, the sugar Aestheticism, moderate �odernisms, high �odernism). A��er all that, there are numerous, mostly Avant�garde (Te�tualism, Land�art, Interventionism, process art, body�art, performance 15 Bela Duranci, ”Buržoaski realizam s prekretnice vekova“, from: Slikaar Stipan Kopilović 1877–1924, NIO Subotičke novine, 1991, pp. 13–28. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 17  factory, the slaughter house, the mill etc. points to the trans� conducted by pointing to the collective role of a sports society formation of the rural, �anonian plains society into a modern and its social relation to a potential hierarchal and paramili� industrial European society. This transformation too�� place tary structure. On the contrary, there is a postcard that depicts during the late 18th, throughout 19th, and during the beginning a scene from a “female” ice�rin�� in Veli��i Beč��ere�� (Jégpàlya) of the 20th century. 16 What is an issue here is the derivation of and �hich sho�s a moment of civic (bourgeoisie) individual� the ideology of modernity in everyday life �ith �hich a ne� ized rela�ation in sports as entertainment or in sports as public subject is realized. 17 The issue is the comple� urban everyday social entertainment of individual participants. Sport is also life 18 that transforms all forms of late feudal and class�bour� seen as an area of shaping and beautifying an individual body geoisie sociality into a modern industrial consumer society. – for e�ample, the “athletic photograph” of Dr. �ilan Đuričić, What follo�s is a thorough restructuring of a feudal “tribe” a citizen of Vršac, ta��en in the photo�studio “�ojmerac” in family into a bourgeoisie two member family �ith immediate Zagreb, during the late 1920s. For instance, sports competi� offspring. �echanical aesthetics of a Secessionist industrial tions � “Sports games” – �ere ��rst held in Subotica in 1880. architecture �as derived as a promise of a ne� �orld based Lajos Vermes �as a versatile sportsman: a gymnastics cham� on industrial production and modern life. �odern life is seen pion, a runner, a �restler, a s�ordsman, cyclist, an ice�s��ater in media (media, magazines, posters), in public professional and an organizer of sporting events (summer �alić games) and schooling of men and �omen from different classes, in cloth� sport life in Subotica. He also built Luiza, Anna and Bagoljvar ing fashion. �odern life is actualized in popular culture of mansions, as �ell as the ��rst cycling trac�� on La��e �alić. Sport entertainment, se�uality/eroticism and sports. �rooming of became a sign of modernity: of speed, and of the relatioship be� one’s body, visibility of eroticism (from private eroticism to t�een the bodies of a machine and of a man. For instance, Ivan pornography), and, of course, sensual structuring of economic, Sarić (Subotica, 1876�1966) �as one of the pioneers of aviation, political, national, social and cultural po�er, all of it became a cyclist and a car racer. He �as the champion at the races in visible. �odels of racial, national, class, gender and generation the �ingdom of Hungary (1897, 1898) and the �ingdom of identities became differentiated. In fact, �hat �e are tal��ing Serbia (1910). He constructed the one��ing aircra�� “Sarić 1” about is the spectacularization of, until then, invisible forms in 1910 and aircra�� “Sarić 2” �ith a personally constructed of life in public media and a consumer society. 19 In the media engine in 1911. He e�perimented on aircra�� and “helicopter” scene, besides the appearance of daily ne�spapers and maga� prototypes during World War I. zine, the role of the political, advertising, sports, entertainment At the beginning of the 20th century, the culture of ta��ing cultural�artistic poster as a communication means is also very holidays �as establishing itself, for instance, the photograph important. 20 One should also loo�� at postcards �ith state ta��en by a Venetian photographer on a beach in 1912 sho�s school pupils, for instance, Privrednikove pitomice u Somboru a family from Vršac �hilst sunbathing. Sho�ing life �ithin sa glavnom poverenicom gđom Julčikom Polček (Privrednik’s fe� everyday life proves to be a signi��cant model for deriving mo� male students in Sombor with headmistress Mrs. Julčika Polček) dernity and a “ne� �orld” and a “modern subject” that is being – Sombor, 1911. Those photographs display the establishment promised throughout the 20th century. of appearance, that is, of the visibility of the female ��gure in Developmental directions of bourgeoisie art and art pro� public business and professional life and �or�� �ithin class duction at the end of the 19th century can be seen in individual distinguishing bourgeoisie society. A �oman is no longer just e�hibitions of �àlmàn �esterhàzi in Subotica in 1881, Uroš connected, or placed into the private life of a family or spaces �redić in �ovi Sad in 1882, Antal Streitmann and Làszló �ézdi designated for �omen in religious and normative tradition, on �ovàcs in Veli��i Beč��ere�� in 1895, and the sculptor Đorđe the contrary, she becomes a public figure. An athletic body as a Jovanović in �ovi Sad in 1895, etc. Antal Streitmann founded political national body can be seen, for e�ample, on the Srpski the Torontal Society of Crafts in Veli��i Beč��ere�� in 1880. The sokoli (Serbia’s pride and joy) postcard (Zemun, 1910). Deriva� ��rst art school �as opened in Subotica in 1825. The ��rst gallery tion of pan�Slavic and Serbian national modern identity �as is the Art Salon Friedman, opened in Subotica in 1886. During the same period, the boo��shop�stationery shop Schlessinger �as in business, selling art supplies and oleo�graphics. An 16 Miroslav Timotijević, Rađanje moderne privatnosti – Privatni život Srba u Habzburškoj art�studio 21 �as built for a painter from Budapest, �àl Vàgó monarhiji od kraja 17. do početka 19. veka, Clio, Belgrade, 2006. 17 Louis Althusser, ”Ideologija i državni ideološki aparati – beleške za jedno istraživanje“, (1853�1928), in Veli��i Beč��ere��. It �as the ��rst art�studio in Marksizam u svetu, No. 7–8, Belgrade, 1979, pp. 77–119. Vojvodina. The studio �as built so that the painting Defile 18 Henri Lefebvre, Kritika svakidašnjeg života, Naprijed, Zagreb, 1988. 19 Jonathan Crary, Suspension of perception – Attention, Spectacle, and Modern Culture, The MIT, Press, Cambridge MA, 1999. 20 Dr. Drago Njegovan, Politički plakat u Vojvodini (1848-2003), Museum of Vojvodina, 21 Vukica Popović (ed.), Velikobečkerečki slikarski ateljei, National Museum, Novi Sad, 2004. Zrenjanin, 1969. 1 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina banatskih spahija pred carem Franjom Josifom (The procession ��ordija” in Vršac �as ��rst opened in 1994. 26 The Center for �e� of land�owners from Banat before Emperor Franz Joseph) could �edia _��uda.org �as founded in 2001 in �ovi Sad. be completed, �hich �as supposed to represent Veli��i Beč��ere�� �agazines also have had an impact on art life in Vojvodina. at the �illennium e�hibition in 1896. Artists �ho �or��ed in Before World War II in Vojvodina there �ere daily ne�spapers the studio included Aladàr Edvi Ilés, Lajos �émeth and one of and magazines, mostly in Hungarian and Serbian: Torontal in the ��rst photographers, Istvàn Oldal. Dr. Joca �ile��ić founded Veli��i Beč��ere��, ÚT in �ovi Sad, Vojvođanski Grafičar in �ovi the “Bač��a �useum” in his home in Subotica in 1926. He �as Sad, Hirlap in Subotica; Híd �as ��rst published in Subotica in also in charge of the “Bač��a �allery” on La��e �alić until the 1934, Letopis Matice srpske has been published continuously 1950s. The Vojvodina Society of Artists �as founded in 1919 in since 1824. For instance, Vojvođanski Grafičar magazine �ith �ovi Sad. The Society of Artists of Vojvodina �as founded on the subtitle ”Bulletin of the Federal Organization of the Union 29th �ovember 1923 in Subotica. It remained active until the of �raphic Wor��ers of Yugoslavia in �ovi Sad” �as ��rst pub� mid 1930s. lished in 1939. The magazine represented “board” �hich orga� Important institutions for modern, postmodern and con� nized graphic �or��ers in terms of guild and social class. It �as temporary art �ere being founded throughout the 20th cen� published in Serbo�Croatian, Hungarian and �erman. 27 A��er tury in Vojvodina. 22 �atica srps��a �allery �as established in World War II up until the end of the 20th century, literary, 1847. 23 The city museum of Vršac �as founded in 1882. It �as culture and art magazines, such as Letopis Matice srpske (�ovi originally established as a national museum, but renamed as Sad), Index (�ovi Sad), Polja (started in 1955 in �ovi Sad), Új a city museum in 2002. A municipal museum in Sombor �as Symposion, �ovi Sad and Košava (established in 1992 in Vrsac) established in 1904. A national museum in �ančevo �as opened began being published, as �ell as the specialized magazines for in 1923. The city museum in Bečej �as opened in 1952. “Sava arts and visual art Projeka®t (1993�2001, �ovi Sad), ArtContext Šumanović” gallery in Šid �as opened in 1952. A naïve artists’ (founded in 2001 in Vršac) and others. The magazine Polja gallery in �ovačica �as opened in 1955. Contemporary gallery had a prominent role in establishing an open and communi� of the art colony Eč��a �as founded in 1958. The �avle Beljans��i cative intellectual atmosphere in �ovi Sad during the 1950s, �emorial Collection �as opened in 1961. 24 “Li��ovni susret” 1960s and the early 1970s. The magazine �as published by �I� �allery in Subotica �as founded in 1962. A sculptures collec� “�rogres” bet�een 1955 and 1965. The role of the publisher tion in the to�n area in Apatin �as opened in 1963. “�ilan �as then ta��en up by Tribina mladih in April 1965, �hich re� �onjović” art gallery in Sombor �as ��rst opened in 1964. The mained unchanged until the present period. The magazine �as �useum of Contemporary Art in Vojvodina �as established in edited by �iroslav Egerić, �oj��o Janjušević, Želimir �etrović, 1966 in the form of the �allery of Contemporary Visual Arts. �ileta Radovanović (editor�in�chief), and Laslo �apitanj until The gallery �as renamed the �useum of Contemporary Visual June�July 1965. At that time the editorial board �as e�panded Arts in 1996, a��er �hich it �as informally called “The �useum to include �ero Zubac and �ligorije Zaječaranović. In October of Contemporary Visual Arts” in 2003�2004, a��er �hich it �as 1965 �etar �ilosavljević became the ne� editor�in�chief. �ero ��nally renamed The �useum of Contemporary Art in 2006. 25 Zubac, Boš��o Iv��ov, Jaroslav Turčan, Jovan Zivla��, Franjo The City �useum in Subotica �as opened in 1968. “Lazar �etrinović and Laslo Blaš��ović �ere all at one time editors�in� Vozarević” �allery in Srems��a �itrovica �as opened in 1973. chief of Polja magazine bet�een the late 1960s and no�. The �allery of Fine Arts � �i�� Collection of Raj��o �amuzić �as opened in 1974. The Contemporary �allery of the Center for Culture in �ančevo �as opened in 1976. The Biennale of the A controversy: from art colonies, over communes, Yugoslav Sculpture in �ančevo ��rst too�� place in 1981. Arts and to centers for art, culture and new media (Serbian edition, p.40) aplied arts agency “Tera” in �i��inda �as founded in 1982. The Center for Visual Culture “Zlatno o��o” in �ovi Sad �as estab� Art colonies have represented a special institutionalization lished in 1993. The center for the contemporary culture “�on� of the life of an artist and the artistic life. A famous colony in �agybanya, �hich anticipated the possibility of modern autonomous art production, �as an important role model for 22 Vladimir Mitrović, Lidija Mustedanagović (eds.), Vodič kroz muzeje i galerije Vojvodine, Bulevar, Novi Sad, 2002. 23 Matica Srpska Gallery, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 2001. 24 Vera Jovanović (ed.), Spomen-zbirka Pavla Beljanskog, Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, 1988. 26 Dragomir Ugren, Ješa Denegri, Živko Grozdanić (eds.), Deset godina Konkordije 25 Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Neuporedivi identiteti – Kolekcija vojvođanske umetnosti za Muzej – Izlagačka praksa kao kulturno-politička strategija, Center for Contemporary Culture XXI veka, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2003; New Museum – The ”Konkordija“, Vršac, 2004. Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, 27 Magazine Vojvođanski grafičar was issued twice a month. Ivan Meštrović from Novi Novi Sad, 2007. Sad was representing the owner and editorial board. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 1  establishing ne� colonies. 28 The ��rst Yugoslav Art Colony in Colonies �ere, at the same time, products of real socialist Sićevo �as founded by a painter �adežda �etrović (1873�1915) hipocracy: calling forth the socialist�oriented integration of art in 1905. 29 T�o events that too�� place bet�een World Wars and everyday life, but also creating e�istential�artistic oases/ �ere the founding of the Association of Artists in Subotica reservations for the development of an autonomous art, and (1923) and the setting of the initiative to start a colony in Bač��a opening public spaces that �ould allo� the artists free sum� Topola (1922�1923). An attempt to start a colony too�� place mer �or�� �ith rela�ation and fun. The contradictory 34 role of in Veli��i Beč��ere�� in 1931. 30 One of the ��rst colonies a��er colonies led to a some�hat uniform development of artists �ho World War II �as founded in La��e �alić during the summer of turned, in their �or��, to�ards landscape art and reminiscence 1950. 31 The ��rst more permanent post��ar art colony in Vojvo� of home. On one side, colonies enabled the opening of creative dina �as established in 1952 in Senta, follo�ing the initiative public space in front of modern art and its autonomies, inde� of a painter József Ács. A��er that, colonies in Bač��a Topola, pendent from the suggestions and orders of the government. Bečej, Eč��a near Zrenjanin, �ali Iđoš, etc., �ere founded as Colonies, on the other side, facilitated meetings of Yugoslav �ell. 32 A net�or�� of art colonies �as created bet�een the artists and the creation of the a “Yugoslav” atmosphere of so� 1950s and the 1980s. cialist �odernism. Finally, colonies �ere the places �here the Art colonies �ere formed during the 1950s, �hen ne� art dominant and subordinate discourse of the moderate socialist centers, �hich became places of gathering of artists during �odernism �as established and from �hich it spread – from summer and �inter months, started to appear in smaller com� centers, mostly Belgrade, to�ards the provinces. The illusion of munities. To organize a colony in those days meant to adopt freedom led to�ards the creation of a speci��c cultural�artistic modern, freethin��ing ideas of art creation and to abandon the canon. It is these contradictory relations of struggle for the dominant social Realism of the time. By founding numerous autonomy of art and canonization of a moderate �odernisms colonies in Vojvodina, a net�or�� of institutions �as created, that can be seen in the e�amples of art colonies “Eč��a” 35, the �hich anticipated and encouraged gro�th of “Vojvodina art” art colony in Bač��a Topola 36 or the painters’ colony in Senta. 37 �ith all the characteristics of a regional and/or provincial art For instance, the colony in Bač��a Topola �as created �ith production in a �ide array, from academic landscape �odern� the ambition to rene� collective artistic �or�� that �as initi� ism of �ilivoj �i��olajević – Motives from Ečka (1955?) and ated by historic “colonies” or “communities” of artists from precise illusionists scenes of �arlavaris � Motives from Ečka the Barbizon school (1850), over the colony in �agybanya in – The Road (1960), to the abstract�e�pressive approaches – A the late 19th century, to the colony in Sićevo (1904). A��er the Vision over the Plain (1967) by �onjović. The e�planation for failed attempts to establish a painters association and colony the e�pansion of colonies in socialist �odernism points to� in Bač��a Topola in 1914, and 1924, “The Colony” �as founded �ards different quests and struggles for the appropriate fund� in 1953. József Ács and Đerđ Bošan �ere among the initiators ing of “artistic life”. We are dealing �ith the �ay of ��nding the for the creation of the colony. What also characterized the most appropriate forms of funding art �ithin developed and colony �as the demand for the “synthesis” of art, sculpture and relatively liberal conditions of self�governing socialism: architecture. �lastic synthesis �as set as a utopian goal �ithin Thus, the formula for potential colonies could have been: to the esthetics of the socialist �odernism and as an attempt to bring the art closer to the people by creative undertakings of cross the boundaries of a “moderate modernist” intimacy. The artists by means of finding most appropriate forms of “socialist project of “synthesis” employed József Ács (frescos, mosaics, patronship.” 33 compositions, ceramics), József Ács and �osta Đođrević (�all decoration and ceramic mas��s), �iloš Bajić (frescos, mosaics and a obelis��: Obelisk, ceramics, 1965), �iloš �vozdenović (mosaics), Zoran �etrović (�all paintings, sculptures, metal 28 Bela Duranci, ”Nađbanja i umetničke kolonije u Mađarskoj“ and ”Nađbanja (Nagy- bánya – Baia Mare in Romania)“, from: Umetničke kolonije, Osvit, Subotica, 1989, pp. �all applications), Dragoslav Stojanović Sip and Jószef Togy� 15–16 and 17–19. erás (ceramics on façads), Imre Šafranj (applications), and Ist� 29 Bratislav Ljubišić, Likovna kolonija Sićevo: 1905–1995, Direction for public city events, Niš, 1995. van Zsá��i (a �all painting). 38 Contributions of József Ács can 30 Bela Duranci, ”Prilike u Vojvodini (Bačka Topola, Veliki Bečkerek)“, from: Umetničke kolonije, Osvit, Subotica, 1989, pp. 48–53. 31 Bela Duranci, ”Subotička inicijativa – Kolonija na Paliću“, from: Umetničke kolonije, 34 Bela Duranci, ”Umetnička kolonija Ečka“, from: Umetničke kolonije, Osvit, Subotica, Osvit, Subotica, 1989, pp. 59–61. 1989, pp. 76–79. 32 The following art colonies are among the more important ones: “Art colony Ečka near 35 Tihomir Savić, Ečka / Umetnička kolonija, Forum, Novi Sad, 1965. Zrenjanin”, “Art colony Bačka Topola”, “Art colony Bečej”, “Graphic art atelier of Likovni susret” in Subotica, “Art colony Deliblatski pesak” from Pančevo, “Karlovac art work- 36 Imre Dević, Dvadeset godina Umetničke kolonije u Bačkoj Topoli 1953–1973, Forum, Novi shop” in Sremski Karlovci, “Art colony Senta”, “Art colony Lazar Vozarević” in Sremska Sad 1962. Mitrovica, Agency for Visual and Applied Arts “Terra” from Kikinda. 37 József Acs, Slikarska kolonija u Senti, Forum, Novi Sad, 1962. 33 Bela Duranci, ”Razlozi formiranju prvih posleratnih kolonija“, from: Umetničke kolonije, 38 ”Dela bačkotopolske sinteze“, from: Imre Dević, Dvadeset godina Umetničke kolonije u Osvit, Subotica, 1989, pp. 65–67. Bačkoj Topoli 1953–1973, Forum, Novi Sad, 1962, pp. 111–113. 20 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina be seen behind other projects of colonies in Vojvodina as �ell, and communication technologies (ICT), ne� cultural relations for instance, the �or�� of E� group in the colony in Senta. E� and social theory 42: group �as composed of Jožef Beneš (1930), Atila Černi�� (1941), The Center for New Media_kuda.org is an organization that Jožef �ar��uli�� (1935�1994), �al �etri�� and József Ács. 39 gathers artists, theoreticians, media activists, researchers and a �ide audience in the ��eld of information and communication The cultural, political and artistic concept of colonies in so� technologies (ICT). In that sense, kuda.org is dedicated to the cialist Vojvodina �as directly questioned for the ��rst time �ith e�ploration of ne� cultural relations, contemporary art practice the appearance of �eo�Avant�garde artists and conceptual art� and social topics. ists in the late 1960s and early 1970s (�ÔD group, groups Janu� The activity of kuda.org is dedicated to the questions of the in��u� ary and February, group (∃, City commune in Novi Sad). This ence of electronic media on society, on the creative use of ne� questioning occured �ith the separation of art practices from communication technologies and on contemporary culture and “public” and “dominant” discourse of socialist �odernism and social politics. Some of the main topics are the interpretation and the confrontation of alternative artistic gatherings (groups, the analysis of history and the signi��cance of the information movements, communes) �ith the models of artistic gather� society, the potential of the information itself and the �idth of its in��uence on the political, economic and cultural relations in ings supported by the state. Colonies �ere, in fact, the “topoi” contemporary society. The Center for New Media_kuda.org opens of the flowering of thousands of flowers �ithin the proclaimed up the space for the culture of a dialogue, the alternative methods socialist pluralism. Artists did not go to colonies based on their of education and research. Social questions, the culture of the artistic or poetic choices but based on the cultural protocols of media, ne� technologies, art, the free so���are principle and the the super�poetic cooperation. �eo�Avant�garde and conceptual open code principle are the areas of interest for kuda.org. art questioned the illusions of a socialist pluralism refusing Programs of kuda.org: the non�interest and non�political participation in the �or�� of Kuda.info/info center colonies. The artits of the �eo�Avant�garde and conceptual art �ives information in the area of ne� media culture, contempo� did not strive to adjust to the discourses of the art of the cul� rary art and social phenomena; enables research and education tural�political center of Yugoslavia – Belgrade, on the contrary, through a library, media���les and archives from this area. they strived to�ards the direct involvement in the internation� Kuda.lounge/presentations and lectures al artistic practices. 40 The ne� le����ing approach of proanar� Contains lectures, intervie�s, public presentations of artists, chistic direct self�government confronted the bueraucratized media�activists, art theoreticians, scientists, researchers and engi� mediatory, ostensibly plural organization of artistic life. neers (e�hibitions, presentations, platforms, symposiums, lectures The model of the artistic self�organization and e�tra�in� are a place of an active dialogue and interaction that contribute to the creation of a ne� quality core on both sides: the audience and stitutional institutionalization of artistic and cultural �or�� the lecturer). �ithin postsocialist transition �as anticipated and realized through the �or�� of the Apsolutno group and the Center for Kuda.production/ production and publishing �rovides conditions for non�pro��t art creation in the ��eld of New Media_kuda.org, as �ell as through the longstanding ne� media and technology; kuda.org as a producer, co�pro� �or�� of the Center for Contemporary Culture “Konkordija” in ducer provides conditions for inter�disciplinary research and Vršac. e�periments. 43 The Center for New Media_kuda.org �as created during the period �hen the “socialist sponsorship” disappeared and �hen The Center for New Media_kuda.org is performing an impor� ��Os 41 started to form, �hich acted in the environment of the tant transformation of art �or�� and autonomous creation into neoliberal mar��et and foundation art funding. The Center for and artistic/curatorial and organizational �or�� on contradic� New Media_kuda.org is a collective dedicated to ne� technol� tory cultural and social ��elds. The intervening and production, ogy, art, activism, and social and cultural politics. The center and commercial registers of and artist’s �or�� – a curator’s or an is an organization that gathers artists, theoreticians, media artist’s – a culture �or��er, are being set up. What is speci��c is activists, researchers and audiences in the ��eld of information that, over the last fe� years, there has been a rede��nition of the ontology of an art piece in the art�curatorial project, �hich does 42 Divanik – Razgovori i intervjui o medijskoj umetnosti, kulturi i društvu, kuda_org.new me- dia center, Novi Sad, 2004; Tetonik – Nova društvena ontologija u vreme totalne komu- nikacije, kuda_org.new media center, Novi Sad, 2004; Bitomatik – Umetnička praksa u vreme informacijske/medijske dominacije, kuda_org.new media center, Novi Sad, 2004; 39 Olga Kovačev Ninkov, ”Geneza programskog stvaralaštva Umetničke kolonije Senta“, Oliver Resler, Alternativne ekonomije, alternativna društva, kuda_org.new media center, a manuscript. Novi Sad, 2005; Felix Stalder, Open Cultures and the Nature of Networks, kuda_org.new 40 Mirko Radojičić (ed.), ”Konceptualna umetnost“ (temat), Polja, No. 156, Novi Sad, 1972; media center, Novi Sad, 2005; Trajni čas umetnosti – Novosadska neoavangarda 60-ih i or N. Auberge, C. Millet, A. Pacquement (eds.), ”Concept“, from: Septieme Biennale de 70-ih godina XX veka, kuda_org.new media center, Novi Sad, 2005; Izostavljena istorija / Paris, Paris, 1971. Omitted History, Revolver, Frankfurt am Main, 2006. 41 NGO=Non Governmental Organizations. 43 See: http://www.kuda.org 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 21  not result in a “piece” but in production relations in culture. This trated around Vienna, in Austria (present�day territory of new art e�ists bet�een the criticism and the apology of social Austria), the Alps, Bohemia (Czech Republic), and at the end reality, it is the sole constitutive offer of reality as an imaginary of the 19th century there �as also a strong industrialization of and as a symbolic �ay of representing the possible global co� central Hungary and the Carpathian region. The area of pres� existence of different racial, ethnic, class, generation, gender or ent�day Vojvodina remained dominantly agricultural, �ith a professional identities and their unstable relationships. certain in��uence of the industrialization and, certainly, �ith ART CLINIC �� is a utopian and alternative project of a an indicated, faster urbanization. T�o connected, even though group of citizens �ith the multimedia center LED ART 45. The different imperialisms represented the cultural politics of the project leader is artist, performer and activist �i��ola Džafo empire: Austrian imperialism connected �ith the Austrian, (1950). ART CLINIC started �or��ing in the late 2002 in �ovi and hence �erman cultural hegemony, and the Hungarian Sad. This alternative institution �as founded as a response to imperialism derived from the “Austrian national” imperial� the “diseased society �e are living in”, �ith the conviction that ism and developed in the direction of the national�bourgeoisie art can heal and change the �orld. The ART CLINIC project is domination of the Hungarian community above minorities conducted as a multimedia process �ithin �hich independent and minority cultures in the empire. This dualism points to e�hibitions in the SHOC� �ALLERY (the intensive care �ard the relationship of the “universalism” (Austro��erman) and of ART CLINIC – the smallest gallery in the Bal��ans �ith 2m2); national “particularization” �ith hegemonic potentials (Hun� “Evening act” – public dra�ing and sculpting classes; ��lm pro� garian). Austro��erman universalism �as constituted in the grams and video projections; lectures, platforms, discussions, 19th century, �ith regards to art, around the style patterns of performances; �or��shops; and there is a space �ithin ART the evolution of church and political art into prototypical style CLINIC for selling art products. By means of permanently open models of allegoric Romanticism and bourgeoisie Realism, competitions for e�hibiting in the SHOC� �ALLERY and for �hich led to�ards the creation of the Academic Realism in creating personal ��ags, ART CLINIC is insisting on a dialogue, painting and sculpting, as an originator of learned and canonic accepting �ell�intentioned suggestions, �hereas the e�hibitors modern autonomies of art. On the other hand, reactions to are chosen by the Art Council. By promoting artists �ith fresh Academic Realism came about because of the establishment and provocative approaches to�ards the realization and presen� of “ne� tendencies” at the end of the 19th century, �hich �ere, tation of art �or��, ART CLINIC is trying to encourage young in part, Secession 47 (jugendstil, art nouva), symbolism and artists, above others, to ��nd their o�n path through art and the Impressionism, bearing in mind that Secession had its Austro� �orld �e are living in. Through cooperation �ith individuals �erman, or Viennese, source of modernization and search for and similar organizations, ART CLINIC is participating in the ne� art and ne� unity of cra�� via open concept of art, archi� creation of a net�or�� �ith the goal of changing the inefficient tecture and material production. Secession in national variants and autistic cultural politics on a local level, and beyond. (Austrian Secession, Hungarian Secession, Serbian Secession, Croatian Secession) ��ept the international style constant of the representative universal modernity. Symbolism and Impres� Imperialisms and modernity (Serbian edition, p.47) sionism appeared as international art movements that sur� passed the interest conte�ts of Austro�Hungarian monarchy Austro�Hungarian 46 and Hungarian imperialism in culture and Austro�Hungarian cultural hegemony, bearing in mind and art are a part of social politics and political con��icts that symbolism is connected in certain aspects �ith Secession �ithin the Austrian Empire, and, later on, the Austro�Hungar� and, not rarely, �ith bourgeoisie Realism, �hich created a ne� ian “dual” monarchy. In the second half of the 19th century and model for a modern style and potential evolutions of Academic during the ��rst decades of the 20th century, the Austro�Hun� Realism. Impressionism, and later on, post�Impressionisms garian Empire under�ent a transformation from a developed (Cézannism, above others) �ere a part of an immanent paint� hierarchical and bureaucratized feudalism into a bourgeoisie, ing e�periment and innovation �ithin the autonomy of the art multinational, industrialized and urban society. Capitalist of painting and the development of art formalism. 48 forms of production �ere conducted in a planned manner over a period of ����een years. Economic development �as concen� 47 Bela Duranci, A vajdasági építészeti szecesszió – Secesija u vojvođanskoj kulturi, Forum, Novi Sad, 1983; and Bela Duranci, Arhitektura secesije u Vojvodini, Grafoprodukt, Subotica, 2005. 44 See: http://www.ledart.org.yu/artklinika/o_nama.htm. 48 Petar Dobrović, in an analytically accurate manner, analyzed the dynamics of the 45 Vesna Graničević (ed.), Led Art: Dokumenti vremena: 1933–2003, MMC Led Art and relation of modern Academisms and growing Modernisms in his essay: ”Slikarski pravci Samizdat B92, Belgrade, 2004. XIX i XX veka“, Dan, No. 9–10, Belgrade and Novi Sad, November 1st – 15th 1919. Pub- 46 John W. Mason, The Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867-1918. Second Edi- lished in: Olga Dobrović, ”Dokumentacija o stvaralaštvu Petra Dobrovića III: Likovne tion. London and New York: Longman, 1997. kritike, intervjui, politički članci, pisma“, Matica sprska Gallery, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 18–21. 22 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina Hungarian imperialism, modernity and Modernisms (p.48) in establishing the Hungarian empire, and as a call for the modernization, that is, industrialization and urbanization of Hungarian imperialism is ��no�n by its comple� hegemonic a predominantly agricultural “province”. In a political sense, aspirations in the processes of constitution and development the Millennium Exhibition mar��ed the transition from a feudal of the Hungarian modern bourgeoisie capitalist nationalism. heterogeneity of societies submitting to the sovereign into a Hungarian imperialism �as created as a transformation of a bio�political organization, control and supervision of “life”: feudal�agrarian society into a national bourgeoisie capitalist race, nation, ethnicity, micro�community, macro�community, industrial society. �odern art �as, �ithin that frame�or��, the individual. In that conte�t, numerous bi�national 52 public represented as an evolution of Academic Realism via national activities of artists and architects can be vie�ed. For instance, and academic subject matters realized in a realistic style. Dur� the �or�� of painter and politician �etar Dobrović (Hungar� ing the same period, a 19th century Academic Realism �as ian name: Péter Dobrovits) or of architect Dragiša Brašovan transformed into a modernized version of a realistic, Seces� (Hungarian name: Szilárd Brassován) is very characteristic. 53 sionist, symbolic, impressionist derivation of a “�or�� of art” as The development of the to�ns in Vojvodina and social classes an autonomous �or�� of art beyond the reach of direct political in them, particularly in Veli��i Beč��ere�� 54 (�etrovgrad, pres� and religious demands. One of the great cultural�political proj� ent�day Zrenjanin), 55 Subotica, 56 �ovi Sad, 57 Sombor, 58 and ects of the modernization of the national bourgeoisie culture Vršac, Bela Cr��va and �ančevo, 59 at the turn of the 20th cen� and its imperial e�pectations �as the Millennium Exhibition �� tury led to the creation of cultural communities, and, through held in Budapest bet�een 2nd of �ay and 3rd of �ovember 1896. education and art colonies, to the beginning of an art life. The Millennium Exhibition �as held to commemorate one �odern painting culture and “art life” began in the Hungarian thousands years of the Hungarian nation. The concept of the community 60 in a comple� process of the reception of art from e�hibition �as in a formal sense close to the model of the, then the capital cities, Vienna and Budapest, but also in the recep� popular, “�orld” and “national” e�hibitions, �hich means that tion of a pro�modern art from �agybanya. For instance, artists it �as prepared as a hybrid e�hibition of social, cultural and from Veli��i Beč��ere�� that �ere guests in �agybanya �ere: art productions. The e�hibition spanned over 520,000m2 and Antal Štrajtman (1850�1918), József Vár��onyi (1879�1938), �éter over additional 120,000m2 of the pavilions �ith over 21,000 Schneider (1886�1944) and Emil Ženar (1886�1954). Lajos �é� e�hibitors, 1,390 pavilions, an ethnographic village �ith 28 meth, an artist from Budapest, tried to establish an art colony houses, etc. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slavonia on the ban��s of the Begej River around 1904. What became had their pavilions. Serbs did not have their o�n pavilion; apparent �as that the modern art climate �as spreading by most of the ethnic and religious artifacts �ere e�hibited in the means of art education in primary and secondary schools, Croatian and Slavonian pavilions, �hereas a painting by �aja �ith the establishment of art schools 61, and, ��nally, �ith the Jovanović �as displayed in the main pavilion. 50 The concept establishment of art colonies. One of the ��rst impressionist of the e�hibition signi��ed in political terms the building and e�hibitions, entitled Impressionist of Veliki Bečkerek, �as held the derivation of the “narrative of national legitimacy” and “imperial domination” that �as re��ected in the integration of 52 Christopher Long, ”East Central Europe: National Identity and International Perspec- tive“, The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 61, No. 4, December 2002, the �annonian and Carpathian ethnic groups and peoples in pp.519–529. the conte�t of social and cultural hegemony of the Hungarian 53 These artists assumed a Hungarian artistic identity. For instance the work of painter Petar Dobrović is often identified as belonging to the Hungarian painting until 1918, culture. The spirit of fin�de�siècle �as mar��ed by the project of and to the Serbian painting after 1918. “Hungarization” in the sense of creating a hegemonic, strong 54 Jelena Knežević, ”Slikarstvo u Zrenjaninu 1900–1944“, from: Miloš Arsić (ed.), Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 41–49. national country. On the other hand, a nationalist pro�imperial 55 The name of the town was Veliki Bečkerek until 1935, between 1935 and 1946 it was model implied modernization, �hich means, industrialization Petrovgrad, and from 1946 it has been known as Zrenjanin. and urbanization of the Hungarian society: a new Hungarian 56 Ana Baranji, ”Slikarstvo u Subotici 1900–1944“, from: Miloš Arsić (ed.), Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 59–64; Bela Weltanschaunung. 51 Duranci, Sándor Torok (eds.), Likovno stvaralaštvo – Subotica 1945–1970. The Millennium Exhibition had a double effect on Vojvo� 57 Ratomir Kulić, ”Slikarstvo u Novom Sadu“, from: Miloš Arsić (ed.), Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 31–40. dina: as a symbolic and pragmatic call for the participation 58 Hedviga Hofman, ”Slikarstvo u Somboru 1900–1944“, from: Miloš Arsić (ed.), Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 54–59. 59 Svetlana Mihajlović Radivojević, ”Slikarstvo u južnom Banatu 1900–1940“, from: Miloš 49 The Millennium of Hungary and the National Exhibition, William Kunosy and Son, Arsić (ed.), Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Budapest, 1896; as well as the catalogue: Lélek és forma. Magyar müvészet 1896-1914, Sad, 1991, pp. 50–54. Budapest, A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványa, 1986. 60 Bela Duranci (ed.), Likovno stvaralaštvo Mađara u Vojvodini 1830–1930, City Museum, 50 Miodrag Jovanović, ”Milenijumska izložba u Budimpešti 1896. godine“, Sentandrejski Subotica, 1973. zbornik 2, Belgrade, 1992, pp. 171. 61 Mirjana Džepina, ”Slikarske škole u Novom Sadu 1900–1940“, from: Miloš Arsić (ed.), 51 Péter Hanik (ed.), One Thousand Years. A Concise History of Hungary, Corvina, Budapest, Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, 1988, pp.148. pp. 40–41. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 23  in 1910 in the to�n hall in Veli��i Beč��ere��. Antal Štrajtman, adult years in Veli��i Beč��ere��. His high school teacher �as Emil Ženar, József Vár��onyi, and Jenö Wälder among others Antal Štrajtman. He started �riting �hen he �as a high school too�� part in the e�hibition. senior �ith the Nagvbecskereki Hirlap paper in 1902. One of �ar��ed Hungarian national identi��cation models �ere his ��rst articles �as “Agyerme��e��” (child dra�ing), �ritten to involved in establishing art practices in cultural centers and mar�� the e�hibition of Antal Štrajtman, the pedagoge of the in the transference of the “competency” of an autonomous modern orientation. He �or��ed as a journalist in Budapest art creation from the center to�ards the margins. Feudal art, from 1904. He �rote art revie�s, and in 1906 he �rote about at the beginning of the 19th century, had characteristics of a Endre Adi, describing him as “a tomorro�’s hero”. From �aris, cra�� directed to�ards the religious and political – portrait and he reported on the �or�� of Cézanne. He studied in Florence historic painting. Until the middle of the 19th century there and Rome from 1907 to 1914. Upon his return to Hungary, he �ere no art schools in Hungary. Art education �as connected �or��ed �ith Đerđ Lu��ač. During his lifetime he �as a diplo� �ith the Viennese Academy (A��ademie der Bildenden �ün� mat, a protestant minister, a historian and an art theoretician, ste Wien). In the second half of the 19th century and at the a university professor, and an academic. 63 �ász�� Jenö (Senta, beginning of the 20th century, art education �as conducted, 1895 – Bai �are 1848) studied painting at the �est Academy most o��en, in Budapest, Vienna, �unich, �rague and Zagreb, from 1912/13. He �as in �agybanya for the ��rst time in the �ith unavoidable in��uences of Italian and French art schools summer of 1914. He studies �ith �ároly Ferenczy and, later on, and artists. Certainly, one of the important events, artisti� �ith István Réti. Because of the War, he did not ��nish his stud� cally, culturally and politically, �as the establishment of the ies until 1919. He belonged to the circle of the activists of Lajoš art colony in �agybanya 62 (present�day Bai �are in Romania) �aša��, and �or��ed part time for the Tett paper. He �as friends on 6th �ay 1896. The colony �as founded by a group of young �ith �etar Dobrović. He permanently settled in �agybanya artists educated in �unich in the school of Simon Hollósy. a��er World War I. 64 �ász��’s paintings Self�Portrait (1928) The idea behind the creation of the colony �as formulated by and Nagybanya Square (1928) are important, if not manifest, young painters István Réti, János Thorma, �ároly Ferenczy pieces. Laslo �ezdi �ovač 65 (1864�1942) is a painter self�di� and Béla �rün�ald Iványi. Wor�� in the �agybanya colony led dactic close to painter �aroly Ligeti (1890�1919), �ho �as his to the modernization of Hungarian art and, indirectly, to the painting teacher. As an archivist of the Torontal County, he in��uences on artistic environment and culture in Vojvodina. lived in Veli��i Beč��ere�� from 1885 until 1892. The follo�ing The �unich art school became in��uential in art education year he moved to Budapest, �here, besides painting, he also through their innovative character and emancipative differ� �rote art and theater revie�s. He �as a member of the Veli��i ences �ith regards to the Viennese Academy and art schools Beč��ere�� impressionist community. He produced landscapes of �est. There �as a change in the system of values – from and scenes from nature. He �on a silver medal at the Exposi� the concept of a traditional cra�� and canonic religiously or tion Universelle (World Fair) in �aris (1900), a gold medal in politically functional composition, there �as a shi�� to�ards London (19??), a silver medal at World E�hibition in Barcelona modernist emancipation from the traditional, to�ards the (19??), and the “�arley” Salon prize in Budapest (19??). He had mimesis of the established cra�� and the non�canonic prom� solo e�hibitions since 1891. �ainters from Vojvodina József ises of a modern, autonomous artistic e�pression. Instead of �echán, Béla Far��as (1894�1941), 66 Sándor Oláh 67 (1886�1966), the historic and allegoric images, �hat �as offered �ere the Zora �etrović, Ivan Radović, Árpád �. Balázs and others, also “images” of everyday life, primarily, the representations of �or��ed in �agybanya. the sensatory perception of a landscape (plein air movement). Hungarian national culture �as “reproduced” in the art of In��uences of the French �odernism, from the Barbizon school painting in Vojvodina through three simultaneous processes: to Impressionism and post�Impressionism became important. the transference of the Austro�Hungarian and Hungarian István Réti (1872�1943), János Thorma (1870�1937), �ároly Academic Realism, important for the traditional late�feudal Ferenczy (1862�1917) and Béla �rün�ald Iványi (1867�1940) founded an open art school in 1902. Since then, �agybanya 63 F�lep Lajos, Magyar muveszet (Hungarian art), 1923; F�lep Lajos A muveszet forradal- began in��uencing the art scene of Vojvodina and the reception matol a nagy forradalo-mig. Cikkek, tanulmanyok, I–II. Magvet Konvykiado, of the Barbizon school, Impressionism, post�Impressionism, Budapest, 1974. 64 Szabo Julia, A magyar aktivizmus tortenete. Mflveszettortć-neti fuzetek 3, Akademiai and later on, Fauvism. Artists and intellectuals striving for a Kiado, Budapest, 1971; Nagybanya. Nagybanyai festeszet a neosok feilćpesetđl 1944-ig. modern e�pression appeared �ith the �agybanya colony. Fü� Szerkesztettek: Jurecsko Laszlo, Kishonthy Zsolt, MissionArt Galćria, Miskolc, 1992. (Muradin Jenđ: Rovid ćletrajzok, str. 169–70.) lep Lajos (1885�1917, Budapest) spent his childhood and early 65 Vikica Popović, Velikobečkerečki slikarski ateljei, National museum, Zrenjanin, 1969; and Vukica Popović, Mađarski slikari u Banatu, National museum, Zrenjanin, 1979. 66 Bela Duranci, Farkas Béla, Forum, Novi Sad, 1999. 62 Irén Kirimi Kisdéginé (ed.), 67 Baranyi Anna, Oláh Sándor (1886–1966), Forum, Novi Sad, 1986. 24 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina and early�bourgeoisie modernity (Uroš �redić, �aja Jovanović), “subject of the visual mediation”. There is a famous line from the emphasized national concept of the developed Academic Danica ilirska magazine: 70 Realism, Romanticism and Realism in religious and national� In that manner an entire transformation of the art of painting political painting from the Millennium Exhibition period and engraving �ill ta��e place, consequences of �hich are still unimaginable. and through the emancipation and the transformation of the “national elite modernity” into the “national bourgeoisie” and That same year, the Magazine for Literature and Fashion “internationalized �odernism” of �agybanya. �odernity in (5 April 1839), �hich �as published in Serbian, brought the th Vojvodina �as realized, primarily, by means of civic painting ne�s of the discovery of the photograph. �ames of the ��rst (religous subject matters, historical�allegoric subjects and por� photographers appeared, such �ere the Je� Joseph Wippler, trait painting), �hich means that the development of moder� �ho probably �or��ed on photography around 1840 in Veli��i nity in art �as connected �ith the economic strengthening of Beč��ere��, Serbian photographer Anastas Jovanović, �ho too�� to�ns and by the separation of a ne� bourgeoisie upper class, the ��rst photos of the �etrovaradin Fortress in 1850. István as an autonomous class �ith regards to aristocracy. �odern� Oldal opened a painting�photo art studio in 1854 in Veli��i ism, on the contrary, ��rst too�� place in the Hungarian national Beč��ere��, �here he �or��ed until 1902, �hen István Henri�� conte�t by shi��ing the “target group” of artists and consumers� Oldal too�� over the shop and managed it until 1921. 71 With audience of art from the higher�leading class to middle class, the technical development of photography from the daguerreo� and later on through the internationalization of the Hungarian type to the industrial production of the “mechanical picture”, “art” identity. Internationalized Hungarian art identity became the photograph became a means of artistic, documentary, and a role model for building a “tacit” Serbian national cultural most certainly ideological 72 �or�� in the construction and the politics at the beginning of the 20th century. representation of the image of everyday life. The process of the József �echán 68(1875�1922) �as a particularly in��uen� separation of photography from painting can be seen in the tal Hungarian��erman artist. He �as born in Čibo, studied photographic evolution of the Oldal studio. Even a glance at painting at the Academy (A��ademie der Bildenden �ünste the photographs of interiors, e�teriors, family portraits, por� �ünchen, 1889�1892) and in the private school of Simon traits, sports and army photographs, travel, beach photographs, Hollósy (1904) in �unich. He met Hungarian artists Sándor photographs of art studios, etc., indicates the po�er and in��u� Ziffer (1880�1962) and Ernő �ötz �ho had connections �ith ence of a ne� ��ind of “mechanical picture”. 73 The ideological �agybanya. He spent time in �aris, �or��ed in Budapest, effect of the social and cultural subjectivity can be seen in �here he �as one of the founders of the “Independence Club” almost any photograph that evolves from the individual vie� (�űvészház), and under the patronage of the “Independence into a public, “objective” image. For instance, t�o photographs Club” he had independent e�hibitions in Vrbas, �ula, �alan��a by István Oldal, sho�ing children, in an important manner and Sombor. A��er World War I, he lived in Vrbas, �here he sho� racial, ethnic and class distinction bet�een those “little, �as painting, sculpting, composing, and designing buildings innocent creatures”. The ��rst photograph, Fotografija Marka and interiors. In his development as a painter, József �echán Mirča (The Photograph of Marko Mirč, 1904), sho�s a boy, be� �ent from modern Academic Realism to symbolism, Seces� t�een three and four years old, �earing a traditional garment, sion �ith certain in��uences of Impressionism: The Landscape in a relatively abstract environment. The second photograph, (1903), Daydreaming (1910), (1911) or The Garden (1913). Egyik cigányképe (around 1910) sho�s eight na��ed Romany It is characteristic that at the turn of the 20th century, there boys and girls in a landscape. This distinction in treatments of �as an appearance of photography, and later on of ��lm, ne� the public body creates an ideological horizon of understanding media by means of �hich a modern social visibility, or in other the individual as a social subject. Every one of these readings �ords, spectacularity �as projected. 69 Firstly, through pho� can lead to different in��uences of photographic �or�� and its tography, the �orld became visible and recognizable. Human transformation from private, documentary characteristic into a subjects could be seen, by oneself and by others, in a framed cultural�political �or�� on structuring life. Others photographers space of a photograph. The visibility and the po�er of the e�ternal classi��cation of the visible demanded speci��c atten� tion and affectation, �hich redirects the modern subject in the 70 Danica ilirska, Zagreb, April 6th 1839; see: Nada Grčević, Fotografija devetnaestog stoljeća u Hrvatskoj, Zagreb, 1981, pp. 9. 71 Bela Duranci, Zoltan Kalapiš – Bečkerečki svetlopisac, Photo-cinematic association of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 1986. 72 Here the concept of the “ideological work” is used in the sense of deriving social and cultural subjectivity of the individual. 68 Bela Duranci, Bordás Győző (eds.), A két Pechán – Dva Pehana, Forum, Novi Sad, 1982. 73 Németh Ferenc, A Bánáti fényképészet története 1848–1918, Forum, Újvidék, 2002; Oz- 69 Jonathan Crary, Suspensions of Perception – Attention, Spectacle, and Modern Culture, ren M. Radosavljević, ”Pomenik belocrkvanskih fotografa“, from: Belocrkvanske sveske, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2001. II, Kulturno-prosvetni centar, Bela Crkva, 1988. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 25  that �or�� at the turn of the 20th century are: �eorgije �nežević indicative that t�o radical le����ing and “anti�Horthy” artists, in �ovi Sad, Stefan Wulpe, Ignatz Reisz etc. 74 �hotography �as from the 1920s, during the 1940s advocated for the right option being developed in the to�ns of Vojvodina, Banat and Bač��a, of national unity �ithin the �azi project of the ne� organi� in the range of professional photographic �or��, over amateur zation of Europe. During the �ar, bet�een 1941 and 1944, photo clubs to the private photography, and the introduction of there �as an intense e�hibition �or�� of a fe� artists: Árpád photography in publishing (postcards, ne�spapers, magazines �. Balázs, Sándor Csávosi (1885�1954), Lajos Husvéth (1894� and other graphics designs). �rofessional photography dif� 1956), András Hangya (Subotica, 1912 – Zagreb, 1988 [1989]), ferentiated itself during the 20th century from the commercial Ivan Ja��občić, (1912�1997), �ilan �onjović, Lu��ács �yelmis photography of the studios, over ne�spaper, documentary and (1899�1979) and others, gathered around the Association of scienti��c photography, to art photography. Painters from Southern Hungary. They had e�hibitions on �ovi The spectacular character of the ne� image is also distin� Sad, at La��e �alić, in Sombor, Budapest and Szeged. 76 A��er guishable and improved �ith media such as ��lm. Cinemato� World War II, the Hungarian national identity �as reconsti� graphic history can be follo�ed from the Vršac spectacle of tuted as a minority identity, follo�ing the model of the social� moving “panorama” and “stereoscopes” (1862), over ne�s ist “equal nationalities” in the Autonomous Socialist �rovince presentations on Edison’s ��inetoscope (1897) and the ��rst of Vojvodina. A��er the brea�� up of SFRY in 1991, there �as a projection of a part of the ��lm about the Russian�Japanese War change in the ethnic structure of Vojvodina, and the emigration (1906), to the ��rst projection halls/cinemas (1906�1907) and, of the Hungarian population, �hich is no�, at the turn of the ��nally, to the ��rst ��lm revie�, �hich Boš��o To��in �rote on the 21st century, is seen as a marginal “national minority” �ithin ��lm Crveni zec (Red rabbit) in a cinematographic column in the unstable transitional Serbian society and its political, social, Progress ne�spaper in Belgrade, in 1920. and rarely, cultural processes of establishing hegemony. The The Hungarian “national model” also included the ideolog� history of Hungarian art in Vojvodina can be follo�ed through ical point of vie� that the local�national�Hungarian�identity in the entire 20th century, from �odernism, over Avant�gardes and Vojvodina, the local�national�Serbian�identity and the local� �eo�Avant�gardes, to post��odernism and the age of globalism. national�other�identities are subordinate �ith regards to the “imperial” po�er center, that is, �ith regards to the Hungar� ian�center�national�state as the paragon of society and culture. The case of Paja Jovanović: visibility of social power (p.58) During the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, a process of establishing hegemony started ta��ing place, follo�ed An e�ceptional e�ample of the imperial and central�European by the imperial establishment of the Hungarian identity �ithin “inscription” of the Austro�Hungarian – Viennese identity on the Austrian Empire, �hich resulted in its transformation the life and �or�� of artists �ho came from Serbian culture is, into the Austro�Hungarian monarchy. Hungarian nationalism by all means, the �or�� of painter �aja Jovanović (Vršac, 1859 �as soon set forth – and proven itself – through Hungarian – Vienna, 1957). �aja Jovanović graduated from the Acad� imperialism. A��er World War I, the “Vojvodina Hungarian emy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1880, under the mentorship of identity” changed from a dominant to minority identity of one professors Christian �riepen��erl and Leopold Carl �iller. of the diasporas oriented to�ards the center, that is, to�ards The teachings of Leopold Carl �iller �ere directed to�ards the mother country. During World War II, there �as a rene�al romantic and realist painting �ith historical and oriental sub� of the imperial Hungarian national and social identity because jects. Jovanović spent most of his life �or��ing bet�een Vienna, of the military camaraderie of Hungary and �azi �ermany. Belgrade and Vršac. Important e�hibitions in �hich he too�� That is �hen the idea of the return of the “southern Hungarian part, at the turn of the 20th century, �ere the Millennium Exhi� parts” to the motherland is introduced. The boo�� A Visszatért bition in Budapest, �here he sho�ed his Vršac Triptych (1896), Délvidék 75 �as a project of the promotion of the idea of social and the Exposition Universelle in �aris, �here he displayed his and cultural return of the “southern parts” to the motherland, Proclamation of Dušan’s Law (1900). Both e�hibitions �ere a that is, to Hungary. The boo�� �as edited by Zoltán Csu��a, and part of his artistic and political determinedness �ith imperial it included te�ts by Árpád �. Balázs. On the cover illustration policies of Austro�Hungary and �ith Serbian national politics. there �as a national�realistic image representing the act of His artistic “mode” �as an e�pression of the Austrian fin�de� the “return” �hen people address Admiral Horthy. It is very siècle, �hich refers to the rational association of painting Real� 74 Sava Stepanov, ”Utkana u kulturu – Vojvodina, 1840–1989“, from: Miodrag Đorđević 76 According Miloš Arsić’s citation from, ”Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944“, footnote (ed.), Fotografija kod Srba 1839–1989 1839–1989, Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sci- 71, from: Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, ence, Belgrade, 1991, pp. 45–56. 1991, pp. 30; and ”Pregled grupnih izložbi sa bibliografijom – izbor“: Years 1941–1944, 75 Csuka Zoltán (ed), A Visszatért Délvidék, HK, Budapest, 1921 pp. 210–211. 2 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina ism �ith late�Romanticism representable historic, allegoric Ópusztaszer national memorial par��. Jovaović’s “composition” and oriental atmorpheres and subjects matters and occasional refers to the ��nal composition part (the arrival of the people) of symbolic anticipations (Parsifal, 1920�1926). Jovanović painted Feszty’s painting. Ho�ever, the commissioner, �atriarch �rig� by commission �or��s �ith Serbian, Hungarian�Austrian (The orije Bran��ović, as��ed Jovanović to remove the “��oc�� of sheep” Wedding of Prince Ferry IV with Elisabeth the Habsburg, 1901) from the painting and to emphasize the �arrior�li��e character and �erman (Furor Teutonicus, 1900) themes. He developed of the Serbian people, as Hungarian military allies. The e�hib� an international career �or��ing for the London art dealers ited painting, Vršac Triptych (1895) �as commissioned by the Wallis and Tooth. He spent time in France, the USA, Tur��ey, to�n of Vršac. Three themes �ere realized: a ��eld�harvest �ith Egypt, �orocco, etc. For a �hile, he lived in �aris and �unich Serbs, a vineyard�harvest �ith Serbs and �ermans and a fair, (1884�1895), ho�ever, he permanently longed for Vienna and in others �ords, the painting sho�ed social relations in the the Viennese style and Viennese “orientalism”. 77 arts of commerce, �ine�ma��ing and agriculture. The painting Typically, he sho�ed both “Serbian” and “Bal��an” subjects �as eclectic in style, �ith, at the time, a brave combination of (Wounded Montenegrin 1882, The Fencing Lesson 1884, Arba� Realism, Symbolism and Impressionism. Jovanović’s paintings nas 1884�1886, The Traitor, or The Lady in an Oriental Gown �ith national themes �ere very popular in the fol�� culture of 1884�1888, The Cockfighting 1920�1926) in a pictorial discourse the time and �ere reproduced in large numbers and published of the orient�set Western romantic painting, �hich underlines as oleographs 80 or reproductions. the duality of his artistic identity: particularly national �ith re� �aja Jovanović, as a city painter and a master of realist gards to themes and universally imperial�colonial �ith regards academic cra��, focused most of his painting opus to “social” to painting models of e�pression and techniques. The oriental and “political” painting. His portraits are precisely that ��ind of style of his painting, even �hen he actually �or��ed on truly painting constructions and representations of pictorial figures oriental themes From Morocco or A Lion Tamer in Morocco, of power in an economic, social�class, political and cultural is not e�tra�European or provincial, but represents a Euro� sense. For instance, Portrait of Mihajlo Pupin (1903) is a con� pean�colonial painting construction of e�otic visibility of the struction of the physical appearance of a respectable cosmo� oriental identity. 78 That is �hy his “Serbian paintings” are an politan scientist of Serbian heritage, �hereas the portraits of e�ample of po�er of the European colonial standpoint to adopt �ideon Dunđers��i, So��ja Dunđers��i and Teodora Dunđers��i the other through universal “models of e�pression”. (1916, 1916, 1916�1920) are e�plicit painting constructs of class The relation of the national theme and the imperial identity of a ne� Serbian aristocracy �ithin Austro�Hungar� composition can also be seen on monumental paintings such ian, and later on, Serbian society. �ortrait of Prince Aleksandar as the Migration of the Serbs (1896) or the Proclamation of I Karađorđević (1913), Queen Marija Karađorđević (1925) or Dušan’s Law (1900), The Coronation of Emperor Dušan (a��er Nikola Pašić (1922�1926) and the s��etch�portrait of Marshal 1900), Miloš, Marko and the Fairy (1906). What is particularly Tito (1947) are quite rare e�amples of creating and modifying interesting is that the Migration of the Serbs �as supposed to be Academic Realism in representation of the main ��gures of the e�hibited at the Millennium Exhibition but it �as replaced by direct and sovereign bourgeoisie�absolute and sovereign com� another painting. The painting Vršac Triptych �as e�hibited in munist revolutionary political po�er. It is as if po�er is given a hall ��ve of the central e�hibition area of the Art Pavilion at the pictorial visibility in his paintings. His representation of po�er Millennium Exhibition. The concept of the painting Migration also, on the other side, brings the visibility of Bal��an, Serbian of the Serbs �as supposed to sho� and advocate the national� or communist po�er do�n to the discourse of the European political Serbian identity in Hungarian society and culture. It painting. �as realized in three versions – s��etches. The composition �as in the genre of the national�historical romantic painting, and, of course, under certain compositional in��uence of the monu� National cultures and art in Vojvodina (Serbian edition, p.62) mental �or�� of Árpád Feszty Árpád Conquers Hungary or The Arrival of Hungarians in the Pannonian Plain 7� (1893). It is a What is characteristic of Vojvodina at the turn of the 20th monumental painting, 120 � 15m in scale. It is e�hibited in the century, in the age of the Austro�Hungarian Empire, are the con��icts and contradictions bet�een different national po�ers 77 Dejan Medaković, ”Paja Jovanović“, from: Paja Jovanović, Prosveta, Belgrade, 1957, pp. 5–11. 78 Jill Beaulieu, Mary Roberts (eds.), Orientalism’s Interlocutors – Painting, Architecture, 80 Oleography (chromolithography) was, between the middle of the 19 th century and Photography, Duke University Press, Durham, 2002; and Christine Peltre, Orientalism, the beginning of World War I, a popular medium for verbatim reproduction of the Editions Terrail, Paris, 2004. painting original. Oleography played an important role in making art more popular, 79 Sz�cs �rpád and Wójtowicz Ma�gorzata, A Feszty-Körkép, Helikon Kiadó, by means of various political, most often national projects, and preparing high art for Budapest, 1996 the upcoming popular/mass culture. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 27  – bet�een Austro��erman, Hungarian and Serbian social and Zuzana Chalupová (1925�2001), Jan So��ol, Vladimir Bo� cultural hegemony and integrative politics. �ational artistic bos, �ichal Bires, Jan �nazovic (1925�1985), �avel Hr��, Jan �odernisms, primarily painting, proved to be comple� identi� Stra��use��, Jan Venars��y, Alberta Cizi��ova, �atarina �arleci�� ��cation models �ith the goal of establishing relations bet�een and others. Contemporary Slova�� artists in Vojvodina include central�national�identity and local�marginal�national�identity. Jan Agars��y (1962), �iš��o Bolf (1960), �ira Brt��ova (1930), This relationship �as almost al�ays a “vertical” relationship of Ingrid Cic��ova (1970), �avel Enji (1953), Vera Fajndovičeva�Su� the minority to�ards the dominant national center and only dova (1948), �aria �aš��ova (1948), �ichal �iral (1955�1995), then a “horizontal” relationship to�ards the other minority �artin �izur (1957), Josef �lati�� (1949), Ivan �rižan (1944), and micro�social practices. �ational identity of any ethnic or Vladimir Labat�Rovnev (1944), Štefan Lačo�� (1933), Anna national community in Vojvodina �as not derived only as the �alachova�Fajndovicova, Daniela �ar��ova (1980), �iloslav “puri��ed” national identity, but also as the structure of class, �avel��a (1951), �atica �avel��ova Vu��ajličova (1954), Anna religious, gender, social, professional, and even “geographi� �i�iadesova (1924–2004), �avel �op (1948), �ilan Sudi (1942), cal” differentiation, association, mediation or representation Jaroslav Supe�� (1952), �yula Sánta (1969), Jaroslav Šimović of individual or collective subjectivity of a feudal, bourgeoisie, (1931), Rastislav Š��ulec (1962), and Jan Triaš��a (1977). real�communist and transitional society. It �as recorded that, �arol �iloslav Lehots��ý 90 (Lalić, 1879 – Brno, 1929) �as throughout the 20th century, there lived around t�enty���ve born in a civic, intellectual family of Vojvodinian Slova��s. He ethnic groups, nations or other identi��cation groups in Vojvo� ��nished cra��s school in Sombor. He �as preparing to enter dina: Serbs 81, Hungarians 82, Slova��s 83, Croatians 84, Yugo� the Academy in �rague from 1897. He began studying paint� slavs, �ontenegrins, Romanians 85, Romany 86, Bunjevci 87, ing in �rague �here he became friends �ith Jaroslav August Rusyns 88, �acedonians, U��rainians, �uslims, �ermans, Slo� and �ustáv �allý. Upon his return from summer holidays in venians, Albanians, Bulgarians, Chec��s, Russians 89, �orani, 1898 he enrolled in a special course under �a�imilian �irner Bosnians, Vlachs and others. (1854�1924). �irner �as in��uenced by �erman philosophy, primarily by the pessimism of Friedrich �ietzche. His paint� ing �as characteristic by its dar�� colors and images of fantastic Slovak art in Vojvodina and the case of Karol Miloslav creatures from the under�orld. Lehots��ý studied dra�ing and Lehotský: between Impressionism and Theosophical improved his use of colors under the in��uence of �rofessor Symbolism (Serbian edition, p.63) Vlah Bu��ovac. Evolving from the color in��uence of Bu��ovac, he reached a speci��c variant of Impressionism. Today he is Throughout the 20th century, there �ere many Slova�� profes� considered the creator of Impressionism in Slova�� painting. sional and naïve artists �ho �or��ed in Vojvodina. Slova�� During his studies, he came into contact �ith “spiritual teach� artists o��en �or��ed in Vojvodina and Slova��ia, creating an ings”, mainly theosophy, �hich led him to the search for the intercultural and central�European area for modern art. 20th spiritual in painting. He spent a brief period of time in Vienna, century artists included: �arol �iloslav Lehots��ý, Zuzana studying old masters as a guest�student. He returned from �edved’ová, Andrej Labat, Ivan �runi��, Ana �i��sajdesova, Vienna to Lalić, spent time in �ovi Sad in the 1900, and in Jaroslav Šimović, Štefan Laco��, and the �ovačica school of Ružombero�� in the summer of 1901. He suffered from melan� naïve painters: �artin Jonas (1924�1996), �artina �alus��a, choly. During his stay in Odžaci in in 1902 he started doing portraits. Lehots��ý sho�ed ��ve paintings at an e�hibition in Hodonin on the �orava River (3rd �ay – 2nd June 1902). Other 81 Matica Srpska Gallery, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 2001. Slova�� artists e�hibiting at that e�hibition �ere: Andraš��ović, 82 Bela Duranci (ed.), Likovno stvaralaštvo Mađara u Vojvodini 1830–1930, City Museum, Subotica, 1973; Imre Bori, Književnost vojvođanskih Mađara, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, August, Hanula and �itrovs��i. A lot of visitors sa� the e�hibi� 1979. tion, including French sculptor Auguste Rodin. In the mean� 83 See: http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovaci. 84 Ante Sekulić, Umjetnost i graditeljstvo bačkih Hrvata, Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 1998. time, Lehots��ý did not go to the e�hibition, but �as preparing 85 Petru Marina (Seleus, 1937), Dimitrije Ardeljan (1941-����), Viorel Flora (Banatsko Novo for a trip to �unich, �aris or London. He spent some time in Selo, 1952), Gabriela Turturea (Bukurešt, 1974), Jonel Popović (), Dominika Morariu (1967), Daniela Morariu (1967) and others Italy, in late 1902, �here he painted several impressionist sym� 86 http://www.nshc.org.yu/romi.htm bolic paintings, for instance Faustus and Margarita and Venice 87 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunjevci;; Ante Sekulić, Bački Bunjevci i Šokci, Školska at Night. He declined an invitation from his friend Jaroslav knjiga, Zagreb, 1989. 88 Rysin artists: Stevan Bodnarov,, Helena Sivč,č, Evgenije Kočiš, čiš, iš, š, Vladimir Kolesar,, Jakim Buljčik, čik, ik,, Andri Kočiš, čiš, iš, š, Nikola Cverdelj and others. 89 This primarily refers to the Russian emigrant culture (Bela Crkva, Veliki Bečkerek, 90 Vladim�r Valent�k, ”The Family Origin and Life Road of Karol Miloslav Lehotský“; see: Pančevo, Novi Sad), which was established after the end of World War I and intensive- http://www.vojvodinaslovakart.com/index.php�option=com_content&task=view&id ly developed until the end of World War II. Bibliography: Boris L. Pavlov, Ruska kolonija =50&Itemid=32; i Ladislav Čáni, Vladimir Valentik, Karol Miloslav Lehotský, Kultura, Bački u Velikom Bečkereku (Petrovgradu, Zrenjaninu), National Museum, Zrenjanin, 1994. Petrovac and Dom zahraničných Slovákov, Bratislava, 2004. 2 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina August to sho� his �or�� in Žilina in 1903. At the same time, ers and fol�� painters to modernists and �eo�Avant�gardists, he began �ith the preparation for his solo e�hibition contain� a narrative �as being built about the e�traordinariness of ing 50 �or��s. The e�hibition �as held in Meštanska beseda in Russian art as opposed to European Western art. One of the Uhers��o Hradište. He �or��ed �ith a group of Slovak�Hungar� ��rst critical studies �as a discussion on the history of Russian ian artists around 1907. For the evangelist church in �etrovac, painting �ritten by �osta Strajnić 92 and published in Letopis he painted by commission the Last Supper. He did portraits for Matice srpske in 1930. This te�t introduced a modern ta��e on William �auliný Tóth, Ambre �ive, �avol �udre and Hurban the history of Russian art and follo�ed its development from Vajans��ý during 1912. He painted a portrait of the Serbian �ing the “Russian icon” to the painters of the new Russia in the �etar in �ovi Sad. He did landscape painting on the ban��s of the Soviet revolutionary and post�revolutionary society. 93 �odern Danube. He �as forbidden to paint outside his place of living. appearances of Impressionism and Symbolism follo�ed by Under pressure, he decided to go to Zagreb, �here he organized scenographic painting in connection �ith Russian ballet and a solo e�hibition. He spent the �ar �ith his sister in Hložani. He ending in Futurism and Suprematism are being considered in �as in favor of the Slova�� national union. He organized the ��rst this te�t in great detail. This te�t is concluded �ith an indica� e�hibition of Slova��s from Vojvodina in �etrovac, during �hich tive statement: the follo�ing artists, among others, e�hibited their �or��: Zuz��a Whereas the painting of France and �ermany is developed �edveďová 91, and t�o painters from �etrovac – Andrej Labat in accordance �ith tradition, the painting of Russia is imbued and Ivan �runi��. He began preaching his theosophical�mes� �ith a radical idea: to inaugurate art that �ould be an e�pres� sianic ideas around 1919. He printed ��yers and tried to establish sion of our age. So far, Russians have managed to give such an a spiritual society in �etrovac that �ould deal �ith the ideas of a e�pression in architecture, theater, poetry and ��lm, so perhaps, secret organization, beauty and love. His theosophical activ� they �ill succed in giving one in painting as �ell. 94 ism did not receive understanding from his fello� neighbors. As opposed to the plurality projected by this te�t, the ap� He �rote theosophically oriented essays during the early 1920s pearance of Russian emigration in Yugoslavia, Serbia and Vo� and tried to publish them. He did a portrait of the Czechoslo� jvodina did not mar�� the beginning of radical art �odernisms va��ian president �asary��, as �ell as many other commissioned but of stable, smooth and conservative modern vie�s of art and portraits, landscapes and religious paintings. He planned to culture. Emigrant Russian art �as, therefore, quic��ly integrated permanently move to Bratislava. He spent some time in Brno, into the national bourgeoisie models of Serbian modernity. �here he died of pneumonia in �arch 1929. The appearance of Russian emigration 95 in European cul� The painting of Lehots��ý �ent through several charac� tures �as typical of the period a��er the Soviet bolshevi�� revo� teristic, o��en parallel, phases: symbolism and Secessionism lution in 1917 and the subsequent civil �ar. Russian emigrants (Faustus and Margarita in 1903, or Slovak Heroism, a Portrait came to Vojvodina around 1920. Russian refugees settled in of Sam Tomašik in 1913), Impressionism (landscapes: The En� Veli��i Beč��ere��, �hich �as then called �etrovgrad, Bela Cr��va, vironment Around the Hometown, Venice at Night), Academic �ančevo and �ovi Sad. The “school” Cadet Corpus �as active Realism (portraits of Nikola Njegoš, King Petar, Masarik), and, in Bela Cr��va, and there �as a Russian colony, �ith about 500 as can be seen in a fe� remaining dra�ing�s��etches, theosoph� residents, formed in Veli��i Beč��ere��. Russian emigrants �ere ical mystic symbolism (Prophets at Spiritual Heights, undated; mostly members of upper social noble and civil classes, �ho, Intoxication, undated; Horrors of War, 1918�1919). These are during the Soviet Bolshevi�� revolution, le�� Russia and the the paintings, �hich, in a symbolic and pro�e�pressive manner, represent mystic visions and the spiritual atmosphere in those eclectic mergers characteristic of eclectic theosophical and 92 Kosta Strajnić (Križevci 1887 – Dubrovnik 1977), a painter, a critic, a historian and a museologist. He studied painting in Vienna and Zagreb. He studied history of art antroposophical art at the turn of centuries. in Vienna during World War I. He taught drawing in Zagreb and Belgrade. He lived in Belgrade until 1924. Between 1924 and 1928 he travelled throughout Europe (France, Poland, and Czech Republic). He lived in Dubrovnik from 1928 until his death. Between World Wars he published his articles in Letopis Matice srpske. He was one of the first art critics who wrote about the specifics of female painting: “Art and a Russian emigrant art in Vojvodina (Serbian edition, p.68) Woman” (Zagreb, 1916). 93 Kosta Strajnić, ”Rusko slikarstvo“, Letopis Matice srpske vol. 324 number 2-3, Novi Sad, May – June 1930, pp. 124-144. One of the mythic�national fascinations in Serbian culture 94 “Dok se slikarstvo Francuza i Nemaca razvija u skladu sa tradicijama, slikarstvo Rusa of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries is that about Russian art: prožeto je jednom radikalnom idejom: inaugurisati umetnost koja bi bila izraz naše epohe. Ovakav izraz Rusi su dosad savršeno dali u arhitekturi, pozorištu, poeziji i literature, music, architecture and painting. From icon paint� filmu, pa možda će uspeti da ga dadu i u slikarstvu” - Kosta Strajnić, ”Rusko slikarstvo“, Letopis Matice srpske vol. 324 number 2-3, Novi Sad, May – June 1930, pp. 144. 95 Miodrag Sibinović, Marija Mežinski, Aleksej Arsenjev (eds), Ruska emigracija u srpskoj kulturi XX veka, Faculty of Philology, Belgrade, 1994; Ruska emigracija u srpskoj i drugim 91 Ján Kišgeci, Vladimir Valentik, Zuzka Medveďová – Likovno delo, Kultura, slovenskim kulturama, Faculty of Philology, Belgrade, 1997; Petković, Tatjana (ed), Ruska Bački Petrovac, 1997. emigracija u Subotici između dva svetska rata, Serbian Archive, Belgrade, 2000. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 2  countries that �ere later merged �ith the Soviet Union. Their – Starnberg �ermany 1983), Andrej Vasiljevič Bicen��o (�urs�� political and cultural standpoint �as mainly right��ing, and in 1886 – USA 1985), �osta Eliot (Odessa 1925 –un��no�n events the cultural and art domain, it circled around stable conserva� a��er 1950 �hen he emigrated to Italy). In Bela Cr��va 99 fol� tive esthetic and artistic vie�s based on national Romanticism lo�ing artists �or��ed: a painter Vladimir Ale��sandrov (1926), and bourgeoisie Realism, that is, modern Academic Realism. 96 an art pedagogue �i��ola Ale��sandrov, �etar Vladimirovič The Grand Exhibition of Russian Art �as held in Belgrade Barišev (Russia 1879 – Bela Cr��va 1949), a painter E. Benua, in �arch 1930, under the patronage of ��ing Ale��sandar I a painter �avel Bi��odorov, a painter�icon painter Lev Butovič, and �rince �avle. 97 The e�ecutive board �as comprised of applied artist Vladimir �aponov (�osco� 1912 � ????), icon Vasilije Baumgarten, the president of the Association of Rus� painter Ernest �eneralov, painter Fedor �eršeljman, painter� sian Artists in Yugoslavia, and Dr. Sergej Alisov, Vladimir icon painter Vladimir �orec��i (Warsa� 1984 � Bela Cr��va Baljcar, Roman Verhovs��oj, Sergej �učins��ij, Boris Orješ��ov, 1967), �eorgij �orf �or��ed �ith scenography, painter �i��olaj Andrej �ap��ov and Ivan Ri��. The e�hibition sho�ed �or��s �uznjecov (Herson county 1852 – Sarajevo, around 1930), of a hundred Russian painters and sculptors �ho settled in painter Jevgenija Lu��ins��aja (Rostov on the River Don late 19th Europe and Yugoslavia a��er 1920. Important representatives century – �rague 1970), �onstantin �onstantinovič Lu��ins��i of the Russian Realism, Symbolism, Avant�garde and �odern� (1895 � ????), �ood carver �etar �i��olajevič �ezencov (Russia ism, such as Ilija Repin (1844�1930), Aljbert Ale��sandrovič 1880 – Bela Cr��va 1964), Jevgeniji �rud��ov, painter Vladi� Benua (1897�1960), �atalija �ončarova (1881�1962), �ihail mir Savčen��o (Russia around 1910. – Bela Cr��va 1976), �ood Larionov (1881�1964), Šaim Sutin (1893�1943), �rigorij Šiljitin carver �etar Sevastjanovič, painter �i��olaj Titov, photographer and others, �ere among those �ho e�hibited their �or�� at this Ale��sandar Ševčen��o and others. e�hibition. The follo�ing artists �or��ed in the ��rst Yugoslavia: Vsevold �uljevič graduated from the Crimean cadet corpus Jevgenija Andrić�Somonova (Belgrade), Ilija Ahmetov (Split), in Strnišč near �tuj in 1922; a��er�ards, he enrolled the �i��o� Vasilij Baumgarten (Belgrade), Ale��sandr Bi��ovs��ij (Belgrade), lajevs�� military academy in Bela Cr��va. He �or��ed in Belgrade. Andrej Bicen��o (Belgrade), Roman Verhovs��oj (Zemun), He did historical paintings (Horseman, �5th century) and por� Vsevold Volčanc��ij (Dubrovni��), Ale��sej �anzen (Dubrovni��), traits (Portrait of King Petar I in ���2, 1940) and he illustrated Ivan Di��ij (Belgrade), �atalija Jermolova (Veli��a �i��inda), boo��s. He developed a speci��c style of army�patriot painting. 100 Jelena �iseleva�Bilimovič (Belgrade), Oljga �ovalevs��aja The painter and art pedagogue Ale��sandar Ivanoviča (Belgrade), Ljudmila �ovalevs��aja�Ri�� (Belgrade), �itrofan Lažečni��ova �or��ed in Veli��i Beč��ere�� bet�een 1920 and �osen��o (Aranđelovac), Stepan �olesni��ov (Belgrade), �avel 1944. He mainly painted landscapes and still lifes, rarely por� �ravčen��o (Zemun), Vasilij �rasovs��ij (Dubrovni��), Vladimir traits and icons. He supported the idea of bringing art closer to �uroč��in (�ovi Sad), Sergej �učins��ij (Belgrade), Ale��sandar the people. He �as esthetically and politically against radical Lažečni��ov (Veli��i Beč��ere��), Ipolit �aj��ovs��ij (Dalmacija), �odernism and Avant�garde Cubism�futuristic tendencies. His �i��olaj �ejndorf (Belgrade), Boris Obraz��ov (Belgrade), art�or�� developed in a recognizably modern academic man� Boris �astuhov (Belgrade), Vi��tor �astuhov (Belgrade), An� ner bet�een Romanticism and Realism and the anticipation drej �ap��ov (Belgrade), �i��olaj �olja��ov (Belgrade), Vladi� of Impressionism. He ��rst sho�ed his �or�� in Veli��i Beč��ere�� mir �redajevič (Belgrade), Ivan Ri�� (Belgrade), �etr Fetisov �ith Var��onji, Ženar, Šnajder, Cvejanov, Berenjij and others in (Les��ovac), �ihail Hrisogonov (Bosnia), Tatijana Čeln��ova 1921. 101 (�ančevo), Vi��tor Ševcov (Belgrade), Afanasij Šeloumov (�ovi Afanasij Ivanovič Šeloumov 102 �as born in U��raine. He Sad), Larisa Baranovs��aja Šramčen��o (Belgrade), Sergej Alisov ��nished art school in Odessa in 1912. He studied at the art (Belgrade), Roman Verhovs��oj (Belgrade), and Ale��sandar academy in St. �etersburg bet�een 1912 and 1914. He �ent Red��in (Belgrade). to Tur��ey �ith the White �uard army in 1920, and reached The follo�ing artists �or��ed in Veli��i Beč��ere��: 98 Ale��� Yugoslavia in 1921. He probably brie��y lived in �ovi Sad. He sandar Ivanoviča Lažečni��ova (�osco� 1872 – Veli��i Beč��ere�� �or��ed as a painter in metal �or��shops in Beč��ere��, but also 1944), Afanasij Ivanovič Šeloumov (�amenc U��raine 1892 as an official to�n painter. He lived in Veli��i Beč��ere�� until 1944, �hen he �ithdre� to �ermany �ith the �erman troops. 96 See catalogues: Dela ruskih slikara u našem gradu, National Museum in Zrenjanin and The Society of Russian-Serbian friendship, Zrenjanin, 1991; Ruski slikari u Zrenjaninu, Russian House in Belgrade, Belgrade, 1996; and Ruski umetnici emigranti u Vojnom 99 Ozren M. Radosavljević, Ruski umetnici u Beloj Crkvi, Library Belocrkvanske sveske V, muzeju, Military Museum, Belgrade, 1996. Bela Crkva, 1994.- 97 Catalogue: Velika izložba ruske umetnosti, Belgrade, March 1930. 100 Ruski umetnici emigranti u Vojnom muzeju,, Military Museum, Belgrade, 1996, pp. 30-49. 98 Ruska umentost u srednjem Banatu, National Museum, Zrenjanin, 1995; and Boris L. Pavlov Ruska Kolonija u Velikom Bečkereku (Petrovgradu - Zrenjaninu), National 101 “Képkiállatás Becskereken”, Torontal, Veliki Bečkerek, November 19th 1921, pp. 2 Museum, Zrenjanin, 1994. 102 Catalogue: Afanasij Scheloumoff, Galerie Schumacher, Munich, 1962. 30 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina He actively pursued painting in �ermany until his death in �as e�hibited, certainly, during World War II, �hen there �as 1983. His painting �as directed to�ards Academic Realism, a massive identi��cation of �erman inhabitants �ith the �azi portrait painting, historical themes and romantic scenes from policies of the Third Reich. Immediately a��er World War II, Russian life. As an illustrator he did numerous dra�ings of a��er the end of the national ��ght for liberation and the coloni� soldiers from Russian and European history. zation of Serbs and �ontenegrins, there �as a deportation of �osta Eliot �as born in 1925, to an English father and a �ermans from Banat, and thus, the �ea��ening and disappear� Russian mother. He came to Veli��i Beč��ere�� from Belgrade in ance 105 of “�erman identity” in Vojvodina in the second half 1945. 103 He �or��ed as a scenographer in the �ational The� of the 20th century. atre in Zrenjanin in 1946�1947. He �or��ed in agitprop and as What every researcher/historian, or simply the curious a dra�ing teacher in the grammar school in Zrenjanin. He art enthusiast, notices is that there is hardly any mention of moved to Belgrade in 1949. He made the theatrical scenery for �erman art produced in Vojvodina in histories and retrospec� Bernard Sha�’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession in the Belgrade drama tive revie�s, save for the �erman artists �ho �ere integrated theatre. He immigrated to Italy in 1950, during the period by Hungarian culture: Ferenc Eisenhut 106 (1857–1903), Henri�� �hen Russian immigrants �ere leaving socialist Yugoslavia be� Emil Aczél 107 (1876–1946), �éter Schneider, Antal Streitmann, cause of the political tensions surrounding I�FOR� Bureau. Adalbert Béla �üller 108 (Bač��a Topola, 1896. – Salzburg, A��er that, every trace of him is lost. Several �or��s remain: 1976), and others. the social�realist aquarelle A Participant of the Battle of the Ferenc Eisenhut �as schooled in Budapest. His paintings Sutjeska River, and an oil painting Landscape (1945). �ere in a historic and oriental style. His orientalism painting brought him a signi��cant international fame. He e�hibited in Budapest, �unich, �aris, Berlin, �adrid, etc. He �as famous German case – missing art (Serbian edition, p.70) as an oriental painter, �hich meant study visits to the Orient (Caucasus, Tunisia, Algiers). He had great success �ith his The position of the “�erman” cultural identity proved to be a painting Healing with the Kuran (1883). This piece �as bought hybrid construction of four different potential cultural models: and e�hibited in the Royal �alace in Buda. His painting Death (i) The optimum projection of the great �erman identity of Đulbaba made him the ��rst painter to receive the �rand as a constitutive potential of the integrator, or, perhaps, of the Hungarian national gold medal in Budapest. Ferenc Eisen� conqueror of the entire European culture; hut painted the monumental Battle at Senta (oil on canvas (ii) The imperial Austro��erman identity as a ��eld of sov� 700�400cm) for the Millennium Exhibition, commissioned by ereignty and domination, �hich is in competitive and con��ict the Bač��a�Bodroš County. The painting �as commissioned in opposition �ith Hungarian nationalism and potential or actual 1896 and �as e�hibited in a specially set up e�hibition area in imperialism; Sombor in 1898. The painting is constructed in a monumental (iii) Local “�erman” cultural communities in Vojvodina, historic panoramic genre. Eisenhut, along �ith Lajos �ar��ó, primarily in Banat (the Banat Germans, Donauschwaben, Ferenc Zich and Ágost �eisl conducted a large scale “pan� Volksdeutshe); 104 and orama” sho�ing a procession of dignitaries from the to�ns (iv) The speci��c hybrid identity of Hungarianized �er� and counties that follo�ed St. Stephen’s cro�n to the Royal mans. �ilitant �erman social, political and cultural identity �alace in Buda. The panorama �as on display during August 1898. Eisunhut painted those scenes in a number of occasions 103 V. Zadler, Ruski slikari u našem gradu, National Museum, Zrenjanin, 1991. in small�scale oil s��etches. 104 The migration of the Danube Germans refers to a wide range of migration of indi- The question that imposes itself is if there �as an autono� viduals and families from the German speaking area to territories that the Austrian Empire took away from the Ottoman Empire during the 17th, 18th, and 19 th centuries. mous �erman art in the 20th century in Vojvodina. According German migrants settled the territories of Banat, including the Arad territory, to secondary sources, a list of �erman artists in Vojvodina in� south of the Tisa River and east of the Danube. In Srem, they settled between the Sava River and the Danube. In the area between the Danube and the Carpathian mountains there were more than 1.5 million Germans in 1918. See http://www. genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dschwaben.html#gender and http://www.dvvstimme. org.yu/donauschwaben_yu.htm. The term Volksdeutche means German people, that is, German people living outside Germany. The notoriety of the name “Volksdeutche” was developed by the 105 As one of the cultural marks and strongholds of Germans in Vojvodina, the maga- Nazis, who spread their politics via German people in the East-European countries. zine Fenster is still being published, Sremski Karlovci, 2005-2006. After World War II, the idea of “collective guilt” was applied to Volksdeutcher, and 106 Olga Kovačev Ninkov, Život i delo Franca Ajzenhuta (1857-1903), City Museum, Sub- consequently, Germans emigrated and the established demographic balance was otica, 2007. destroyed. See Vladimir Geiger, Folksdojčeri – pod teretom kolektivne krivnje, Grafika d.o.o., Osijek, 2002; Zoran Žičetić, ”Nemci u Vojvodini: njihovo naseljavanje, njihovo 107 Beke László, Bernáth Mária, Magyar Művészet 1890–1919. A posztimpresszionizmus és poreklo i trajne vrednosti u njihovoj zaostavštini“, Književne novine, year 46, number szimbolizmus kismesterei – I, Akadémia Kiadó, Budapest, 1981, pp. 417. 882, Belgrade, 1994, pp. 12; and Herbert Prokle et al. (eds.), Genocid nad nemačkom 108 Olga Kovačev Ninkov, ”Slikari velikih tema i formata 6: Ajzenhut, bački umetnik“, manjinom u Jugoslaviji, Belgrade, Society for Serbian-German cooperation and Dnevnik – Subotičke, number 36, Subotica, March 9th 2007: http://www.suboticke. Donauschwäbische Kulturstiftung, Munich, 2004. net/arhiva/broj%2036/strane/feljton.htm. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 31  cludes: �. Rozel, R. Hemig, I. �raus 109 and Sebastian Leicht 110 Tur��s at Senta in 1697. The settling of Je�s in Subotica 117 (Bač��i Brestovac, 1908�2003), Josef Elter 111 (1926�1997) and began in the 1770s. Je�ish communities e�isted in the majority Robert Hammerstiel 112 (Vršac, 1933). Leicht began high of to�ns in Vojvodina. 118 Vojvodina’s Je�s spo��e Hungarian, art�or�� in Vojvodina, continued it in �ermany, �hereas Elter �erman and Yidish. Religious service �as in Hebre�. Je�s lived �or��ed in �ermany, and Hammerstiel in Austria. �ithin their o�n municipalities or communities. They partici� Sebastian Leicht began his sculpting, painting and graph� pated in different forms of public life in Hungary and Vojvodina ics art�or�� during the 1930s. His painting and sculpting is – from education, ne�spaper publishing, trade to politics. 119 dedicated, mostly, to the representation of everyday life of the A��er World War I The Alliance of Jewish Municipalities �as �erman community. One of his retrospectively �ritten essays formed and it remained active until 1992. Je�ish culture �as “Švaps��o�nemač��i �ulturbund” deals �ith �erman cultural created as a special European phenomenon of the constitution associations and the creation of “Švaps��o�nemač��i �ultur� of modern societies and nations on the Bal��an �eninsula and in bund” in 1920 in Vojvodina. 113 Leicht published a boo�� 114 Central Europe. It �as characterized by a comple� structuring of dra�ings/graphics �ith the scenes of life of the Danube �ith regards to its removal from public life, integration/assimi� �ermans, �ith especially characteristic dra�ings of the lation into the majority nations or radical responses of Je�ish banishment of �ermans from Banat. The dra�ings are done nationalism via Zionism. 120 According to the 1991 census, 206 in a realist�e�pressive manner of the late social art, speci��c of ethnic Je�s lived in �ovi Sad. In the past, the Je�ish popula� the painting of “ne� objectivity”, for instance social dra�� tion in Vojvodina �as much larger, �ith around 19,000 Je�s ing by �athe �oll�itz or �eorg �rosz. T�o photographs of before World War II. The greatest number of Je�ish citizens �as Leicht’s missing or destroyed sculpture: Sower (Bač��i �etrovac, murdered during the �azi and Fascist occupation in World War 1936), erected to commemorate one hundred and ����y years II. Je�s �ere under constant pressure of the state and adminis� of the arrival of the Danube �ermans, and the monument in trative agencies in Austro�Hungary. It �as only in 1895 that the marble erected to commemorate the settler families in Filipovo Je�ish (Israelite) religion became equal �ith all ac��no�ledged (present�day Bač��i �račac, 1938) �ere published in Fenster religions in the Austro�Hungarian monarchy. A Je�ish citizen magazine. 115 The style of both sculptures is realistic. The latter �as accused in Tisaeslar of a “ritual ��illing” in 1882�1883. There monument �as destroyed during the colonization and built �as a pamphlet that �as printed in four languages (Serbian, into the foundations of a business building in Bač��i �račac. Hungarian, �erman, Slova��) at that time in �ovi Sad, �ith anti�Semitic contents, and in daily ne�spapers, for instance in the Serbian radical party’s Zastava, there �ere anti�Semitic Jewish culture and artists throughout 20th century: articles. During the fall of Austro�Hungary, because of pillaging missing art 116 (Serbian edition, p.76) and violence, many Je�s abandoned the country and settled in to�ns. Je�s �ere seen as equals in the ne� �ingdom of Serbs, The settling of Je�s in Hungary and Vojvodina is connected Croats and Slovenes and the �ingdom of Yugoslavia, e�cept �ith the period a��er the victory of Eugen Savojs��i over the during the early days �hen the ne� government �as being built. Je�ish citizens �ere integrated in the business and public life of the �ingdom. There �ere several anti�Semitic outbursts in Croatian (Neven, Subotica), Hungarian (Délbácska) and Serbian 109 According to Miloš Arsić, ”Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944“, footnote 2, from: (Zastava and Jedinstvo) ne�spapers. Je�s �ho did not have Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 29. papers and citizenship a��er the assassination on �ing Ale��� 110 Painter and sculptor Sebastian Leicht was pointed out by Stjepan A. Seder, editor of sandar in �arseille on 9th October 1934 �ere issued orders to Fenster magazine from Sremski Karlovci. Based on his instructions, Đura Popović was reached, who has a number of Leicht’s works (graphics, paintings). abandon the country. The official standpoint of the �ingdom 111 Josef Elter, 2006. of Yugoslavia on Je�s changed in 1938, �hen their rights in the 112 “Robert Hammerstiel: Images by a Contemporary Witness, Leopold Museum”, Vienna, 2007; see also: Nadežda Radović, ”Govoreći o drugima najviše kažemo o sebi – Omaž Vrščanina Roberta Hamerštila u bečkom Kunstlerhausu“, Danas, 8–9. September 2007; and Zoran Žiletić, ”Nepoželjni jer su Nemci / Slikarstvo, istorija 117 Dušan Jelić, ”Kratak pregled istorije subotičkih Jevreja i njihovog doprinosa razvoju umetnosti i etničko čistunstvo“, Danas, September 20th 2007; and Sava Stepanov grada“, in: Zbornik 5 – Studije, arhivska i memoarska građa o istoriji subotičkih Jevreja, (ed.), Robert Hammerstiel, The Museum of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 2005. Jewish historical musuem, Belgrade, 1987, pp. 1–192. 113 Sebastian Leicht, ”Švapsko-nemački Kulturbund“, according to a manuscript without 118 See, for instance: Milenko Beljanski, ”Somborski Jevreji (1735–1970)“; and Eugen Ver- designated sources and names of translators. ber, in: Zbornik 4 – Studije, arhivska i memoarska građa o Jevrejima Jugoslavije, Jewish 114 Sebastian Sebastian Leicht, Weg der Donauschwaben – Dreihundert Jahre Kolonistenschicksal, Leicht, historical museum, Belgrade, 1979, pp. 1–54 and 57–62. Verlag Passavia Passau, 1983. 119 Dragoljub Čolić, ”Učešće Jevreja u razvoju privrede Banata“ and ”Jevreji u grafičkoj 115 Photographs of Leicht’s sculptures were published in Fenster magazine, number 6, industriji Zrenjanina“, in: Zbornik 4 – Studije, arhivska i memoarska građa o Jevrejima Sremski Karlovci, December 2006, pp. 11 and 15 Jugoslavije, Jewish historical museum, Belgrade, 1979, pp. 111–191 and 193–198. 116 Židovi na tlu Jugoslavije, Museum area, Zagreb, 1988; Pavle Šosberger, Jevreji u Vo- 120 Dr. Cvi Rotmiler, ”Antisemitizam, asimilacija i cionizam“, Matica srpska LiteraryMaga- jvodini: kratak pregled istorije vojvođanskih Jevreja, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1998. zine, book 314, issue 2, Novi Sad, 1927, pp. 189-193. 32 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina trade of �holesale food products �ere restricted, the number of and �iriam Reiner 126 the follo�ing Je�ish artists either students �ho �ere allo�ed to enter high schools and universi� �or��ed in Vojvodina, or came from it: painter Henri�� Acel, ties �as also restricted (Numerus clausus), and Je�ish reserve painter Đorđe Bošan (1818–1894), painter Đula Brener (1859), officers �ere removed from a combat schedule and placed in painter �álmán Déri (1859–1940), painter Fischer �arcel, �or��ing units. During the occupation, �erman la�s (“Second te�tile designer and painter Sándor �edeon (1886), sculptor Je�ish la� from 1939”) �ere enforced, �hich restricted their �ándor �líd (1924–1997), painter �lára �eréb (1901–1944), rights of �or��, employment, trade and schooling, and �or�� engraver �ároly �álmán (1800–1870), sculptor and painter �i� units and �or�� camps �ere established. Hungarian occupation hály �ara��rón (1887–1970), painter and physician Dr. Dezső forces conducted a raid in Šaj��aš��a Street in �ovi Sad, in Stari Lö�enberg, painter László Fülöp, Ele��, Laub, (1869–1937), Bečej and in Srbobran bet�een 4th and 29th of January 1942. At painter Lajos Len��ei, painter Eugen Lip��ović Lipi (????–????), that time 1193 Je�s and around 2000 Serbs �ere murdered. The painter and sculptor Ede Telcs (1872–1948), painter Artúr Hungarian government, a��er �erman troops entered Hungary Schiffer (????–????), sculptor Boris��a Spitzer�Sin��ó (????–????), on 19th �arch 1944, made a decision according to �hich Je�s graphic designer István Zádor (1882–1963), designer and paint� had to �ear a yello� star, and all Je�ish assets �ere to be seized. er Imre Reiner, painter �iri Jarden�Levinger (�isač, 1915; lives By order of the Hungarian ministry for internal affairs from 7th in Israel), painter Eva Fischer, painter László Szilasi (Subotica, April 1944, Je�ish citizens �ere to be deported, �hich started 1925; lives in Israel), painter Dan Rajzinger (�anjiža, 1934; ta��ing place on 26th April 1944. Je�s from Srem �ere ��illed in lives in Israel), Icha�� Tar��ay (Subotica 1935; lives in Israel), concentration camps in the Independent State of Croatia; Je�s Tamara �ir��ović (�ovi Sad, 1972; lives in Israel), sculptor from Banat �ere ta��en to Belgrade and ��illed by the �azi �er� Olga Ungar (�ovi Sad, 1975; lives in Israel), painter �abrijela man authorities in Belgrade. These la�s �ere abolished �ith the Hajzler (�ovi Sad, 1978), and Cecilija Hajzler. liberation of Vojvodina in October 1944. 121 �lára �eréb studied painting and graphic art in Vienna Technically spea��ing, Je�ish art �as connected �ith and �aris. She lived in Subotica from 1927. She produced religious customs and can be seen in the architecture of the paintings, graphics and illustrations. She mainly did academic synagogues 122 and Je�ish cemeteries. 123 The project for the landscapes. She �as murdered in Ausch�itz in 1944. ����h synagogue in �ovi Sad, the ��rst one in the 20th century, �ihály �ara��rón �as born in Bžežani. He studied in Bu� �as made by Lipot Baumhorn (1860�1932), an architect from dapest. He lived in �ovi Sad bet�een 1929 and 1938. He made Budapest. The construction began in 1906 and �as completed ��gures and reliefs for building decorations, busts and public in 1909. Baumhorn �as an architect from Budapest �ho monuments. A sculpture above the entrance to the building studied under Ödön Lechner (1845�1914), the founder of the Kora hleba in �ovi Sad �as produced by him. He made graph� Hungarian national art nouve in architecture. The synagogue ics in the late Secessionist style (Lithography I – IV). He moved in Subotica 124 �as erected in 1902 in a Secessionist style, fol� to Israel before the beginning of World War II. lo�ing the project of �arcell �omor (1868�1944) and Dezső Sándor �edeon �as born in the Czech Republic. He moved Ja��ab (1864�1932). �i��sa Róth (1865�1944) did the stained to Veli��i Beč��ere�� in 1905, �here he �or��ed as an art teacher glass �indo�s. There �ere 72 Je�ish cemeteries in Vojvodina, for a �hile. Bet�een 1925 and 1934 he lived in the USA, �here the only active cemetery today is the one in �ančevo. he �or��ed in a sil�� printing �or��shop. Upon his return to There is a large number of Je�ish artists �ho �or��ed in the Veli��i Beč��ere�� he founded a �or��shop for printing sil��, �here conte�t of the Hungarian and Serbian art from Vojvodina dur� he �or��ed from 1934 until 1938. He �or��ed �ith painter �. ing the 20th century. According to a list by �avle Šosberger 125 �feiffer on the design for sil�� printing. During World War II he disappeared. 121 Pavle Šosberger, ”Položaj jevrejske zajednice u Vojvodini kroz vekove“, from: Jevreji u Vojvodini: kratak pregled istorije vojvođanskih Jevreja, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1998, pp. 25–26. Modernist sign – the case of painter 122 Dragoljub Čolić, ”Sinagoga u Zrenjaninu“, from: Zbornik 4 – Studije, arhivska i memo- arska građa o Jevrejima Jugoslavije, Jewish historical museum, Belgrade, 1979, pp. and designer Imre Reiner (Serbian edition, p.80) 199–213; and Živomir Simović, ”Na razmeđi vekova – spomenik visokog domašaja stila secesije – Povodom osamdesetogodišnjice podizanja sinagoge u Subotici“, Zbornik 5 – Studije, arhivska i memoarska građa o istoriji subotičkih Jevreja, Jewish Imre Reiner 127 (1900�1987) �as born in Vršac. He lived in Historical Museum, Belgrade, 1987, pp. 227–230. Timişoara, Zalatni, and later in Fran��furt, Stuttgart, �aris, 123 See, for instance: Mirko Vajcenfeld, ”Jevrejsko groblje u Subotici“, iz: Zbornik 5 – Studije, arhivska i memoarska građa o istoriji subotičkih Jevreja, Jewish Historical Museum, Belgrade, 1987, pp. 209–212. 124 Bela Duranci, ”Subotička sinagoga“, from: Arhitektura secesije u Vojvodini, Grafo- 126 Mirjam Rajner, ”Likovni umetnici i njihova dela U voljenoj zemlji – antologija produkt, Subotica, 2005, pp. 42–45. useljenika iz bivše Jugoslavije u Izraelu“, http://www.makabijada.com/antologija- 125 Pavle Šosberger, ”Slikari i vajari“, from: Jevreji u Vojvodini: kratak pregled istorije likovno.htm. vojvođanskih Jevreja, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1998, pp. 80–81. 127 A detailed study on Imre Reiner was written by Nikola Račić from Vršac. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 33  London, �e� Yor��, and Chicago, only to settle do�n in the London. This company bought his “�atura” alphabet in 1939. S�iss to�n of Ruvigliana near Lugano, �here he stayed until T�o more, successfully designed and accepted alphabets fol� his death. He came from a Je�ish culture of Banat. He �as a lo�ed bet�een 1937 and 1938: “Floride” – for Deberny&�eignot painter, a graphic designer, a sculptor, a �riter of the esthetical, from �aris (1939) and “Figaro” – for �onotype Corporation theoretical and pedagogic essays on typography and �ylography. Limited from London (1940). Almost all in��uential graphic and He learned engraving and sculpting in the family circle. For a publishing houses in Europe during the 1950s �anted to have �hile he stayed in the Transylvanian to�n of Zalatne, �here in their program at least one of Reiner’s alphabets. During that he studied sculpture under �rofessor Istvàn Ferenci until 1918. period he designed several alphabets: “Reiner script”, “Reiner He enrolled into the �ational Art Academy in Budapest, but blac��”, “�ustang”, “Bazaar”, “London script”, “�ercurius”, soon, in 1920, transferred to the study of painting and graphics “�epita” and “Contact”. 130 In �aris, he �or��ed for U�ESCO’s in �unstge�erbeschule in Fran��furt. He started studying at the department of culture, �here he �as an editor of the Interna� Applied Arts Academy in Stuttgart from 1921. He studied �ith tional Art Review, for �hich he also handled graphic design �rofessor Ernest Schneidler (1882�1956), a graphics design, since 1950. He had numerous e�hibitions: Ant�erp (Royal de typography and boo�� design specialist. Reiner �or��ed as a Beau��Arts museum, 1948), �hiladelphia (�rint�Club, 1949), painter, typographer and graphic artist during the 1920s. He �aris (A. Loe�y gallery, 1950), Hamburg (Dr. A. Haus�edell �as close to the late e�pressionist e�pression and iconography gallery, 1952), Dortmund (Ost�all museum, 1953), Sao �aulo of ne� objectivity – for instance, graphics the piece Hunger. (�useum de Arte, 1954), Chicago (Apprentice�House, 1956), �ublishing house Juniperus Presse from Stuttgart published his San Francisco, �ilan, etc. Because of health problems, Imre ��rst illustrations of literary te�ts. 128 His ��rst e�hibition �as held Reiner stopped traveling and creating art in 1982. He passed in Schaller gallery in Stuttgart in 1921. Some of his art�or�� �as a�ay in Lugano on 21st August 1987. introduced by the painter Oscar Schlemmer (1888�1941) to �aul Reiner’s graphics and painting �or�� 131 under�ent a long �lee (1879�1940). The meeting bet�een �lee and Reiner too�� period of evolution – from e�pressionist Figuration (series place on 7th July 1923 in Weimar. Reiner published a transcript Persone stanche, 1921) to the abstract lyrical Abstraction based of that conversation many decades later. 129 Reiner �as also on the research of pictorial potential of a visual sign (Le Jardin, in��uenced by a lecture of Indian scholar and �riter Rabindra� 1931; Remember, 1940; Iris, 1947; Cesrev, 1958�1961; Ohne Titel nath Tagore (1861�1941) in �aris, in 1930. Reiner lived in the – die Rosskastanie, 1956; Aus Kreta, 1960; Ohne Titel, 1964). USA from 1923 until 1925. During the follo�ing t�o years he A��er World War II he established a developed and sophis� continued �ith his art study at the Academy in Stuttgart. For ticated lyrical�semiotic e�pression close to the international a �hile, he �or��ed as a designer in the Mercedes car company. Abstraction Lyrique. He designed his ��rst alphabet, called “�eridian”, in 1929, and the �eber Company purchased the royalties. For political reasons, he moved to �aris in 1930. It is there that he designed Abstraction Lyrique, L’Art Informel and Existential the “Corvinus” alphabet for the Bauersche �iesserei Company Figuration – Eva Fischer (Serbian edition, p.84) from Fran��furt. The “Corvinus” alphabet received international ac��no�ledgement and fame, and �as realized in si� different �ainter Eva Fischer 132 (1920) �as born in Daruvar, Croatia. She modes bet�een 1932 and 1935. He made the ��rst version of the �as born into a rabbi’s family. Her father Dr. Leopold Fischer “Symphonia” alphabet in 1932. He presented the “�othic” type �as an e�pert interpretor of Talmud. She lived in Yugoslavia of letters in 1933. He e�hibited paintings in French galleries until 1941, �ith short visits to Hungary, Czechoslova��ia and Za�� (1930), A.L.�. (1931) and De l’Art Contemporain (1933). Romania. She gre� up in Vršac bet�een 1931 and 1936, �here He settled do�n �ith his �ife Hed�ig Bauer in the to�n of she �ent to high school. She studied Art Academy in Lyons Ruvilianne near Lugano. In Ruvigliana, he continued to paint just before World War II. She �as in Belgrade in �ovember and to e�plore ne� possibilities in graphic art, literary �or��s 1941 �hen she escaped to Spaleto, Italy, via Albania. She �as illustrations and boo�� design. His letter types �ere censored in interned in Valengrand from 1941 to 1943. She �as hiding in �azi �ermany. He �or��ed in London bet�een 1937 and 1939. Bologna in 1944 and 1945. �ost of her family disappeared in He collaborated �ith the �onotype Corporation Limited from 130 Mogens Greve-Olsen, Imre Rainer – Skriftkunstner, Typografiker, Forfatter, Maler og 128 Maksim Gorki, Die Geschichte eines Verbrechens, Juniperus Presse, Stuttgart, Julius Grafiker, 1975. Hofmann Verlag, 1922; Byblical texts: Isaacs Segen über Jakob und Esau, Juniper 131 Imre Reiner, Museo D’Arte, Mendrisio, 1986; Franco Zambelloni, Il Pittore Travestito Presse, Stuttgart, 1921; Homer, Ilias. Vierundzwanzigster Gesang, Juniperus Presse, – Undici disegni di Imre Reiner, Giampiero Casagrande editore, Lugano, 1994; Imre Stuttgart, Julius Hofmann Verlag, 1923. Reiner, Werke von 1926–1979, Eberhart Auktionen, Zollikon, 1997. 129 Mogens Greve-Olsen, Imre Reiner – Samtale i Weimar, Sommeren 1923, Roskilde, 132 Mirjana Mareš, ”Eva Fišer“, from the Eva Fischer catalogue, National Museum, Vršac, Kopenhagen 1976. 1970; Nikola Račić, ”Eva Fišer, slikarka“, a manuscript. 34 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina concentration camps during World War II. She has been living 1948. He graduated from the Applied Arts Academy in 1951. in Rome since 1946. She started e�hibiting her �or�� in 1947. He �ent on a t�o�month study visit to �aris in 1953. He �as She �or��ed �ithin the art group “Via �argutta”. She �as close a teacher and a professor at the Faculty for Applied Arts in to painters �ario �afai (1902�1965) and Renato �uttuso (1911� Belgrade from 1974. 1987), and to �iorgio de Chirico (1888�1967), �arc Chagall, During the early stage of his �or�� he made sculptural Luchino Visconti (1906�1976). She �or��ed for a �hile in the portraits and ��gures (Little Girl’s Portrait, 1953). He �or��ed studio of Juan �ordò in �adrid. She �or��ed �ith the Lon� in found materials, ma��ing assembly memorial sculptures. He don Lefevre Gallery; she made stained glass 133 for the Je�ish created ornamental objects for the decoration of the Revolu� �useum in Rome, and participated in numerous e�hibitions tionary �useum in Sarajevo and �ovi Sad from old and trophy in the USA. She e�hibited her �or�� in the Cultural Center in �eapons. He produced a memorial dedicated to the Yugoslavs Belgrade and the �ational �useum in Vršac in 1970. The Ital� �ho perished in �authausen concentration camp in Austria: ian movie composer Ennio �orricone (1928) composed music Mauthausen I (a s��etch), 1957; Mauthausen II (in bronze), a��er her paintings, A Eva Fischer, Pittore (1989). 1958; Mauthausen III (in bronze), 1960. He made the memorial The painting �or�� of Eva Fischer is realized �ithin the for the victims of the Dachau 138 concentration camp (1959� range starting from e�istential Figuration (Taled, 1947; Men� 1968). A memorial dedicated to the memory of the concentra� zogna e memoria no. �, 1952) across Abstraction Lyrique and tion camp victims, similar to the one in Dachau, �as placed L’Art Informel 134 (Mura no.6, 1956) to E�istential Figuration or in the memorial comple� Yad Vashem �3� in Jerusalem in 1997. the memory art 135 �ith references to the postmodern Eclecti� �odels and variants of the �authausen memorial �ere done cism (… ombre infinite di scarpe, 1990; Introspezione, 1996 and in a speci��c vitality of a dynamic and e�pressive sculptural 140 Alberto che lege nella sua stanza, 1997). Her painting �or�� is line, characteristic of the Abstraction Lyrique and e�istentialist to a great e�tent representable as a modernist derivation of the sculptures of Alberto �iacometti (1901�1966). The heroic�tragic Je�ish religious and national identity (Benedizione, bozzetto, monumentality is not in focus as much as the evocativeness of probably 1981). On the other hand, the paintings are guided by the memories and associations in connection �ith the hor� the memory of the ordeal of the Je�ish people in World War rors of individual and collective suffering, and the memory of II. 136 The paintings suggest the sublimeness and the secret of the frailty of the close human body/life. In these �or��s �hat the sacri��ce, that is, the psychological trauma of the survivor. is sho�n is the speci��c high�modernist sculpture universality The relationship of Figuration and Abstraction is resolved by a of the individual and e�perienced plight of the Je�ish people. dramatic use of action�movement, �hich underlines e�istential �lid’s sculpture e�hibits in Dachau and Jerusalem are intro� crises, the dar��ness of the incomprehensible evil, traumatic duced in the ambient articulation of the horizontal memorial memories and a sort of a �onderous mi�ture of suffering and plastics. delight. He erected a great number of public and memorial sculp� tures all across Yugoslavia, as �ell as the monumental sculp� tures to commemorate the victims of �azism (Trebinje, 1953; Memorial sculpture – the case of Nándor Gl�d (p.86) Table for One, �ragujevac, 1980; Phoenix – memorial to the Je�s of Split, at the Je�ish cemetery, 1973). His signi��cant �ándor �líd 137 �as born into a Je�ish family in Subotica. He memorials in Vojvodina are: The Ballad of the Hanged (La� studied type founding and sculpting in Subotica and Buda� zar �ešić Square, Subotica 1967) and Freedom (Fire Bird) pest. During World War II he lost almost all members of his (�ajšans��i Road, Subotica, 1980). A��er his death, a sculpture family in �azi camps. �ándor �líd joined the national ��ght for Menorah in flame 2 �as placed in Thessaloni��i, as a memorial liberation in 1944. He started going to the Applied Arts School for the Thessaly victims of the holocaust. Besides sculpture in Belgrade in October 1945. During his schooling he �on the (Crystal night, 1988), he also did dra�ings and graphics (series ��rst prize for the portrait Student in a national level contest in of monotypes Holocaust, 1985�1986) �ith the suffering of the Je�ish people as the subject matter. His style in sculptures �as guided by the e�istentially motivated and vitally set e�pression 133 Le Vetrate Di Eva Fischer – Nel Tempio Israelitico di Roma, Comunit� Isrealitica di Roma, Roma, 1981. 134 Eva Fischer & Ennio Morricone, Imagini e Suoni, Superfici, Roma, 1992. 135 Jacopo Recupero, Eva Fischer – 39 engravings and 21 lithographs, CIDAC, Rome, 1978; 138 Kathrin Hoffmann-Curtius, Susan Nurmi-Schomers, “Memorials for the Dachau Con- Diego Collovini, ”I labirinti della memoria“, from: Eva Fischer, Linead d’ombra Libri, centration Camp”, Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1998, pp. 23–44. Conegliano, 1999, pp. 21–23. 139 Yad Vashem is a memorial complex (museum, memorials, research and educational 136 Eva Fischer – Labirinti della Memoria – opere dal 1946 al 1989, Istituto Italiano di Cultura centers) dedicated to the persecution of the Jewish people in the Nazi era. It was Tel Aviv and Yad Vashem – Art Museum – Jerusalem, 198�. opened in Har HaZikaron (Mount of Memory) in Jerusalem in 1953. 137 Ana Baranji (ed.), Nandor Glid, City Museum, Subotica, 1990. 140 Stojan �elić, ”Nandor Glid“, Umetnost, No. 18–19, Belgrade, 1969, pp. 78–83. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 35  �ith rhythmic compositions that sho�ed the dar��ness of the �ealthy �oman from Subotica, she le�� for �őszeg, near Šopron human and national tragedy of the Je�ish people in World War in 1907, �here she lived until 1914. She taught at the �omen’s II. Characteristically, his �or��s arise from the conte�t of the college, held private lessons and traveled �ith Vermes, visiting Yugoslav socialist Realism (participation at the competition for European museums (Berlin, �aris). During the restoration of the memorial to �ar� and Engels, 1955; The Bust of Josip Broz, the Franciscan monastery in Subotica, she gave the altar palla 1970) and socialist high �odernism, but �ere realized, more Heart of Jesus to the St. �ichael’s church. She taught art at the closely, by the memorial relation to the suffering of the Je�s �ale civic school, female cra��s school and the cra��s and trade in the era of �azism. This duality signi��cantly determines his school. �or�� – it is prone to dual identi��cation, as a Yugoslav socialist At the level of art, one can spea�� of the in��uences from Za� and as Je�ish memorial �or��. greb, as a cultural and educational center (Art and Trade Col� lege, and later The Royal Academy of Art and Trade), on the art practices in Vojvodina during the ��rst half of the 20th century. Croatian society, culture, art and Vojvodina during �umerous artists from Vojvodina �ere educated and �or��ed the 20th century (Serbian edition, p.88) in Zagreb, for instance Sava Šumanović, Ivan Tab��ović, �ilan Butozan, Franja Radočaj, �ilen��o �jurić, Ivan Ja��občić, etc. A Croatian cultural politics, in all its generic processes, from number of painters (Stevan Čalić, �ilan �onjović) �ere edu� Croatian autonomies in Austro�Hungary, over the establish� cated in �rague at the Art Academy �ith Vlaho Bu��ovac. 142 ment of the Croatian Duchy in the �ingdom of Yugoslavia and What could be especially emphasized are the relations bet�een the Independent State of Croatia (ISC) during World War II, to Serbian, Vojvodina and Croatian culture through Avant� the Socialist Republic of Croatia and the independent Republic garde e�periments and actions of a Dadaist Dragan Ale��sić, of Croatia, �as, during the 20th century, socially, culturally held in to�ns in Slavonia (Osije��, Vin��ovci) and Vojvodina and politically oriented to�ards Vojvodina and the Croatian (�ovi Sad, Subotica). Ale��sić’s concept of a “Yugo�Dada” �as national community in Vojvodina. Baranja �as an area of focused to�ards advertising and spreading Dada activities in “con��icts” bet�een the Serbian and the Croatian hegemony the �ingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. A special phenom� policies, from Austro�Hungary, over the Baranja Republic and enon �as the cooperation of the zenithist Ljubomir �icić �ith then the militant and �ar politics of ISC, to post�social �ars Hungarian activists gathered around Lajos �assá�� (1887�1967) and interventions in the 1990s. in Budapest and Vienna, and �ith the Dadaists of Subotica. At the turn of the 20th century, there �ere painters that The relationship of the �icić Zenithism �ith the Hungarian stood out of the Bunjevac or the Bunjevac�Croatian culture �assá�� activism �as signi��cant because of the important and �ho �ere striving to�ards the modern European e�pres� obsessive concepts for the development of zenithism. Further� sion, namely: Stipan �opilović (1877�1924) and Jelena Čović more, artists (�ihailo �etrov), and �riters (�iloš Crnjans��i, (1879�1961). For instance, Jelena Čović 141 �as born into a cler�� Boš��o To��in), �ho �ere born in, or �ere in some other �ay family in Subotica. She began her education in 1900 �ith the connected �ith Vojvodina, �or��ed in �icić’s magazine Zenith, academic realist painter �usztáv Brandl �őszegi (1862�1908) at the time of its Zagreb editions. in Šopron. City officials a�arded her �ith a scholarship a��er �ilen��o �jurić 143 (Zemun, 1894 – Zagreb, 1945) �as a her ��rst solo e�hibition in the “�ešta” hotel lobby in Subotica in graphic artist, painter and professor. He studied at the Royal 1902. She continues her education in Royal Women’s Art School �ational Trade School in Zagreb from 1906 until 1910. He in Budapest in 1902, �ith Lajos Deá�� Ébner (1870�1911) and �ent to the Art School in Zagreb bet�een 1912 and 1916, �hich László Hegedűs (1870�1911). She then moved to Anton Ažbe’s �as transformed into the Temporary Art and Trade Art College school (1862�1905) in �unich in 1903. The press from Sub� (1907). He �as in the class of professor �entio Clement Crnčić. otica follo�ed her art�or��. She held an art class on La��e �alić He also studied at the Academy in �rague bet�een 1916 and during the summer of 1904. That is �hen she faced painting in 1918. He made graphics (copper engraving and �ood carv� nature. During her stay in �agybanya she learned the language ing), easel and �all painting. He started the Grafička umet� of Impressionism, probably around 1906. That is �hen The Woman on the Beach (1904), her characteristic impressionist �or��, �as created. In Subotica, she opened a course in painting 142 Jugoslovenski umetnici – Praški đaci 1900–1939, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1987. and applied arts. Upon the invitation of �abriella Vermes, a 143 A.C. de Schlemmer, ”Profili d’artisti“, Umjetnost, almanah za likovnu umjetnost, Zagreb, November 1925, pp. 5; ”Đurić Milenko“, Enciklopedija likovnih umjetnosti, Vol. 2, Lexicography bureau FPRY, Zagreb, 1962, pp. 165; and ”Gjurić (Đurić) Milenko D“, Likovna enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 1, YLC Miroslav Krleža, Zagreb, 1984, pp. 452; 141 Olga Kovačev Ninkov, ”Slikarstvo Jelene Čović (1879–1951)“, Klasije naših ravnih, No. and Miodrag B. Protić (ed.), Jugoslovenska grafika 1900–1950, Museum of Modern Art, 3-4, Subotica, 2002. Belgrade, 1978, pp. 29, 51, 245–247. 3 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina nost magazine. It �as the ��rst magazine about agraphic art in time �hen Šumanović �ent to this insititution coincided Croatia. 144 Under the name of Grafička umetnost, it published �ith World War I (from 1914 to 1918). During his ��rst year of three catalogs of graphics of domestic and Czech artists during university he studied in the class of �rofessor Oton Ive��ović. 1919, 1920 and 1921. Grafička umetnost magazine changed its He lived �ith his uncle at the corner of Zrinjevac and �raš��a name into Art. �jurić �as advocating for the traditional and Street. He became friends �ith his fello� students: Đura Tilja��, the modern graphics, �ith regards to the technique and the �arijana Trepšea, Tomislav Sablja��, �ilan Uzelac, Juhn, media. He published a study Yugoslav copper engravers from �ilan Steiner, Antonija �oščević and others. 151 �ilan Steiner the �6th century until the present�day. In his early graphic �or��s e�plained to him the directions of the contemporary �er� from 1917, on �hich he e�perimented �ith the phenomenon of man art and painting – he pointed him in the direction of the the “clear and slight visibility” 145 (Prague Railway Station from Der Sturm magazine, and Vasily �andins��y’s boo�� Über das 1917, or The Bell Foundry from 1922), he �as close to the graph� Geistige in der Kunst �52 (1914). A��er the ��rst year of study, he ic solutions of �ilan Uzelac and Vil��o �ecan. When subject �as assigned to the class of �rofessor Clement Crnčić. Dur� matter is concerned, he �as close to the e�pressive and social ing that time he mainly did landscapes. He e�hibited his �or�� art, although his political and ethical positions come from in 1918 and 1919 at the Christmas Exhibition at “Urlich” in Christianity. He did a series of graphics: The Bible (1922), Old Zagreb, then at the 6th Exhibition of the Spring Salon and the Zagreb (1924), Labor (1937), etc. The graphics series Labor is e�hibition of the Yugoslav art in �aris (Exposition des Artistes considered his most important graphics project. The represen� Yougoslavie, �etit �alais de la Ville de �aris). The artist, critic, tation of human labor and social professions and human labor, and translator Antun Bran��o Šimić became friends �ith that is, social relations (Manifestations, �ood carving, 1937) Šumanović over the shared fascination of the ne� and modern. �as achieved in the conte�t of social right��ing and Chris� Sava Šumanović traveled from Zagreb to �aris in September tian art of the 1920s and 1930s. 146 He �as advocating for the 1920. He came bac�� to Zagreb and stayed there bet�een 1922 traditional technical and esthetic producing values in graphic and 1925, only to travel to �aris again in the autumn of 1925. art, and only �or��ed in �ood carving and copper engraving. Sava Šumanović �as arrested on 28th August 1942 in his fam� He dedicated his �or�� to religious painting – from painting ily home in Šid. The arrest �as conducted by the police forces icons and iconostasis to easel and �all painting. He �as also of the ISC. He �as e�ecuted along �ith other 150 hostages in involved in restoration. He published a boo�� Slikarske tehnike Srems��a �itrovica on August 29th or 30th 1942. He �as buried u crkvenoj umetnosti ��7 (1936). He participated in religious art in one of the mass graves. e�hibitions (Rome, 1930, 1934). His religious paintings �ere A number of artists �ho �ere born in Croatian com� in the rational and traditional style of the “ne��byzantine” munities in Vojvodina or lived during a period of time in painting. He had e�hibitions in Srems��a �itrovica (1917), Vojvodina developed a greater part of their art practices in Zagreb (1921), Belgrade (1922), Zemun, Subotica, Senta (1933), Zagreb or �ithin Croatian culture: �amilo Tompa (Som� Osije�� (1923, 1937), Rome (1924, 1938). He �as an active and bor 1903 – Zagreb 1989), �ilan Butozan (�ančevo, 1930), reno�ned painter and graphic artist in the Independent State Tomislav �otovac 153 (Sombor, 1937), Vladimir �attioni, 154 of Croatia. 148 1943), Andreja �ulunčić 155 (Subotica, 1968). Dimitrije �ića Sava Šumanović (VIn��ovci, 1896 – Srems��a �itrovica, Bašičević 156 – �angelos (Šid, 1921 – Zagreb, 1987),’ �ho came 1942) 149, as a student of the real high school in Zemun, too�� from a Serbian community in Vojvodina, �or��ed – as a critic, painting lessons �ith �rofessor Isidor Jung 150. He started art historian, director of the �useum of �aive Art, a member going to the Faculty for Art and Trade in Zagreb in 1914. The of the Gorgona group, 157 manager of the Studio of the �allery of Contemporary Art, an artist – in Zagreb, most of his life. 144 Milenko D. Gjutić, ”O grafičkoj umjetnosti“, Grafička revija, Zagreb, June 1937, pp. An��ica Oprešni�� (Vitez, 1919 – �ovi Sad, 2005) �as a graphic 43-44; Frano Dulibić, ”Prvi hrvatski časopis posvećen grafici – Milenko D. Gjurić i artist and a painter �ho �as educated in Belgrade during the grafička umjetnost (1920–1921)“, Grafika, No. 3.2, Zagreb, 2004. 145 Mirela Ramljak Purgar, ”Aspekti grafičkog izraza Milenka Gjurića u kontekstu 1940s. She lived �ith her husband, Vojvodina painter �ilan njegovog vremena“, from: Radovi Instituta za povijest umjetnosti, Institute for the his- tory of art, Zagreb, 2006, pp. 197. 146 ”Retrospektivna izložba profesora Milenka D. Đurića akademskog slikara i grafičara“, 151 Milan Steiner 1894–1918, Art pavillion, Zagreb, 1987. Vojvođanski grafičar, No. 15, Novi Sad, 1941, pp. 4–5. 152 Über das Geistige in der Kunst – On the spiritual in art 147 Slikarske tehnike u crkvenoj umetnosti - Painting techniques in religious art. 153 Aleksandar Batista Ilić, D. Nenadić (eds.), Tomislav Gotovac, Croatian Film Association 148 Arturo Lancellotti, ”Gjurić Milenko – Hrvatski slikar i urezivač“, Rivista Italo Croata, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2003. Fiuma, 1943, pp. 97-99. 154 Verbumprogramkatalog, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995. 149 Dimitrije Bašičević, Sava Šumanović – život i umetnost (first edition: 1960), Vojina Bašičevića publishing, Novi Sad, 1997. 155 Andreja Kulunčić, Mjesto pod suncem, Gallery Nova, Zagreb, 2006. 150 Isidor (Iso) Jung was born in Valpovo. Date of birth is unknown. He taught drawing 156 Branka Stipančić (ed.), Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, Museum of Contemporary Art, in a high school in Zemun. He had exhibitions in Zemun (1910, 1921), Vinkovci (1920), Zagreb, 1990. Osijek (1910, 1920, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1950). He lived and worked in Osijek. 157 Nena Dimitrijević (ed.), Gorgona, Gallery of the City of Zagreb, Zagreb, 1977. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 37  �erc in �ovi Sad. Bogomil �alavaris (�erlez, 1924) is one of establishing of the critical social and class, and �ith regards to the most important painters of the Vojvodina landscape. He the manner of presentation, of the post�E�pressionist paint� has been living and �or��ing in Istra since 1982. Follo�ing ing, �ith speci��c relation to�ards the naïve (fol��lore) painting. this, Croatian and Bunjevac artists �ho lived and �or��ed in According to the manifesto �ritten by Drago Ibler in 1929, the Vojvodina �ere presented at the e�hibition Croatian Artists in goal of the Zemlja group �as to create an independent painting Vojvodina: Stipan �opilović, Jelena Čović, Ivan Balažević, Sti� e�pression. The goal �as to be achieved by ��ghting the fashions pan Šabić, �atarina Ton��ović–�arijans��i, Ivica �ovačić, Vera from abroad, by raising the general painting level in the cul� Đan��e, Josip S��enderović Aga, Šime �eić, Cecilija �ilan��ović, ture and by ��ghting art itself and the modernist decadence. 163 Rudolf Br��ić, Jasmina Vida��ović–Jovančić, Laura �eić, Spar� The painting of the Zemlja group is a political painting that ta��a Dulić, Robert Tilly, Dragan Rumenčić, Ivan Jandrić, Irena by means of a ��gurative from emphasizes and rhetorically Tođeraš and Stevan Andrašić, and the artists �or��ing in stra� decomposes critical attitudes of authors. Characteristic of the Joze��na S��enderović, �arija Dulić, Ana �ilodanović and movement are the follo�ing �or��s: Justitia (1936) by �rsto others. 158 Hegedušić, A Drunken Carriage (1935) by �arijana Detonija and Genius (1929) by Ivan Taba��ović. Zemlja group had several e�hibitions (Zagreb, 1929; �aris and Zagreb, 1931). At the third The case of Ivan Tabaković (Serbian edition, p.93) e�hibition, �or��s of peasant�painters �ere in focus, a��er �hich Hegedušić founded the Hlebine School in 1931. Ivan Taba��ović 159 (1898�1977) �as born in Arad. He studied Taba��ović’s Genius stands quite separately in his opus, but painting at the Art Academy in Budapest in 1917 and the Royal in the general practice of the painting productions that co�par� Academy of Art and Trade in Zagreb (1919�1924) under the ticipated in the �ost�Avant�garde re�establishment of order. �rofessors �a�imilian Van��a and Ljuba Babić. He also studied In that sense, the frame of the post�cubist and e�pressionist (form or color) directions and tendencies is especially incompatible at the Academy in �unich �ith Becher �undal and at Hans and practically unusable. The mental origin of Genius can be, in Hofmann’s private school, during 1922 and 1923. A��er a short part, found in the period bet�een 1926 and 1930, �hen Taba��ović stay in �aris in 1925, he returned to Zagreb �here he ran an �or��ed as a freelance illustrator at the Anatomy Institute of the art school �ith Oton �ostružni��. Together they organized the Faculty of �edicine in Zagreb. The economic and political, and Grotesque e�hibition (1926). 160 He returned to �ovi Sad in most certainly the art situation of the time, as �ell as the a�are� 1930, �here he stayed until 1938, �ith brief visits to �aris in ness that the material crisis unavoidably causes the spiritual 1934 and 1935. He started �or��ing as a teacher in the Applied crisis, the a�areness of a man as a social, as �ell as a natural, biological being, all had their thematic outcome, ��rst in the Art School in 1938. series of dra�ings from 1926�27, �ith the indicative title Satirical He �as one of the founders of the Zemlja group 161 in anatomy of the human stupidity and misery and then in the dra�� Zagreb in 1929. The intention to create an engaged artistic ing e�hibition Grotesques, �hich he organized together �ith Oton group appeared simultaneously �ith several artists – in Zagreb �ostružni�� in Zagreb. All of that, �ith the implicit conditionality �ith Ivan Taba��ović and Oton �ostružni��, and �ith �rsta of the creation of any art�or��, determined by the artist’s “motiva� Hegedušić and Leo June�� in �aris. Antun Augustinčić, �rsto tion: tactic, artistic, ideological and psychological” (�. �orebs��i), and by the �ider historical conte�t of cultural, social and political Hegedušić, Drago Ibler, Omer �ujadžić, �amilo Ružič��a and circumstances, someho� reinforces the claim that this �or�� is Ivan Taba��ović participated in the ��rst session of the prepara� self�created and self�important. Also, all given factors represent a tory committee. 162 The in��uence of the Weimer new objectiv� strong conceptual array from �hich Genius logically arose. 164 ity as a critique and an engaged painting practice could be The painting Genius is at the same time a non�apologetic recognized in the �or�� of the Zemlja group during the 1930s. grotesque of the present �orld and a project of a critical attitude With regards to the subject matter, �hat too�� place �as the in painting and through painting as a manner of producing politically important function. On the other hand, Genius could 158 The exhibition took place in the Klovićevi evi dvori Gallery in Zagreb, 1998. See:: Andrija Anišić, “Aktualno – tjedan Hrvata iz Vojvodine u Zagrebu”, Zvonik godina V No. 7 be seen as a form of resistance of an eccentrically and fantasti� (45), Subotica, August 1998, http://www.zvonik.org.yu/451/ZV07.html. 159 Dragana Vranić (ed.), Ivan Tabaković – Legat Rastislave Tabaković, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1985; Lidija Merenik, Ivan Tabaković, Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 2004. 163 Drago Ibler, ”Program Udruženja umjetnika Zemlja“ (22. V 1929), in: Josip Depolo, 160 Ivanka Reberski, ”Groteske – prolog Zemlje (1926)“, from: Oton Postružnik, Institure for ”Zemlja 1929–1935“, from: Miodrag B. Protić (ed.), 1929–1950: Nadrealizam Postnadrea- the History of Art, Zagreb, 1987, pp. 23–28. lizam Socijalna umetnost Umetnost NOR-a Socijalistički realizam, Museum of Modern 161 Josip Depolo, ”Zemlja 1929–1935“, from: Miodrag B. Protić (ed.), 1929–1950: Nad- Art, Belgrade, 1969, pp. 38. realizam Postnadrealizam Socijalna umetnost Umetnost NOR-a Socijalistički realizam, 164 Suzana Vuksanović Soleša, ”Fenomen pomeranja granica stvarnosti i umetnosti do Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1969, pp. 36–50. ć: Genius)“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Central- granica saznanja i tajni (Ivan Tabaković: 162 Ivan Tabaković, ”Prilozi za rešavanje naše ideologije“ (25. februar 1929), from: Lidija noevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni Merenik, Ivan Tabaković 1898–1977, Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 2004, pp. 71–74. granica, Museum of Contemporary Painting, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 26–29. 3 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina cally oriented artist to the transparent political pragmatism of 18th, 19th and the ��rst decades of the 20th century. 172 The names sho�ing “reality” in the productions of the Zemlja group. of the ��rst painters that started to stand out include Todor Ilić Taba��ović too�� part in an important Zagreb�based pub� Češljar, �eorg Tenec��i, Ja��ov Orfelin, Arsa Teodorović, �avle lication Hrvatska grafika danas ��36 �65 (Croatian graphic art Đur��ović, �eorgije Ba��alović, Dimitrije Avramović, �onstan� today ��36), �hich �as published under the “Ars” edition, tin Danil, �onstantin Arsenović, Ljubomir Ale��sandrović, �ith Zden��o Vojnović as the editor�in�chief. The publication �atarina Ivanović, �i��ola Ale��sić, Jovan �opović, �avle Hrvatska grafika danas ��36 appeared in the conte�t of Croa� Simić, Đura Ja��šić, Adam Stefanović, �ova�� Radonić, Stevan tian �odernism (Ljubo Babić) in the range of e�pressionists Todorović, Đorđe �rstić, Uroš �redić and others. One of the (Vil��o �ecan, Sergej �lumac), and the members of the Zemlja leading institutions for the projection of the idea of “Serbian group (Oton �ostružni��, �arija Detoni) to the peasant�paint� art in Vojvodina” �as certainly �atica srps��a (established in ers (�rsto Hegedušić). Ivan Taba��ović published t�o �or��s 1826), and the �atica srps��a �allery (established in 1847). The Still life and Paris 166 as the only artist from Croatia. His �or��s �atica srps��a �useum �as founded in 1847. In the period be� are the characteristic intimate dra�ings created a��er collabo� t�een 1847 and 1933 collections of the museum �ere formed. ration �ith the Zemlja group. The follo�ing identi��cation line The museum and gallery �ere open for the public bet�een about Taba��ović’s �or��s stands in the biographical section: 1933 and 1947. Temporary director of the museum �as Franja “He applied planted trees of the �arisian school to Vojvodina �alin, and the members �ho participated in the creation of motifs.” 167 the museum’s statute �ere: Ale��sandar �oč, Sava Stoj��ović, �i��ola �ilutinović, Franja �alin and �liša �ir��ović. 173 The gallery �as being developed as a separate department of Serbian society, culture and art in Vojvodina (p.95) �atica srps��a from 1947 until 1958, �hen it began functioning independently. When one tal��s about Serbian 168 art in Vojvodina – �hat Sho�ing Serbian national identity in painting and sculp� becomes noticeable is the comple� process of reception of ture is a problem on its o�n. Visual representation of the civic the national Austro��erman and Hungarian modernity that and national political public, that is, of mar��ed identity as a enabled a turn from church art, as a national�identity art in “European political identity” �as done as early as in the graph� the 18th and the early 19th century, to�ards civic art 169 (genre ics of �avle Simić and Jozef A. Bauer’s Serbian National Assem� scenes, and portraits, historically�allegoric and religious bly in Sremski Karlovci on May �st ���8 (1863). The national and painting). Serbian art, as a “national social practice” 170 in civic approach to democratic gatherings is confronted �ith the Vojvodina, under�ent a series of characteristic stages. One of concept of national “assembliness”, �hich is the idea of being the ��rst important projections of Serbian art in Vojvodina, in gathered into an organic democratic �hole of the “assembly”. the conte�t of art history, �as conducted through the �or�� of Besides this seemingly documentary scene, �hat is also charac� Velj��o �etrović and �ilan �ašanin Serbian art in Vojvodina teristic is a neo�classical model of Academic Realism/Romanti� from the age of the despot to unification. 171 This boo�� projected cism seen in the paintings of �aja Jovanović, for instance Proc� a traditional concept of the continuity in the development of lamation of Dušan’s Law – The Coronation of Emperor Dušan the Serbian art �ithin Austro�Hungary and Hungary. Serbian (around 1900). Anastas Bocarić, �ith the painting Prince Mar� art in Vojvodina began �ith the producing of national, reli� ko and the Fairy – From darkness into light (1910�13), developed gious and class representations �ith art �ithin a culture in the a grotesque allegorical character of a people’s hero by anticipat� age of the Austrian and Austro�Hungarian empire during the ing popular and populist genre of presenting national mythol� ogy and national mythological characters in “graphic media”. On the other hand, Đorđe Jovanović 174, �ith his monumental patrioitc and allegorical neo�classical sculptures, mar��ed the 165 Hrvatska grafika danas 1936, Ars, Zagreb, 1936. model of representing Serbian national identity as a European 166 Ivan Tabaković, “Still life” and “Paris”, from: Hrvatska grafika danas 1936, Ars, Zagreb, one (Grand Serbia, 1901). �ation is sho�n as a personi��ed ��g� 1936, illustration XXXIV and pp. 21. 167 ”Biografske notice“, from: Hrvatska grafika danas 1936, Ars, Zagreb, 1936, pp. 22. ure of a victorious �oman, having all of the attributes of glory, 168 Miodrag B. Protić, Srpsko slikarstvo XX veka, I, II, Nolit, Belgrade, 1970; Lazar Trifunović, Srpsko slikarstvo 1900–1950, Nolit, Belgrade, 1973; and the monograph Matica srpska Gallery, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 2001. 169 Nenad Makuljević, Umetnost i nacionalna ideja u XIX veku: sistem evropske i srpske vizuelne kulture u službi nacije, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, Belgrade, 2006. 172 For instance: Aleksa Ivić, Istorija Srba u Vojvodini od najstarijih vremena do osnivanja 170 Dr. M. Petrović, ”Za nacionalni karakter Vojvodine“, Letopis Matice srpske Vol. 314, No. potisko-pomoriške granice (1703), Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 1929. 2, Novi Sad, 1927, pp. 161-163. 173 Leposava Šelmić, ”Galerija Matice srpske“, Matica srpska Gallery, Matica srpska, Novi 171 Veljko Petrović, Milan Kašanin, Srpska umetnost u Vojvodini od doba despota do ujedi- Sad, 2001, 007, 082–083. njenja, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1927. 174 Miodrag Jovanović, Đoka Jovanović 1861–1953, Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 2006.. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 3  sublimity, dignity and po�er. 175 �iven e�amples underline a �iodrag B. �rotić and Lazar Trifunović, �as crucial in the �ide symbolic ��eld of visual productions of identi��cation, and derivation of the interpretative models of the Vojvodina social� certainly, of dominant proposals for the derivation of a collec� ist �odernism. With the establishment of the parado�ical and tive subject of Serbian Vojvodina, “Serbian self ”, as a dominant con��ict situation, a��er 1989, there �as a noticeable �ithdra�al subject in the multicultural society of Vojvodina. of the Hungarian artists from the Vojvodinian art scene, and What �as, therefore, established �as a derivation of class later on, the dominance of the “Serbian” paraimperial concept structuring of the Serbian 176 bourgeoisie identity by means in traditional (painting, sculpture, architecture) art media and of art practices bet�een World Wars. Along �ith that, �hat the establishment of the new art practices �ithin the dynamics also too�� place �as a derivation of a macro�political project of of globalism and global�local, or in other �ords, anti�global “integrative Yugoslav quality” 177 as an artistic and architec� activisms. tural project during the constitution of the �ingdom of Serbs, This proposed schematics points to the dynamics �ithin Croats and Slovenes, and the �ingdom of Yugoslavia in the national art practices according to the models of Yugoslavity, 1920s. Follo�ing this, an emancipatory modernist model of internationality and globalism in 20th century art. A number internationalization of Vojvodina art �as established, above of artists born in Vojvodina �or��ed professionally in Belgrade. all, the model of high modernist emancipation of Serbian and For instance, Uroš �redić (Orlovat, 1857�1953) �as educated in Hungarian �odernism through Budapest, Vienna, �unich, Vienna. He �or��ed in a number of to�ns in Vojvodina, lived in Zagreb and Belgrade, during the 1920s and 1930s. Within the �ovi Sad and Stari Bečej, and settled permanently in Belgrade domination of modernist paradigms, there �ere several e�cess in 1909. In his �or��, besides �aja Jovanović, he established appearances that signi��ed stepping out of the frame, or brea��� the strongest relationship bet�een the Austro��erman late ing up the continuity of the national culture, ��rst and foremost Romanticism, E�oticism and national Realism �ith modern in the Avant�garde practices of the 1920s, through connections Serbian art from Vojvodina. �redić’s educated and enlight� and interactions �ith the Serbian (Belgrade), Croatian (Slavo� ened painting, almost in a Schiler�li��e manner, �as devoted to nia and Zagreb), and �ith the Hungarian (Budapest and Vi� the aestetic education and upbringing (Older brother teaches enna) Avant�garde. There �as a derivation of the international, younger brother to stand on his head in the corner, 1905). and more speci��cally, pro�Yugoslav model of the critical social �e�t, Zora �etrović (Dobrica in Banat, 1894 – Belgrade, Realism of the 1930s and early 1940s, as �ell as a derivation of 1962) became, during the 20th century, one of the most im� the projection apologetic socialist Realism from the late 1930s portant painters of the Vojvodinian and Serbian �odernism. until the middle of the 1950s. A��er the brea�� up �ith USSR Her education in Budapest (1915�1918) and an early stay in in 1948, there �as a derivation of a multi�cultural concept of �agybanya (1918) redirected her �or�� to�ards �odernism and Vojvodinian culture, �ith different national cultures being e�pressive tendencies a��er Impressionism. �ihajlo S. �etrov comparable and equal to each other, and �ith a certain domi� (Belgrade, 1902�1983) lived in �ovi Sad bet�een 1926 and nance of the Serbian national identity, pulling Vojvodinian art 1929. Several artists from Vojvodina collaborated in a Belgrade “scenes” to�ards the Belgrade scene. Artists from Vojvodina modernist group Oblik �7� (1926�1939): painter and graphic started directing themselves to�ards Belgrade and the Bel� artist Árpád �. Balázs (member since 1931), architect Dragiša grade articulation of modernity during the 1950s and 1960s. Brašovan (member since 1934), architect �i��ola Dobrović This process of redirection �as threefold: ��rstly, through the (member since 1932), painter �etar Dobrović (member since leading role of the Belgrade Academy, and later, the Faculty of 1926), �laden Josić (e�hibited during the ��rst e�hibition of Art in an artistic modernist education 178, secondly, by estab� the group in 1927), painter �ilan �onjović (member since lishing a strong and in��uential Serbian and Yugoslav e�hibi� 1927), Zora �etrović (she �as a member since 1927), Stan��a tion scene in Belgrade, and thirdly, through the dominant role Radonić�Lučev (member since 1930), Ivan Radović (member of the Belgrade institutions in international communication. since 1927), Svetislav Strala (participated in all the e�hibitions The in��uence of Belgrade critics and art historians, namely of the group), �ilen��o Šerban (participated in e�hibitions IV to XVI), and Sava Šumanović (one of the founders of the group, did not e�hibit in all e�hibitions of the group). �roup Oblik 175 Compare: Uroš Predić, ”Vajarski radovi akademika Đorđa Jovanovića“, Belgrade, 1933, pp. 6; and Nenad Makuljević, ”Alegoričnost“, Umetnost i nacionalna ideja u XIX veku: had a speci��c modernist function of creating a “moderate” or sistem evropske i srpske vizuelne kulture u službi nacije, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, Belgrade, 2006, pp. 215. “high” modernist creative integrative platform in the area of 176 Vojvođani o Vojvodini – Povodom desetogodišnjice oslobođenja i ujedinjenja, Associa- the ��rst Yugoslavia. tion of the Vojvodinians, Novi Sad, 1928. 177 Aleksandar Ignjatović, Jugoslovenstvo u arhitekturi 1904–1941, Građevinska knjiga, Belgrade, 2007. 178 50 godina Fakulteta likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu 1937–1987, ULUS – ”Cvijeta Zuzorić“ 179 Vladimir Rozić, Umetnička grupa Oblik (1926–1939), Office for joining Serbia and Art Pavillion, Belgrade, 1987. Montenegro to the EU, Belgrade, 2005. 40 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina  �e�t, a number of leading artists of the “socialist �odern� bourgeoisie module of representing the identity and the role ism” came from Vojvodina, although they realized a greater of social and cultural subjects. In other �ords, “the portrait” part of their �or�� as artists or pedagogues in Belgrade: Lazar �as a means of identifying the differences of the Serbian upper Vozarević (Srems��a �itrovica, 1925 – Belgrade, 1968), Dra� class and its representatives, ta��en from the Austro��erman goslav Stojanović SI� (�etrovaradin, 1920 – Belgrade, 1976), and Hungarian culture. The academic trade and the realistic Živojin Turins��i (Zrenjanin, 1935 – Belgrade, 2001), �ilo� approach promised the possibility of adequate political and so� rad Bata �ihailović (�ančevo, 1923 – lives in �aris), �atija cial representation. The modern national and bourgeoisie por� Vu��ović (�latičevo near Rume, 1925 – Belgrade, 1985), Zoran trait is ��rst and foremost a portrait of a man, rarely of a �oman �etrović (Sa��ule, 1921 – Belgrade, 1996) and others. In that from the same class, �hich sho�s that the concept of a portrait �ay, the integration of the art from Vojvodina in to the corpus �as essentially connected �ith the social structuring and the of the socialist �odernism and the arriving moderate post� derivation of the class, national and gender po�er. Certainly, �odernisms �as conducted. portrait �or�� of �aja Jovanović represents a paradigmatic sam� ple of academic and realistic painting from the end of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century. The return to Realism in Genre painting: from modernity towards portrait painting too�� place t�o times: �ith the portraits �ithin Modernism and beyond (Serbian edition, p.102) the bourgeoisie Realism, the return to order and the �eoclassi� cism (Šumanović, Dobrović, Šuput, �omorišac) in the late 1920s The comple� process of the evolution of the modern to�ards and the early 1930s, and �ith the establishment of the socialist the modernist painting can be follo�ed in the slo� evolution Realism (�etrović, Ipić) immediately a��er World War II. of the realist into the modernist portrait from the middle of The appearance of the artists’ late�romantic self�portrait the 19th century until the 1920s. Some characteristic e�amples led in the direction of “ta��ing a�ay” the representative role of realist and romantic portraits are available, for instance of the aristocratic and civic self�portrait and emphasizing the from Tan’s portrait (Sava Tekelija, 1861) and �opović’s por� self�portrait as a painting genre and, later, as a “pictorial ��eld” traits (Pavle Trifunac, 1898 and Jovan Đorđević, 1900) to the of plastic e�pression and e�ploration. In this concept of the self�portrait of �ova�� Radonić (Self�portrait with a hat, 1855), self�portrait, the sub�genre of the “artists’ self�portrait” also and �rizman’s portrait Franja Malin (1907), late�romantic mar��s a different idea of the importance of the painter. The self�portrait of Voja Trifunović (1913), e�pressionist portraits painter’s self�portrait is not so much there to sho� his or her of Danica Jovanović (Gypsy Woman, 1914) or Ivan Radović class, national, or even professional�guild identity, as it is to (Self�portrait, from 1919 and 1920) and �ilan �onjović (Profes� underline and promise the e�quisiteness of the painter or the sor Dida, 1934), to the modernist post�fauvist portraits of �etar artist as an autonomous creator �ithin modernist culture. This Dobrović (Girl Margarita I, 1928), Šuput’s intimate self�por� can be clearly seen in the self�portraits of Voja Trifunović, Ivan traits (Self�portrait, 1939), and neo�classical self�portraits of Radović, Sava Šumanović and Vasa �omorišac. Early e�pres� Vasa �omorišac (Self�portrait with a palette, 1932) and, then, sionist portraits and self�portraits (Danica Jovanović, Radović, the e�plicit socialist Realism of Boš��o �etrović (Marshal Tito’s �onjović) �ere described as questioning and provo��ing the Portrait, 1944) and the socialist�relistic Realism of Sava Ipić e�pressiveness of the pictorial material in the gap bet�een the (Self�portrait, 1954) or socialist�realistic�modernist separated representation (the iconic order) and e�pression (the inde� portrait of Dušan �ilovanović (Portrait, 1957) or the ne� order). This scheme can also be found �ith the painters a��er ��gurative movement of Ferenc �aurits (Shooting Ground, 1971; World War II, �ho, �ithin the Abstraction Lyrique, post�L’Art Electric Requiem, 1973) or the urban post pop�roc�� portraits Informel and ne� Figuration, transformed the human body/ (�iodrag �ilj��ović, Ljubiša Bogosavljević, István Szaj��ó, Tibor face as the material media of e�pression and separation of Bada, �ilan Blanuša) from the 1980s, to the anti�portraits of the iconic (Ferenc �aurits, Dušan �ilovanović). The portrait �arshal Broz Tito in the concept for the ��lm A Poem about a genre �as rene�ed (�iodrag �ilj��ović, Ljubiša Bogosavljević, Film (1971). István Saj��o, Tibor Bada, �ilan Blanuša) during the age of the This brief and highly appro�imated history of the portrait eclectic post��odernism of the 1980s. What should be ��ept points to the signi��cant changes in the comprehension of art in mind is that the “genre rene�al” does not mean the return itself from the middle of the 19th century to the second half of the academic or non�e�pressive portrait but, namely, the of the 20th century. The modern vie� of the portrait, present painting reaction to the media mass and popular culture of the �ith the painters �ho �or��ed in Vojvodina, mainly �ith the 80s. Formally, this means the establishment of the referential Serbian painters, from the second half of the 19th century, �as relations bet�een the painting image and the media images led by a political demand for the establishment of the national� (photography, ��lm, video). 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 41  A sub�genre of the portrait/self�portrait can be found in symbolic public, universally directed scenes, genre scenes or paintings �ith the portrait or self�portrait of artists in the nude. historical events. He is a public�vie� painter. On the contrary, This sub�genre is seen as the e�plicitness of the “autonomy” of the paintings from the studio or his �ife’s boudoir open up art, that is, as the emphasis of the artist’s creative space as an the other scene of the artist’s fantasy and derivation of voyeur� e�ceptional space of freedom, se�uality, pleasure in �atching ism and civic e�hibitionism. To e�pose her body, �hich he as (artist�man is the one �ho �atches) and being �atched (a nude a man o�ns, to another’s vie� and to enjoy in the loo��s �hich �oman is the one �ho is there to be �atched). On the other �ill be directed at her body by others. Voyeuristic and e�hibi� hand, “nude portraits” represent the determination of the male tionistic aspects of these paintings are also emphasized by their painting canon, according to �hich the categories of the “active relatively large format. The other painter is Sava Šumanović, man” (creator) and the “passive �oman” (the object of pleasure) �ith his series of late paintings entitled Female bathers from are prominent. The follo�ing artists �or��ed according to this Šid �82 (1935�38). Even though Šumanović �or��ed in the nude scheme: �aja Jovanović (Artist and Model, around 1905) and genre throughout his career, the Female bathers from Šid series Sava Šumanović (Breakfast in Grass, 1927; Model in the studio, is e�quisite. �aintings are in large format, some reaching up to 1939; and the dra�ing Painter with Model, 1940). The nude 192 and 254cm. �aintings are composed of several ��gures: ��ve genre �as not common in the art of Vojvodina, ho�ever it did or seven. Figures are painted in such a manner that the lines signify rather the ful��llment of the autonomy than the repre� of the ��gure that are dividing it from the �indo� in �hich sentation of the erotic, pornographic or perverse pleasure: �eter the ��gures are placed is emphasized. The ��gures are placed �alman, Female semi�nude in studio (undated), Janoš Ajh Fe� so that they do not blend into the bac��ground, but that the male semi�nude (undated), Ödön Sárosi Female nude (undated), bac��ground loo��s, o��en, li��e a screen behind the ��gures, or, Stevan Dra��ulić, A male nude study (around 1910), Ale��andar perhaps, that the ��gures are painted separately, placed and Se��ulić, 180 Reclining female semi�nude and Male semi�nude (un� arranged on the surface of the canvas. Figures are nude, �ith dated), József �echán, Standing nude (1911) and Bathing women pieces of clothing covering the genitals, and, at times, �ith (1912–13), �etar Dobrović, Male nude study (1913) and Male sandals that appear to be from the fashion of the time. Fig� nude (1922), Sava Šumanović, Two nudes (1922) and Women ures are typical, �ith highly arti��cial faces devoid of psycho� on a lake shore (1923), �etar Dobrović, Venus (1920), �laden logical meaning, so that the paintings appear very arti��cial. Josić, Female nude (1926?), Ivan Radović, Three Graces (1923) Šumanović made these paintings during the long period of his and A nude in the interior (1933?), �ilan �onjović, Female nude solitary life in his parents’ house in Šid. They seem to evo��e his (1926) and Model in the studio (1932), etc. All nudes sho� the memories of �aris, or, perhaps, they seem to evo��e and react “easiness” of the modernist recreation of the genre in stylistic to the pictures/photographs from the fashion magazines he patterns or the manners of Academic Realism, Secession, E�� �as receiving at the time. These paintings are not neo�classi� pressionism, Cubism and neo�Classicism. cal pieces, although they are composed in a strict and rational T�o painters led the concept of a nude to the obsessive manner. They are, probably, closer to the painter’s obsessions presentation of the longing for the body of the other, that is, �ith the “modern” but absent female body, although, if �e are to to the presentation of the overta��ing vie�. One of them is accept the thesis about Šumanović’s homoeroticism, 183 it could �aja Jovanović, �ho painted numerous nude�portraits and be assumed that they are also identi��cation images of �omen in nude�allegories of his �ife �uni Jovanović around 1920. 181 �hich he phantasmatically inscribed himself: the other impos� Figures in the Nude on a red robe (1918�20; 115 � 211cm) and sible �oman. Jovanović painted a �oman o�ned by a man in a the Nude next to the armchair (Muni) (1920; 110 � 208cm) are civic, patriarchal sense, �hereas Šumanović painted an impos� enigmatically eroticized. These �or��s are focused on �atch� sible �oman/�omen, a phantasmatic construct in the void of ing and representing a speci��c close person, �ho, in painting the painter’s canvas or the Šid e�istential space. representation, becomes almost an ideal object of erotic/se�ual Finally – the problem of the landscape genre, and the desire. Her quite classically and academically painted ��gure is “country landscape” sub�genre or the “scenes from the country centered as an “object” of the painter’s desire, �hich dissolves life” could also be analyzed. Landscape genre, as opposed to the borders of privacy. Dissolving the borders of privacy is the portrait genre, is modi��ed from the autonomous painting important to �aja Jovanović the painter, since he is a painter of genre into a “sign” or “te�t” of the Vojvodina regional identity great historical, oriental�Bal��an, great national or allegorically� derivation. Early landscapes �ere made, for instance, in �a� 180 Vukica Popović, Jasna Jovanov, Jelena Knežević (eds.), Aleksandar Sekulović 182 Ješa Denegri, ”Pozni Šumanović: Šidijanke“, from: Ješa Denegri, Vojin Bašičević, (1877–1942), Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 1990. Dragomir Ugren (eds.), Šidijanke, Vojin Bašičević edition, Novi Sad, 1998, pp. 1–2. 181 Snežana Lazić, ”Akt u delu Paje Jovanovića“, iz kataloga Akt u delu Paje Jovanovića, 183 See notes in an art historian Živko Brković’s book, Sava Šumanović – Epistolarni por- First Yugoslav young painters’s biennale – National museum, Vršac, 1994. tret – pisma, dokumenti, bolest, Književno-izdavačka zadruga Centar, Belgrade, 1998. 42 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina gybanya, as a step out of the academic and romantic political, for the “imminent” subject matter – visibility – �ithin the art religious, national or allegorical painting and into the autono� of Vojvodina; mous genre of questioning the e�pressivity of the vie�ed scene 3. The direction to�ards the derivation of a local presenta� – landscape. With modernist painters, such as Šumanović, tion of the “regional” and to�ards the functionalization of the Dobrović, Radović, Taba��ović or �onjević, a landscape �as set local landscape image as the identi��cation “super�national” up as a pictorial ��eld of painting self�re��ection in questioning matri� for a given region. painting and perceptive conditions of representation, e�pres� sion or visibility. Here, landscape genre has a similar evolu� tion to the still�life genre: the drama of the modernization is Internationalism and Modernism between World Wars: represented �ith the separation of the iconic characteristic of a towards the great Modernism (Serbian edition, p.113) scene or a composition of an object. Ho�ever, the line of �od� ernism that �as separated and established from the landscap� The relative term of “international art”, throughout the 19th ism of �agybanya, �ith numerous returns from more radical century, can only appro�imately mar�� different in��uences of a �odernisms to more moderate versions, provided a conte�t single, dominant, national culture on other marginal cultures; for the recognizable para�genre of the Vojvodina landscape. it can mainly determine in��uences of imperial and imperialist The phrase “Vojvodina landscape” does not have a national cultures on small or underdeveloped cultures �ithin Europe and or a state identity, but a regional one, and also, occasionally, outside it. a “provincial” identi��cation, �hich is an ethnic sense multi� The imperial model of internationalization implies the inte� cultural and signi��es the “atmosphere”: of the plains, peace, gration of small and underdeveloped cultures into the dominant farmer’s relation �ith nature, of the country �hich is out there, “discourse” of art culture is politically, economically, arbitrary, of the �annonian etc… The genre itself �as modi��ed from the culturally and artistically “superior” or, more accurately, in Barbizon Realism (Laslo �ezdi �ovač, Windmills in , 1892; A terms of po�er “superior” and “hegemonic”. Loo��ing at the case Forest in Ečka, around 1895; or A Street in Dolja, 1898), Im� of Vojvodina art in the 19th and the early 20th century, it is no� pressionism (Eden Šaroši, A Landscape, 1916; and Jelena Čović, ticeable that Vojvodina art is in the same symmetrical, hierar� A Woman on a Bank, 1904, or In the Park, 1907), Secession chical relationship to�ards Hungarian culture and its art domi� (Bela Far��aš, Sremska Kamenica, 1934) post�Fauvism (�ilen��o nances, just li��e the Hungarian art is, to�ards the hegemonic Šerban, 184 Spring on Mount Fruška Gora, around 1934; Sava Austrian/Viennese art scene, and the Viennese art scene to�ards Šumanović, An alley in Šid, 1935; Ivan Taba��ović, Novi Sad the �erman cultural horizon and art paradigms, primarily of Landscape, 1934), E�pressionism (�ilan �onjović, Sombor – A the �unich art schools and the leading artists of Romanti� View of the Wheat Fields, 1938), Cubism (Ivan Radović, Houses, cism, Secession, post�Impressionism and E�pressionism. The 1922; Sava Šumanović, Viaduct, 1921), moderate �odern� imperial model implies the realization of political dominance ism (István �agy, Willow Trees, around 1930, Stojan Trumić, and supremacy, �hich established horizons of interpreting and Wheat in, 1938) and socialist �odernism (József Ács, Senta understanding art in contemporariness. Also, as the 19th century Landscape, 1953; Bogomil �arlavaris, Canal in Autumn, 1946; dre� near its end, the ostensible change of symmetrical relations �ilan �ečić, A Road in Krčedin, 1954; Stevan �a��simović, started becoming asymmetrical and dispersive in the synchronic Sremski Karlovci, 1949; Boš��o �etrović, A Country Street with a in��uences of Budapest, Vienna and �unich, and of Dresden, Row of Trees, 1954; �ilan �onjović, Scorched Vojvodina, 1957; Berlin and �rague. This meant that the imperial model turned An��ica Oprešni��, Autumn in a Village, 1959; �ilan �ečić, into manifold “competitive” models of different centers of po�er Dudik in Nikinci, 1961; Bogomil �arlavaris, A Crossroad near �ithin the �erman political range of in��uence, and, some�hat Inđija, 1964; Živojin �iš��ov, Blue Plum Orchard, 1967). This later, �ithin the domain of in��uence of the developed Slavic historical transformation of the landscape genre indicates cultures (Czech Republic, �oland). three important aspects: The imperial model signi��es a political, social and cultural 1. The direction to�ards the derivation of the autonomous in��uence or the cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism is, painting landscape genre, similar to autonomous genres li��e in a modernist sense, the po�er of an “e�ceptional” society to still�life, nude, and even the modernist portrait; produce, offer and impose its cultural, and, in a more narro� 2. The direction to�ards the emancipation a�ay from the sense, its art productions to a very �ide, o��en intercultural, demands of the social and socialist Realism, to�ards the search geographical area. This ��ind of an in��uence �as by the end of the 1920s and 1930s achieved by the French culture and its 184 See: Mihailo S. Petrov, “Izložba Hegedušić - Šerban”, Letopis Matice srpske Vol. 315 imperialistic country, the �erman culture and its democratic No. 3, Novi Sad, March, 1928, pp. 458-459; Irina Subotić, Milenko Šerban (1907–1979), and crisis country in the period of the Weimar �ermany, and Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 1997. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 43  the Russian, and later on, the Soviet culture and its revolution� The ideal of a modernist international artist – derived from ary totalitarian country. French 185 culture offered the model of the French conte�t of great modernity – �as achieved, in dif� “international art” at the internal and e�ternal level. At the in� ferent paradigmatic �ays, by: Sava Šumanović, �etar Dobrović, ternal level, it represents the creation of an imperial culture that Ivan Radović, �ilan �onjović, Árpád �. Balázs, and Zora integrates different minority discourses into a single “grand” and �etrović. This is a concept of the derivation of great modern “general” model of French modern art. At the e�ternal level, it European art, �hich is established through autonomous and means overcoming a simple national model, and advocating for authentic art practices. 190 The myth of the great painter is real. the universal modernist concept of art, �hich becomes a ��ind of a great “�an�style”, seen in the e�ample of the �arisian school from Impressionism to L’Art Informel and Abstraction Lyrique. The case of Sava Šumanović: a great ecstatic Modernism Universal modernist concept in its moderate and radical (Serbian edition, p.114) models as an internationalism is seen in areas of Vojvodina art A��er the Zagreb in��uences connected �ith �erman mod� from the late Impressionism of �agybanya at the turn of the 20th ern art, Sava Šumanović entered the “discourse” of French century, through the high, and more o��en moderate, �odern� modernist painting of late Cubism (Sculptor in studio, 1921 or ism of Šumanović, Dobrović, Radović and �onjović in the 1920s Viaduct, 1921) and post�Cubism (Woman by the window, 1924, and 1930s, or though the socialist �odernism of �onjović, or the series of paintings Women from Šid, 1935�38), creating a Stevan �a��simović, József Ács or An��ica Oprešni�� in the 1950s poetic horizon of the heroic and, later on, the obsessive e�pres� and 1960s, to the �eo�Avant�garde appearances (Te�tualism: sion that surpasses the individual human drama of a mental Vujica Rešin Tucić, Vojislav Despotov, Judita Šalgo, KÔD group) illness, loneliness, provincial isolation and, ��nally, of �ar. bet�een the 1960s and 1970s, �hich mar��ed the turn to�ards Šumanović’s painting opus, in a clear �ay, mar��ed the jour� the international Avant�gardes, and �ith conceptual art, to�ards ney of a provincial artist opening himself up to the dominant the internationalism of the Anglo�Sa�on art. The universal mod� appearances of modernist urban art in the �arisian period ernist model �as established �ith Vojvodinian, Serbian, Croa� (Still�life with a clock, 1921), and, follo�ing that, it signi��ed the tian, Hungarian “young” artists directing themselves to�ards painsta��ing, long �anderings of an artist �ithout a clear goal, important internationally oriented art schools in Budapest, 186 caught in the phantasms of the local struggle for survival and �unich, 187 �rague, 188 and �aris 189. the ��ght �ith an illness. Šumanović in a fran�� �ay spo��e of his human and artistic drama 191 in Moj predgovor (My preface), in the catalogue for his solo e�hibition in Belgrade, 1939. 185 Paris – Berlin / Rapports et Contrastes France-Allemagne 1900–1933, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1978; Paris – Moskva 1900–1930, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Šumanović’s painting �or�� �as essentially established and de� 1978; Paris – Paris 1937–1957, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1981; Francis Frascina, Pollock and After – The Critical Debate, Harper & Row, London, 1985. veloped in the domain of e�periencing authentic autonomy of 186 On the education in Budapest see: Miloš Arsić, ”Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944“, art creation, such as the one established in the Parisian school, footnote 15, from: Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 29. during the ��rst decades of the 20th century. Based on the domi� 187 The following artists were studying at the Königliche Akademie der Bildenden nance of Cubism, he returns to idealism of the French modern� K�nste (Art Academy) in Munich: Stevan Aleksić (since 1896), Stevan Drakulić (since 1905), Mališa Glišić (since 1908), Kosta Jorgović (since 1903), Péter Kálmán (since ist painting, and to the search for the e�pressive e�clusiveness 1906), Jovan Kešanski (od 1900), Stipan Kopilović (od 1902), Arnold Klein Korányi of a masterpiece in the �arisian school style (A Drunken Boat, (since 1910), Đorđe Krstić (since 1873), Angela Mačković (probably since 1901), József Máli (since 1893), Milivoj Mauković (since 1877), Stevan Milosavljević (since 1927). He, then, moves from the neo�classical (The Shepherd 1906), Nikola Mihajlović (since 1908), Emanuel-Maša Maunović (���), István Nagy (since 1897), Sándor Oláh (probably since 1908), József Pechán (since 1889), Vasa Girl or At the Well, 1921; Female Nude with a Mirror, 1923) to Pomorišac (since 1913), Milan Popović (���), Aleksandar Sekulić (since 1900), Ivan the modernist (Red Rug I, 1929 or The Road to Bužilava, 1929), Tabaković (since 1922), Pal Vago, Jene Velder (since 1874). The following artists were studying in Simon Hollósy’s private school: József Máli (since 1893), József Pechán �ithin the painter’s formal, color and thematic obsessions �ith (since 1904), Sándor Oláh (since around 1908), Emil Ženar (since 1910). The following artists were studying at Anton Ažbe’s private school: Jelena Čović (since 1903), painting itself. At the height of his neo�classical interest, he de� Stevan Drakulić (1904–1905), Stevan Aleksić. Ödön Sárosi was studying in Valter’ cides for the rational and controlled derivation of the composi� Tor’s school (since 1913). Danica Jovanović was studying at the Female Academy in Munich (since 1909). Jovanka Marković-Strajnić was studying at Professor Hajek’s tion �ithin the “absolute” painting autonomy: summer school in Dachau in Munich. See: Minhenska škola i srpsko slikarstvo, Matica We �ant a painting �hich �ould be unique, logical and harmo� srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 1985; and Miloš Arsić, ”Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944“, footnote 9, from: Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, nious. As much as it is humanly possible and �ithin our po�er, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 29. 188 �rpád G. Balázs (since 1920), Stevan Čalić (since 1919), Milan Konjović (since 1917) and others were studying in Prague at the Art Academy (Akademia vytvarnych umeni) 190 Ješa Denegri, ”Primeri istorijskog modernizma“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Central- 189 The following artists were studying in Paris: at the Julian Academy – Aladár Edvi Illés noevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni (since 1893), István Nagy (probably since 1900); at the Colarossi art school – Milenko granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 16–18. Šerban (since 1926); in Andre Lhoté’s private school – Milenko Šerban (1927, 1929), 191 Sava Šumanović, ”Moj predgovor“, from: Katalog izložbe Save Šumanovića, Novi Sava Šumanović (since 1921). Andre Lhoté (1885–1962) was a French painter, sculp- univerzitet, Belgrade, 1939, pp. 21. Živko Brkić analyzes in great detail the cultural tor, pedagogue and art writer, close to Cubism and Section d’Or group. He opened and poetic phenomenology of Šumanović’s illness in: Sava Šumanović – epistolarni his first private school in 1922. portret – pisma, dokumenti, bolest, KIZ Center, Belgrade, 1988. 44 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina  �e �ill try to reach those goals, although it is hard to reach any space, light, color, form, ��tting objects one into the other, that is result at all in a country �here painting is substituted �ith a plain the goal of the art of painting, not Jug Bogdan. 195 anecdote: in �hich a painting is immediately good if it sho�s a revolution �ith red, �hite, blac�� banners, or a �oman in a tavern, His “painting modernity” is at the behavioral level close to a a �oman outside a tavern, a decadent man, etc., and �here a strong subject, that is, to �icasso and �atisse enjoying them� painting style is found to be Michelangelo�like in a �unich�Vien� selves and being as one �ith the painting as the horizon of mod� na Secessionist �ay: one needs to employ a considerable amount ern human e�istence. At the formal level, painting is realized of effort if they �ant to remain a pure painter. 192 around the ideals of the �arisian school, the post�Fauvist e�pres� Later on, the illness and the province led him to great suc� sion. Dobrović, perhaps most clearly, described this dimension cesses and failures: from Srem landscapes (A Drying Build� of the “modern master” in his autobiographical lines: �y life is simple. It �ent by in painting. When they disturbed me ing near Šid, 1933) to the Women from Šid series (1935�38). in my �or�� during the World War, I led the rebel troops against Šumanović’s �or�� e�hibits a fatal and dramatic gap of a great the monarchy; true, I �as arrested, sentenced to death, but it �as artist of �odernism bet�een the dominant international style not me �ho perished, it �as the monarchy. In the summer of 1921, of �odernism he found in �aris and the struggle for local sur� I had the honor of being the �resident of the Republic and of half vival and creation in Šid at the border bet�een Croatian and a million people, and still Hungarian troops banished me. I �as Serbian society, culture and, ��nally, art, a gap bet�een paint� an art school professor in Belgrade; I banished myself from there a��er a fe� years. So, today, I am painting and I �ill that, by the ing rationality and painting entropy in a mental illness. time I die, I �ill have painted entire Yugoslavia along �ith all of its people. That is all I can say about my life. Today I am 47, I have a �ife and a son and I spend my days quite satis��ed. The case of Petar Dobrović: great canonic Modernism �y group e�hibitions: Budapest, 1917; �aris, 1919; Belgrade, 1920, (Serbian edition, p.116) 1921, 1924, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1936; �rague, 1924, 1932; �aris, Sa� �etar Dobrović 193 (�ečuj, 1890 – Belgrade, 1942) too�� over lon de l’Escalier, 1927; Zagreb, 1921, 1926, 1929, 1934; The Hague, and lived a role of an important “modernist master” �ho Rotterdam and Amsterdam, 1931;… in every ne� or traditional technique or thematic demand By the �ay, I have had numerous e�hibitions, all over Europe; my e�hibits an authentic ability to pictorially place works in the paintings are scattered all over the place. world. Dobrović conducted proto�cubist dra�ings �ith male I paint and I dra�, using every technique. I do not ma��e carica� and female nudes during his stay in �aris 1912�1913. These are tures, or illustrations. I paint everything, both landscapes, and proto�cubist geometrical transformations of a human ��gure, people, nudes and compositions. 196 close to procedures performed by Hungarian pro�Avant�garde artists close to Lajoš �aša��, such as Lajos Tihanyi, Róbert This is a life of an artist devoted to painting, revealing Berény, József �emes Lampérth and �ároly �ernsto��. 194 By himself through painting in his authenticity, importance and the end of World War I, in the conte�t of a crisis of Hungarian dominant role in culture. Devotion to painting is, actually, an culture, the e�tremely e�pressionist, politically toned �or��s action directed to�ards the discovery and overcoming “paint� Self�portrait as a Worker (1913), Bohemians or A Portrait of ing itself ” in all its uniqueness and authenticity, ma��ing it an Actor (1917) and The Execution in Šabac (1919) �ere made. different from other arts. On the other hand, his standpoint on A��er the fall of the Baranja Republic, during the creation of painting as an art of color is referred to nature and arises from the �ingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, he entered the nature. 197 arena of political�art struggle, �here he confronted �eštrović’s �iroslav �rleža �rote one of the most important discus� Secessionist concept of “racial style” and the gro�ing con� sions on Dobrović’s �or�� as a painter. 198 This discussion �as cept of “integrative Yugoslavity” in the name of autonomous �ritten a��er his e�hibition organized to mar�� the Spring modernity: Salon ��� in Zagreb, 1920. Dobrović sho�ed 36 paintings at I am giving a serious �arning to our artists, that the goal of art is nature, and that form is the sculpture’s language, and color is the painter’s. �ot anecdotes, not history, but nature. Variations, 195 Petar Dobrović, ”Povodom izložbe jugoslovenskih umetnika u Parizu 1919. g.“, Dan, Year I, No. 3, Novi Sad – Belgrade, 1919, pp. 41–44. 196 Petar Dobrović, ”Autobiografski zapis“ (1937), in the Petar Dobrović Gallery catalogue, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1989, pp. 3. 192 Sava Šumanović, ”Slikar o slikarstvu“, Književnik, No. 1, Zagreb, 1924, pp. 20–24. 197 Petar Dobrović, ”Povodom izložbe jugoslovenskih umetnika u Parizu 1919. g.“, Dan, 193 Žana Gvozdenović (ed.), Galerija Petra Dobrovića, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, Year I, No. 3, Novi Sad – Belgrade, 1919, pp. 41–44. 1989; and Simona Čupić, Jovana Barić-Jeremić, Maja Landratoške, Petar Dobrović 198 Miroslav Krleža, ”Marginalije uz slike Petra Dobrovića“, Savremenik Vol. 4, Zagreb, (1890–1942), Prosveta, Belgrade, 2003. 1921, pp. 193-202. 194 According to Đerđ Varkonji: ”Petar Dobrović u mađarskoj likovnoj umetnosti“, in: Ješa 199 IX izložba Proljetnog salona, Art Pavilion, Zagreb, 1920. See: Ivanka Reberski, Denegri, ”Primeri istorijskog modernizma“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralno- ”Umjetnička orijentacija prema novoj realnosti“, from: Realizmi dvadesetih godina evropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni – magično, klasično objektivno u Hrvatskom slikarstvu, Institute for the History of Art, granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 16. Zagreb, 1997, pp. 31-32. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 45  the e�hibition and developed the concept of high modernist guistically and conceptually pure cubist collage, �hich indicates e�pression. �rleža interpreted his opus of the time by indicat� that he �as a�are of the ideas of the analytical stage of this move� ment, regardless of the signi��cant temporal retardation. All of ing Dobrović’s central�European position, and his monumental this indicates that Radović had highly developed receptive s��ills, and rational painting procedure in shaping a ne� constructive along �ith the ability to reformulate adopted e�periences on his modern age plasticity and objectivity. o�n. He �as a�are that it is the recent artistic ideas, and not ��no�ledge of technique that are important for an artist’s spiritual and intellectual shaping. Curiosity, open�mindedness, nomadic The case of Ivan Radović: a significant breakthrough in �andering through the diversity of e�pressive languages and subject matters, �hich �ill be the feature of Radović’s entire opus, the situations of great Modernism (Serbian edition, p.119) all found their ��rst realizations in the turmoil of his early years as an artist, during the ��rst half of the 1920s. 200 Ivan Radović (Vršac, 1894 – Belgrade, 1973) lived in Budapest and �as educated there; he participated in the �or�� of the A��er radical e�perimental �or��s on the nature of a paint� �agybanya colony (1918), visited �rague, Vienna, �unich and ing �ith the direction to�ards Abstraction, Radović �ent bac�� �aris in 1921. He lived in Sombor, and then in Belgrade, for the to neo�Classicism (Three Graces or Three light nudes, 1923) and remainder of his life. He �as a part of the Yugoslav tennis team he blended into an endless “ahystorical” ��eld of Intimism: The in the Davis Cup. In the early period of his painting �or��, he Fisherman (1922), The Peasant (1928) or A Village in Vojvo� �ent through the characteristic stages of modernist painting, dina (1939). What is characteristic of Radović is the absence from Impressionism and E�pressionism to Cubism. He is one of a development as a painter, and the presence of a dispersive of the painters from Vojvodina �ho had a series of e�periences and eclectic practice of “trying himself out” through different �ith the atmosphere of the Hungarian activist Avant�garde in forms of e�pression: Cubism, proto�Abstraction, E�pression� Budapest, bet�een 1915 and 1919, and �ith the in��uences of ism, Intimism. He developed Intimism and, later on, moderate the �erman painting group Der Blau Richter (The Blue Rider), �odernism through sub�genre variations: of the movement, and ��nally, �ith the late �arisian Cubism, Orphism and post� the nudes, the interior and the scenes from Vojvodina. In a cubist neo�Classicism of the early 1920s. His early painting �ay, he created a paradigmatic image of the Vojvodinian genre �or�� and development of the painting �or�� are under the painting as a speci��c provincial Intimism, from the late 1920s in��uence of the Hungarian E�pressionism and Activism: from to the late years of his life a��er World War II. Compositions (1919), over City (1921) to Self�portrait (from 1922, 1925). On the other hand – a truly radical e�cess too�� place �ith the cubist and proto�abstract �or��s based on the re� The case of Milan Konjović: horizons and contexts of duction of illusionism of the third dimension onto the pictorial great Modernism (Serbian edition, p.121) static or dynamic, collage composition of lines and surfaces: Compositions from 1921, 1923, 1924. T�o �or��s especially �ilan �onjović (Sombor, 1898–1993) developed, in a very stand out: Abstract landscape from 1921 and the analytical� determined and sophisticated manner, a contradictory blend synthetic collage Abstract composition II – collage from 1924. of a provincial and �orld�class modern artist. His �or�� �as According to Ješa Denegri: directed to�ards the establishment of correspondence of the During these stages, the duration of �hich, and especially the local uniqueness, o��en at the provincial image of that subject in��uences on the artist’s shaping, is difficult to determine, �hat matter, and to�ards the universality and the high Aestheticism is created is one of the most radical comprehensions of plastic of the modernist “e�pressive” statement. This contradiction language during the short, but very e�citing period of cubist of �onjović’s reception and cover of e�pressionist and fauvist reception and the ��rst assimilations of e�periences of Abstrac� tion in Serbian art until the mid 1920s. As �as the case �ith painting �odernism is so apparent that it can be seen even in other Budapest students, rather than the lessons taught in school, the early critical revie�s of his �or��, for instance in �ašanin’s a greater in��uence on Radović’s forming �as the cultural and revie� Milan Konjović: artistic climate of the Hungarian capital: numerous e�hibitions of Just li��e in his customs, �onjović’s artistic �or�� is Western the contemporary European art, from the domestic art there �ere European in concept. He is a citizen and a liberal, he paints Osmorica group, �assá��’s Activists and their magazines A Tett liberally and in a civic manner, for citizens and liberals, mainly and Ma. There �as also the peer friendship �ith Dobrović and landscapes, ��o�ers and interiors. He has a native blood in him� �onjović, at the time �hen they shared similar interests. Radović self, he ��no�s �hat a home is, �hat is his room, a beloved face, a is the only one in this group �ho comes close to the �andins��y� landscape he remembers from his childhood, ��o�ers he sent or li��e Abstraction, that is, to the abstract landscape of Franz �artz, hence the presumption that he �as familiar �ith the atmosphere 200 Ješa Denegri, ”Primeri istorijskog modernizma“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Central- set forth by the Blue Rider Almanac. Radović is the ma��er of a lin� noevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni granica, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 17. 4 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina  �as sent to someone. He paints individually, �hat he loves, as is rare occasions, high modernities became also the horizon of for himself and in himself, �ithout any tendency or a programe, �onjović’s painting opus. solely for his o�n happiness and for those he aims to share hap� piness �ith, and in the process he moves outside his o�n persona and its belonging to one nation or one area, and paints li��e a European citizen for a citizens’ Europe. (…) The case of �rpád G. Balázs: critical and problem borders of high Modernism (Serbian edition, p.124) �ilan �onjović’s culture is French, �arisian, but he does not surrender to it, he uses it: his personality is autochthonic, gro�n out of itself, preserved, strong enough and proud to lo�er itself Árpád �. Balázs 203 (Felsőtő��és, 1887. – Szeged, 1981) �ent to by imitating any other artist. �erhaps he �ould paint differently the Teacher’s School in Baya and �is��unfélegyháza. He studied had he not lived and did not live in �aris, but in that case, his at Országos �agyar �irályi �épzőművészeti Főis��ola (�a� painting vision �ould remain personal, regardless: out of all the tional Royal Hungarian Faculty for the Art of �ainting) during artists �ho �ent through �aris, French in��uence is least visible on 1913 and 1914. He transferred to Akademia vytvarnych umeni �onjović – he has his o�n visual fantasy and his o�n structure. 201 (Art Academy) in �rague in 1920. He �ent through a Sym� Three paintings of still life represent his radical �or��s, bolic, Secessionist and E�pressionist art climate and through close to Cubism: Cubist still�life, Grey still�life and Still�life, all training in the arts of painting and graphics. He spent time in from 1922. �onjović himself tal��ed about a clash �ith Cub� �agybanya on several occasions, bet�een 1913 and 1942. He ism and the search for a different, more e�pressive painting collaborated �ith an e��Dadaist Zoltán Csu��a on boo�� and e�pression. Denegri interprets his interest for Cubism in the catalogue designs. 204 He lived in Romania bet�een 1942 and follo�ing lines: 1947, then in Szeged until 1957, �hen he returned to Yugosla� The �ay and the manner of the creation of these paintings is quite via. During World War II, he actively e�hibited in the �ar and e�traordinary: �onjović �as enticed to create them upon receiv� totalitarian Hungarian society. He also produced graphics and ing a monograph on �icasso by �aurice Raynal in Vienna in illustrations. He �as in touch �ith Lajos �assá�� in 1918, and 1922, the paintings being done upon his return to Sombor in Au� gust, the same year. Ho�ever, these paintings are much more than he �as also familiar �ith the �or��s of a Hungarian magazine merely a consequence of a chance anecdote. It could be assumed Ma, Yugoslav magazine Zenit, and he ��ne� the �erman prac� that these paintings o�e their creation to �onjović’s cultural ho� tice of new objectivity, Czech Avant�garde group Devetsil and rizon and artistic e�perience of his education in �rague (�here he Croatian socially oriented painters’ group Zemlja. He �or��ed started studying at the Academy in 1919, and bet�een �ovember in Belgrade from 1927. �avle Bihalji mar��ed his �or�� a begin� 1920 and February 1921, too�� private lessons �ith Jan Zrzavi). ning of new Realism. 205 He �as a member of the Oblik group It should be ��ept in mind that �rague is, a��er �aris, a leading European center of Cubism, or in more precise terms, �rague is since 1930. An eclectic and contradictory clash of rhetorically the ��rst center of a speci��c central�European Cubism�E�pression� overstated e�pressionist statement too�� place in Balázs’s �or�� ism, as one of the equal versions of different comprehensions of (Pieta, 1923), �ith critical social themes, but also �ith religious Cubism, hence different Cubisms, �ith Bohumil �ubišta, Antonin symblolism and, occasionally, allegory. Balázs’s painting and �rochaz��a, Vincenc Beneš, Emil Filla, Josef Čape��, Vaclav Špala graphics �or�� is, therefore, a true e�ample of central�Euro� as its the leading representatives. With his �rague education, trips pean E�pressionist evolution in the search for the visibility to �unich, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, and then �ith a longer stay in �aris, �ith a strong cultural basis and self�a�areness of his of sublime and pathetic invisible e�istence. Signi��cant late o�n roots, �onjović formed himself based on the central�Euro� and social�critical �or�� represents a catalog of lithographies pean educational in��uences directly or indirectly adopted from – song illustrations – for Endre�Ady Album (Sea Burial, Near modern �arisian painting e�periences. 202 the Graveyard, On the Shore of Dark Waters, Horses of Death, A Crazy Deadly Night, Eternal Procession of Death, At the Also, neo�classical nudes, li��e Female nude from 1926, Moment of Death, Tired we cheer each other) from 1929 and represent e�ceptions to his �or��. The establishment of a char� 1930. �arallels to this catalog of graphics can be found in the acteristic post�fauvist and e�pressionist statement, mainly in paintings Pieta (1923) or A Worker’s Family (1928), and in the landscapes, is realized in paintings such as Vineyards in France aquarelles Death on Railway Tracks and I am going out. �roba� (1929), but also in nudes, such as A Model in a Studio (1932) or Professor Dida (1934). Horizon of the Parisian school and its establishment as a canonic measure for moderate, and in 203 Bela Duranci (ed.), Arpad Balaž – slike, grafike, crteži 1920–1970, Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 1970; and Anna Baranyi (ed.), Balázs G. Árpád (1887–1981), City Museum, Subotica, 1987. 204 Arpad Balaž, Zoltan Čuka, Vojvođanska galerija / Vajdasági galéria, Minerva, Subotica, 201 Milan Kašanin, ”Milan Konjović“, Srpski književni glasnik, XXXVII, Belgrade, 1932, pp. ���. 1927; and Zoltán Csuka (ed), Kéve: vajdasági költók antológiája, Kepes Vasárnap, Novi 202 Ješa Denegri, ”Primeri istorijskog modernizma“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Central- Sad, 1928. noevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni 205 Pavle Bihalji, ”Povodom slikarske izložbe A. G. Balaža“, Nova literatura, Year II, No. 1, granica, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 17–18. Belgrade, 1930, pp. 29. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 47  bly one of the important images of e�pressing contradictions of eroticism. She �as born in 1894 in Banat. She gre� up in a urban modern bourgeoisie society is Balázs’s painting Belgrade Vojvodina bourgeoisie, merchant family. She graduated from Allegory (1937), in �hich he sho�s, �ith precise iconography the Serbian Female College and the National Civic Female School (the relationship of chruch to�ers and the construction site), a in �ančevo in 1909. A��er a three�year con��ict �ith her parents, typical bourgeoisie idea of the synthesis of the ne� and old: the she started studying at the Art and Trade School in Belgrade in modern and the traditional. 1912. She studied under Đorđe Jovanović, a sculptor, and paint� Whereas the modern art at the turn of the 20th century �as, ers �ar��o �urat and �ilan �ilovanović. She studied painting under the in��uence of central�European painting nationalisms, at Országos �agyar �irályi �épzőművészeti Főis��ola (�ational an instrument of performance and even of the establishment Royal Hungarian Faculty for the Art of �ainting) bet�een 1915 of the Serbian national identity in the “Diaspora”, the �odern� and 1919. During her fourth year of study, she �ent bac�� to Bel� ism of the 1920s and 1930s �as performed �ithin a comple� grade and transferred to the Arts and Crafts School �ith �rofes� national state, as a gesture �ithin the determined class horizon sor Ljuba Ivanović, for her ��nal year. She taught art education in that needed an identi��cation in the autonomy of the interna� the Second Female Grammar School “Queen Marija” in Belgrade tional modernist art. The art of the high Aestheticism assumes bet�een 1921 and 1944. She spent time in �aris during 1925 a position in the center of the struggle of a higher middle class and 1926. She lived alone. She �as a member of SA�U (Ser� for the political hegemony in a modernist society. 206 Art, as a bian Academy for Art and Science). She died a��er brain tumor social and cultural institution, is described as a speci��c, osten� surgery on 25th �ay 1962. sibly autonomous area of class identi��cation, and instrument Some of the paintings of Zora �etrović are e�amples of of a political struggle for po�er and organization of social rela� a formal�e�pressive modernist evolution of the female nude tions. Such art is given as one of the social and constitutional (Standing Nude of a Gypsy Woman, 1936, or A model in a stu� mechanisms �ithin the derivation of ideology, �hich means, as dio, 1954), �hereas some of the paintings represent undeniable a mechanism of the ostensible self�visualization of reality for a ecstatic presentations of self�erotic or erotic visualization of a speci��c society in history and its leading classes. Authors such “se�ual urge” (Desire, 1933) or presentations of “sole feminin� as Šumanović, Dobrović, Radović or �onjović are painters �ho ity” (Pregnant woman, 1938; Holiday, 1954), that is, ecstatic transpose the modernist internationalism – hegemony – of compositions of the relations of �omen’s bodies (Two floating the French art into an authentic human drama (Šumanović), nudes, 1958; A game, 1958; Two women during a game, 1959) a role of a great master (Dobrović) and an author �ho offers or confrontations �ith female eroticism in an enclosed world of a universal reference point to the regional “discourse” (early women (Gypsy woman in yellow stockings, 1935; Gypsy women, �onjović), and into a painter �ho brings the universal “dis� 1936, or A ripe plum, 1957). Zora �etrović comes from a patri� course” of �odernism to local themes and modes of presenta� archal national bourgeoisie and, later on, puritan real�socialist tion (late �onjović). Unli��e them, Árpád �. Balázs remains an culture. It is as if her paintings, parado�ically, e�press a picto� e�ample of an e�tremely speci��c painting individuality �ithin rial affectation of a man’s loo�� given to an e�otic and avail� the frame�or�� of central�European evolutions of Symbol� able/close Romany body of a model. A thesis could be deduced ism, Secession and E�pressionism to�ards the ne� objectivity from this painting, and from some other paintings, that the and socialist Realism. Only a��er World War II �ill he enter derivation of gender never goes on its o�n, that it is connected the frame�or�� of Intimism, and consequently, moderate �ith the policies of representing other identities. For instance, �odernism. early nude Gypsy woman in yellow stockings is clearly empha� sized as homoerotic, that is, lesbian, coded sign of an e�otic and eroticized body meant for the vie�ing pleasure, and the The case of Zora Petrović: obsessions and gender potential promising touch. As if it is e�pected that the painter representations in great Modernism (Serbian edition, p.128) herself approaches the desired body. For instance, the icono� graphic solution of the eroticized ��gure in this painting can be The painter Zora �etrović 207 developed, bet�een the 1930s and compared �ith the composition of the homoerotic sculptural the early 1960s, an e�pressionist ��gurative painting. She devoted ��gure of David by Donatello (around 1425�1430). They have in herself to the genre of female nude �ith emphasized focus on common the seductive and lively position of the enticing na��ed the presentation of the sole female and e�otic (the other, gypsy) body, �ith minimum details of clothing (boots, hats, stoc��� ings) that emphasize eroticisms. Or, the three ��gures in the painting Gypsy women suggest the atmosphere of the meeting 206 Terry Eagleton, The Ideology of the Aesthetic, Blackwell, Oxford, 1990, pp. 3 �ith the other �ho is there and �ho is postponed (différance), 207 Dragoslav Đorđević, Zora Petrović, Prosveta, Belgrade, undated; Olivera Janković that, it is possible to “have it �ith a loo��” although it can never (ed.), Zora Petrović – Umetnost kao život, SANU, Belgrade, 1995. 4 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina be e�perienced and se�ually o�ned as a body. This painting is and art shortly a��er World War I, and also a name for the also an e�plicit presentation of structuring the ethnic�gender� appearances of new objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) in �erman class phantasm and relations in the Serbian society. Because, painting and ne� Classicisms in Italian painting a��er World Romany �omen belong to the position �hich is occupied in the War I. It dra�s attention to the social situation of strengthened French or �erman or English painting by the body of a blac�� French bourgeoisie nationalism and to the potential art re�es� �oman, a �oman form Algiers/�orocco, in other �ords, the tablishment of traditional cultural�artistic and historical iden� racial other. The other, e�otic body, is the body to�ards �hich tities. A��er the e�pressionist and cubist painting “revolution”, desire is directed. As opposed to these earlier paintings, nudes at the beginning of the 20th century Cubism started spreading from the 1950s have a modernist from, �hich from the iconic to�ards purism ans moderate Cubism of the Lhote 209 type. In sign of representing speci��c and particularly that female body, this �ay, neoclassical concept, procedures, form and composi� moves on to the universal inde� sign emphasizing annulled tion solutions joined to the cubist e�periment. The return to individuality �hich is the instrument of its o�n universality the tradition of a good, beautiful painting led from the purists, – self�identi��cation through the universal �oman. A ��gure of a across Lhote to Cézanne, the early Renoire and �oussin, as nude �ypsy �oman Miss (1957) is painted in a convulsion: dis� stable traditional role models of creating a painting and the art torted form of the old deformed but still desired female body, of painting (scene compositions, ��gurative compositions, ratio� �hich is both impossible and attractive. It is as if the atmo� nal approach to the creation of a �or��). The return to order is sphere/aura of the abject, �hich is characteristic of a prepared an attempt of the rene�al of traditional painting issues (subject �oman’s role in a masculine society, is being anticipated. It is matter, form, composition models, color, rationalization of pre� true – a �oman is the one �ho can desire – but every one of sentation and e�pression) by reshaping means of modernist art her longings is turned into a “convulsion of pain and defeat”. It innovation (Cubism, Futurism, E�pressionism, Fauvism, mass is possible to dra� a comparison bet�een the deformed ��gure culture). The return to order indicated an interest of Avant� of a �oman in the painting of Zora �etrović, �hich is bro��en garde artists for critical�narrative potentials of painting and a do�n by its o�n, al�ays and in every moment, impossible turn to�ards painting as a �eapon of social ��ght in Weimar desire, and the anxious women (Virginia Woolf, Lora Bro�n, �ermany. 210 The long history of the resistance to anti�paint� Clarissa Vaughan) in Steven Daldry’s ��lm The Hours (2002). ing Avant�garde in Italy �as connected �ith the development Heroes of this ��lm are three very different �omen: Virginia of the “neoclassical” and “metaphysical” (Pittura metafisica, Woolf (played by �icole �idman) is a famous �riter �ho ends Realismo Magico, Neoquattrocentismo) idealisms �ithin the her life in depression and suicide, Lora Bro�n is an unhappy e�perience of modernity, but also �ithin the right��ing/fas� homema��er, �ho runs a�ay from her failed, petty bourgeoisie cist structure of the Italian society, culture and art during the marriage, and Clarissa Vaughan, �ho is a successful editor 1920s and 1930s. 211 For that reason, the return to order is a in a publishing house, living in a lesbian marriage. All three neo appearance, and not a reconstruction, return or a great characters are tragic ��gures of anxious women. In the case of renewal of the painting tradition. Jean Cocteau in his essay The the dramatic, deconstructionist painting of Zora �etrović, the Rooster and the Harlequin and his boo�� Rappel à l’ordre spo��e observer is faced �ith yet another censored spot �ithin the of a beautiful and authentic art (music, theater, painting, ��lm) Serbian modernist culture – �ith se�uality and the emotion of and, in doing so, �ent bac�� to the pre�Avant�garde concept of a desire, suffering and sublimity of an old �oman. 208 art for the enjoyment and art for the senses. The in��uence of the return to order is also visible in the Yugoslav (Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian and Vojvodinian) culture of the 1920s. Return to order: fascination with the concept and the In Vojvodina, the follo�ing artists created in a post�cub� ideology of order (Serbian edition, p.131) ist or post�e�pressionist procedure: Sava Šumanović, Ivan Radović, �ilan �onjović, �laden Josić, Vasa �omorišac, Ár� The international character of the return to order (rappel à pád �. Balázs, �iloš Babić, Ivan Taba��ović and others. l’ordre), �hich is seen during the 1920s and 1930s as the “crisis Sava Šumanović published program essays “Slikar o of �odernism” and, consequently, the return to order, is also slikarstvu” 212 (“A painter on painting”) and “Zašto volim present �ithin the given modernist frame�or��. The return to order is, strictly spea��ing, a name for retro or neo�classical 209 André Lhote, O pejzažu, Mladost, Zagreb, 1956. appearances and individual art practices in French culture 210 S. Michalski, ”New Objectivity – Painting, Graphic Art and Photography“, in: Weimar Germany 1919–1933, Taschen, Köln, 2003. 211 Elizabeth Cowling, Jennifer Mundy, On Classic Ground: Picasso, Léger, de Chirico and 208 Miško Šuvaković, ”Iskliznuća unutar ženskog slikarstva: Alis Nil i Zora Petrović“, from: the New Classicism 1910–1930, Tate Gallery, London, 1990; Germano Celant, Italian Art Studije slučaja – Diskurzivna analiza izvođenja identiteta u umetničkim praksama, Mali 1900–1945, Rizzoli, New York, 1989. Nemo, Pančevo, 2006, pp. 95–100. 212 Sava Šumanović, ”Slikar o slikarstvu“, Književnik, No. 1, Zagreb, 1924, pp. 20–24. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 4  Poussinovo slikarstvo” 213 (“Why I love Poussin’s painting”), and tion, he earned money by painting commissioned portraits. He the te�ts of the Croatian promoter of ne� appearances in art became a professor at the Art Academy in Belgrade in 1942. He are also in��uential. Antun Bran��o Šimić also published articles e�hibited at great Serbian art e�hibitions in the Art �avilion in in “Konstruktivno slikarstvo” 214 (“Constructive painting”) in Belgrade in 1942 and 1944. By the decision of the Banat �ili� 1921, and “Slikarstvo i geometrija” 215 (“Painting and geometry”) tary Command Center he �or��ed in the Zrenjanin museum in 1926. A. B. Šimić theoretically determined the frame�or�� from 23rd January 1945 until 1950, �hen he �as elected an As� of the neoclassical constructive post�cubist painting as the sociate �rofessor at the Applied Arts Faculty. He �or��ed on the rejection of modernist ideas of progress and improving devel� preservation of cultural goods in Zrenjanin in 1945. He made opment of abstract forms by turning to the constants, to the ten stained glass �indo�s �ith the national ��ght for liberation positive and constructive values of tradition and traditional as the subject matter, for the City Hall building in 1947. He presentation. Šumanović made his ��rst painting �or��s in a also made stained glass �indo�s in the “�etropol” Hotel in manner close to the French puritist post�cubist �eoclassicism Belgrade in 1958. (Two nudes from 1922, A Sailor on a Pier from 1921�22, or �etar Dobrović had a t�ofold comprehension of the ideas Three Women on a Lake Shore from 1923), as did Ivan Radović of “�eoclassicism”: literally as passing through the traditional (Three graces, 1923) and �ilan �onjović (Female nude, 1926) Western modules of representation (Venus, 1920?) or quite and �laden Josić (Female nude, 1923) and others. conditionally, in a modernist manner, as a development of an The painting �or�� of Vasa �omorišac 216 (�odoš [Jaša individual modernized bourgeoisie 218 Realism (The portrait Tomić], 1893 – Belgrade, 1961) is an e�ample of a neoclassical of a girl Marcela, 1927). Árpád �. Balázs (Pieta from 1923, anti� or postmodernist neoclassical painting. He studied paint� and A worker’s family from 1928) developed an e�pressionist ing �ith Stevan Al��esić in 1911. He made paintings and icons Christian�Catholic and socially oriented painting e�pression for the churches in �rogar, �rad (Romania) and Srps��i Sv. of a strong rhetorical pictorial and graphic dramaturgy. He �etar (Romania) in 1911. He started studying at the Academy engaged an e�pressionistic statement in a religious and politi� of painting in 1913. He �as dra��ed by the Austro�Hungar� cal subject matter. ian authorities and sent to the Russian front, �here he soon The return to order, as an international “set of appearances” surrendered. He too�� part in the ��ghting on the Russian side, mar��ed the stabilization of the canon of modern painting, �hen he �as injured in 1916. He started studying painting at and, consequently, enabled the development of the 19th century the Academy of Art and Trade in Zagreb �ith �rofessors Ljuba bourgeoisie Realism (for instance Henri�� Emil Aczél Portrait of Babić and Ferdo �ovačević in 1919. He soon transferred to the two boys, 1905) into its high�modernist or e�plicitly�modern� Arts and Cra��s School in Belgrade. He lived in London from ist forms (Dobrović, Doge’s Court in Dubrovnik from 1934�35; 1920, �here he �or��ed on his paintings St. John, Virgin Mary’s Taba��ović; �onjović, Sombor – A View of the Wheat Fields, cries, Card players and others, during 1923. He �as specialized 1938; Šumanović, A Bathing Woman, 1929 or A Concert in in glass painting at the London Central School of Arts and a Field, 1925; �ilen��o Šerban Four friends, 1938�39), into Cra��s. He lived in Belgrade bet�een 1925 and 1935. He had a its moderately modernist and intimacy appearances (Ivan solo e�hibition, �ith �. �olubović and �. �etrović in �ovi Radović Noon from 1939, �ilan �onjović A model in a Studio Sad in 1926. He also e�hibited his �or�� at Exposition des Arts from 1932, �ilen��o Šerban A Boy from 1931, Ivan Taba��ović Décoratifs in �aris in 1925. He is one of the founders of the Tools from 1924 or A Blue Tavern from 1937, Ale��sandar Zograf group (around 1927 – 1939) in Belgrade. Zograf group �umrić, Radovan �otočnja��, Ivana �otočnja�� Portrait of Dr. �as a right��ing, national group, of �hich the members fought Mihovil Tomandol from 1940, Franja Radočaj, Lu��ács �yelmis, against the in��uence of international art and advocated for the István �agy, Árpád �. Balázs Novi Sad from 1937, Bogdan preservation of the national art and its Byzantine in��uences. 217 Šuput The Park in Kamenica from 1939 or A Self�portrait from During that period, he painted St. Antony’s Temptations, Leda 1939, �ilan Butozan Still�life from 1934, �ilivoj �i��olajević; and the Swan, Self�portrait. During the ��rst period of occupa� Svetislav Vu��ović /1901�1980/ Grandfather and grandson, 1926 etc.), into an une�pected bourgeoisie e�otics (�ihály �ara� �rón, Lithography I�IV from 1928). Bourgeoisie Realism �as 213 Sava Šumanović, ”Zašto volim Poussinovo slikarstvo“, Književnik, No. 2, Zagreb, 1924, reshaped into a modernist�formal pictorial e�pression �ith pp. 57–59. 214 Antun Branko Šimić, ”Konstruktivno slikarstvo I“, Savremenik, Vol. XVI, No. 3, Zagreb, �hich pictorial or visual autonomous qualities of a �or�� �ere 1921, pp. 184–185. emphasized. A realist reference for a painting or graphics, in 215 Antun Branko Šimić, ”Slikarstvo i geometrija“, Književnik, No. 2, Zagreb, 1926, pp. 65–66. 216 Ljiljana Stojanović (ed.), Vasa Pomorišac 1893–1961. / Retrospektivna izložba 1907–1961, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1986. 218 Jelena Stojanović (ed.), Građanski realizam Petra Dobrovića, Museum of Modern Art, 217 Belgrade Archives, Memoarska građa – O društvu likovnih umetnika Zograf, K-XIV/8. Blegrade, 2005. 50 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina other �ords, served merely as an e�ternal cause for the paint� abstract painting to e�press the very “thing” that occurs under ing re��ection or an e�perience of the seen, the imagined or the the surface of modern life – do�n there in the depths of the presumed. In this te�t, I realized the bourgeoisie Realism as: fast movement of a machine or a metropolis. -฀A high or e�plicit modernist e�pression in �hich the Babić’s religious�political allegorical�pictorial paintings mastery or the autonomous painting e�perimental character of (Anti�Christ at work and Endless labour, around 1930) respond a modernist artist is ta��en to the apparent sensual appearance to the European urban mysticism and the comprehension of of a beautiful, e�pressive or sublime image; the manifold character of a modern and mechanized hu� -฀�oderate �odernism �ill include all �or��s that strived man e�istence of the day. These paintings are unique cases of a��er the modernist e�pression as a stable and canonic model such presentable character of dynamics and movement in the for the reproduction of the current bourgeoisie reality and its Yugoslav painting of the time. It is possible to dra� a refer� aesthetics; ence to the late �erman E�pressionism in their fascinations -฀Intimism 219, as a version of moderate �odernism, �ill in� �ith the city dynamics and to the Italian Futurism (Fortunato clude all �or��s �hich ideologically focused on a small theme or Depero, 1892�1960; Enrico �rampolini, 1894�1956; Alfredo a detail from everyday life, bearing in mind that �e are dealing Ambrosi, 1910�1945) from the fascist age in their fascinations �ith an e�plicit attitude of the “middle class” that identi��es itself �ith the absorbing height and speed of the aircra��. This type �ith reference to a small, secure, problem�free and stable reality. of abstraction is not an “e�pression” of the aspiration for the Bourgeoisie and social Realism are, in fact, t�o functional autonomy of the bourgeoisie painting or the revelation of the – but opposing – lines �ithin �odernism bet�een �orld �ars. essential e�pression of great modernist masters, but an e�pres� Social Realism �as, accordingly, derived as a critical practice in sion of living in the ecstatic crisis of modernity. We are dealing �hich artistic and aesthetic demands on the painter or a graphic �ith the atmosphere of society in �hich the brea��do�n of artist �ere subordinate to the political�le����ing and critical liberalism, e�pansion of Bolshevism, and the imperial aggres� discourse. The follo�ing artists �or��ed �ithin the frame�or�� sion of fascism and �azism �ill be confronted; Babić’s �or��, of social art: Ivan Taba��ović (Genius from 1929), Árpád �. in other �ords, seems to anticipate �ith visual means the “ne� Balázs (A lunch of the proleteriate family or Digging from 1934), �orld order” (l’ordre nouveau). It is interesting that his paint� Bogdan Šuput (Loading out, 1934), Arnold �lein �orányi (At ing greatly corresponds to the critical�political esotery of a the foundry); András Hangya 220 (Lumberjacks from 1936, or his Serbian mystical teacher Dimitrije �artinović (1887�1953) and undated early �or��s Newspaper seller and Lumberjacks), Ivan to his magazine The New Atlantis – For Western Renaissance Ja��občić (A premonition from 1938 and War from 1939), etc. & World Socialism 222 published in Britain. We are not deal� ing �ith social, political and art connections bet�een Babić and �artinović, �hich are probably non�e�istent, but �ith an The case of Miloš Babić – late Futurism or uncertain general – public – atmosphere of a dramatic crisis new science fiction (Serbian edition, p.137) of modernity and confrontations �ith it, through radical and imminent means of a modernist, and hence abstract dynamic �iloš Babić 221 (�e� Szeged, 1904 – Belgrade 1964) �ent to symbolization of the visible and the invisible. the Applied Arts School in �e� Szeged (1918�1921), and later to the “Futer” studio and to a ��gurative dra�ing course at the �olarac national university, held by �etar Dobrović, bet�een The case of Borislav Bogdanovich: fascinations with 1923 and 1930. modernity – a new world (Serbian edition, p.138) �iloš Babić developed a “post�futuristic” and “��ctional� machinist” painting procedure into a geometric, illusionist Borislav Bogdanovich (Ruma, 1889 – Scottsdale, USA, 1970) and three�dimensional representation of movement/dynamics, studied painting in Zagreb, piano in �rague, and improved his machine/airplane (Air�land maneuver and Pilots around 1930) technique in �aris. In Zagreb, he studied painting �ith Ljuba and the city (Metropolis, 1930?). Babić’s painting �as created Babić and Tomislav �rizman. He �as involved in painting as a confrontation to the demand of presenting the unpresent� and the graphic arts. He �as in��uenced by post�Impression� able, of ma��ing the dynamics of modernity (movement, ��ight, ism (A Girl with a Basket, 1936), Bonnard’s Intimism (Tonka transformation, turn) visible. He used the “iconography” of and Mrs. Bogdanović in the garden, 1937) and, certainly, by moderate E�pressionism (Self�portrait of a Nineteen year old, 219 Gorana Jančić (ed.), Slikarstvo srpskog intimističkog kruga, Memorial Collection of Pavle Beljanski, Novi Sad, 2002. 220 Hangya András, Forum, Novi Sad, 1984. 222 For instance: Dimitrije Mitrinović (ed.), The New Atlantis – For Western Renaissance & 221 Ana Baranji, Miloš Babić, City Museum, Subotica, 1984. World Socialism, vol. 1, no. 2, London, 1934. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 51  1919). He had solo e�hibitions in Zagreb in 1937 and 1938, and art from the late 1940s until his death. 226 His rare artistic participated in group e�hibitions from 1933. He collaborated public appearances too�� place at the Permanent Art e�hibition �ith members of the Dvanaestorica group during 1937�38. The (�allery 212, Belgrade 1968) and at the solo e�hibition Picasso group �as active in Belgrade, and several Belgrade and Zagreb phenomenon – Mangelos Commentary; �hat follo�ed �ere a painters and sculptors also too�� part: Stojan Aralica, Borislav fe� e�hibitions in �hich he joined the post�conceptual atmo� Bogdanovich, �ar��o Čelebonović, �i��ola �vozdenović, �osta sphere: Manifestos at the Toša Dabac �allery in Zagreb (1978), Ha��man, Hin��o Juhn, �ilan �onjović, Fran��o �ršinić, �eđa Shid – Theory (�odroom, Zagreb, 1979), Energy (Dubrava �al� �ilosavljević, �ilo �ilunović, Zora �etrović, Risto Stijović, lery, Zagreb, 1979), Retrospective (�rostor proširenih medija, Frane Šimunović i and Ivan Taba��ović. 223 Zagreb, 1981), Mangelos (Sebastijan �allery, Belgrade, 1986), With his �ife Herma Robinson, �ho �as an Austrian Mangelos (Izložbeni salon Doma J�A, Zagreb, 1986). Ho�� Je�, he le�� Yugoslavia in 1939. They le�� Europe ��eeing from ever, his real international career began a��er his death, �ith �azism. They settled in the bohemian upper �est side in numerous international e�hibitions, organized by art historian �e� Yor�� City. Their children �ere born there: �eter (1939) Bran��a Stipančić. 227 One of the basic problems of interpreting and Anna. �eter became a ��lm and TV director, and Anna a �angelo’s art�or�� is the identi��cation of philosophical, theo� producer and a popular music lyrics �riter. One of Borislav retical and artistic notions during the 1940s and 1950s. That is Bogdanovich’s obsessions �as the American ��lm, �hich had the period of individual artistic life and �or��, outside public an in��uence on his son’s interests and choice of career. 224 spaces and institutions. It is possible to tal�� about �angelos Borislav Bogdanovich’s painting had highly modernist the artist as an outcast and a stranger, and not as a marginal or intimate characteristics: still�lifes, portraits and interiors. His an alternative artist. �angelos’s outcast position is described ��rst public appearance in the USA �as at a group e�hibition by his recluseness, mysteriousness, and mysterious datings, “Role of color in modern art” in the �ierendorg �allery in 1940. re�datings and presentations of his o�n �or�� and self�inter� There, he e�hibited �ith European modernists, li��e Emil �olde, pretations of those �or��s. For instance, he �as a member of Wassily �andins��y, Franz �arc, Joan �iró and �aul �lee. the Gorgona group, although he never had a public appearance A��er�ards, he had numerous e�hibitions. He �ent through a �ith the group or from it. This means he �as an outcast in the neoclassical stage (Peter Pierrot, 1943). His painting became micro�culture to �hich he most strongly belonged, and �hich more unpolished during the 1940s and 1950s, �ith emphasized �as composed of him �ith his other associates. Furthermore, lines, more discernible form and clearer and purer colors (A Gas the duality of �angelos and �ića Bašičević, an art historian Lamp with a Japanese Shade, 1951; Masks with Sphinx, 1958). and an artist, or more drastically, a curator and an artist, He had e�hibitions in the Whitney �useum, the Chicago Art dra�s attention to thorough separation, falling out, comple� Institute and the Corcoran Biennale in Washington. He spent a telessness. What is more, �angelos is a Serb in a Croatian period of his life in Arizona, �here he painted desert landscapes culture, al�ays on a covert loo��out. Although �ića Bašičević and large�scale murals about the American Wild West mythol� �as one of the e�traordinary e�perts and theoreticians of the ogy, for instance, Bison Hunt (1970). Fascinations �ith the new medium (photography, ��lm, ��inetic art), 228 �angelos’s “native” America led him a�ay from the modernist Intimism production revolved around an unusual quasi�medium, �hich to�ards the regional monumental American painting. A��er his is neither painting, nor �riting, nor object art. His �or�� could death, numerous retrospective e�hibitions have been organized be described by a series of negative attributes: not�poetry�not� in Europe: �useum of �ational Art in Belgrade 225, �allerie prose�not�painting�not�te�t. This series of negative attributes Bernheim�Jeune in �aris, Burde��e �allery in Zurich, etc. has its outcome in early Avant�garde rebellions (for instance, Van Bor �rote “�either poetry, nor prose, but a ne� form of e�pression”, 1932), but it also has a dimension that pre�War Fascinations with death – three unrelated cases: Avant�gardes could not reach, and that is the e�istentialist Mangelos, Šuput and Aleksić (Serbian edition, p.140) nihilism that leads to a hollow being – e�istentially interpreted �angelos (Dimitrije �ića Bašičević) �as a Zagreb artist from 226 Biljana Tomić (ed.), Mangelos, Galerija Sebastijan, Beograd, 1986; Branka Stipančić Šid. Bašičević, and under the pseudonym �angelos, created (ed.), Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, Galleries of the City of Zagreb, Zagreb, 1990; Ješa Denegri, Vojin Bašičević (eds.), Mangelos – drugi o njemu, Vojin Bašičević edition, Novi Sad, 1997. 227 Branka Stipančić organized an exhibition Mangelos nos. 1 to 9½, Museum de Arte 223 Milan Kašanin, ”Izložba Dvanaestorice“, Umetnički pregled, Belgrade, 1937, pp. 2. Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, 2003; Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joan- 224 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000953/; and http://en.wikipedia. neum, Graz, 2003; Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, 2004; Kunsthalle Frideri- org/wiki/Peter_Bogdanovich. cianum, Kassel, 2004. 225 Katalog: Lj. Stojanović, F. Soretić, Borislav Bogdanović, Museum of Modern Art, 228 Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, Fotografija i umetnost, Vojin Bašičević edition, Novi Sad, Belgrade, 1975. 1996. 52 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina nothingness. Crazed �riting, 229 from tabula rasa to the mani� and death itself. He laid do�n the numbers that divide life into fest, negating �riting �ith painting and painting �ith �riting, classes in an art project called Šid manifesto: �hich is said in the term tabula rasa (empty board) itself, is a In quotations �e o��en ��nd “t�o” �ar�es, three “Van �oghs”, movement to�ards nothingness (hollow being, zero degree of “several” �icassos etc. The purpose of this is to indicate signi��cant differences bet�een the early and the late stages of authors. At� letter and image), �hich �ill later, in a more strict and formal titudes of early stages are signi��cantly different from the attitudes of sense, be interpreted as a “tautology” in the ��u�us, concep� the late ones. To the point of opposition. As if they �ere products of tual art and primary painting. Also, each of �angelos’s �or��s different people. The e�planation of this phenomenon is simple. We introduces us to the game of combinatorics of different activity are dealing �ith completely different subjects in the same person and occupation in life: manual character of the practical real� in legal terms. �aterial assumption of differentiation is a complete ization of �or��, theoretical discourse character introduced into change of cells in an organism. Cells are being substituted every seven years. If the information on phisiology I got in school in Šid the �or�� inscription, subversiveness of the levels of meaning of – is reliable, than there should be nine and a half �angeloses. conte�tuality of the discoursive fragments of a painting, ironic reversal of a�iological meaning and, an une�pectedly, but mangelos no. 1 … 1921–1928 mangelos no. 2 … 1928–1935 necessary, contemplative focus on a certain ��ne and untouch� mangelos no. 3 … 1935–1942 able matter that affectively encompasses each of �angelos’s art mangelos no. 4 … 1942–1949 pieces. �angelos’s manual character is a picture of the history mangelos no. 5 … 1949–1956 of �riting (écriture) told by means of painting procedures in mangelos no. 6 … 1956–1963 the age of machinist media. �anual �or�� is a tool of contem� mangelos no. 7 … 1963–1970 plative focus in the midst of technological alienation: mangelos no. 8 … 1970–1977 The �orld is not only changing, it has changed. mangelos no. 9 … 1977–1984 We are in a different century mangelos no. 9 1/2 1984–1987 (if the calcultation is correct) Of the second civilization. A military one. 1933, – šid – 1987, les champs du dornièr goulag 232 The civilization of manual �or�� is over Sho�n death is not death. It �as a game �ith numbers and And �ith it, all social phenomena multiplicity of subjects. But death is not . . . a toy. Death has Based on manual labour. 230 no body. “The smoothness of body” is not a feature of death. The parado� of alienation of the machinist age and the Death has no features. Death has no surface, no inner depth, manual contemplative �or�� is the central problem of �ange� no pharyn� or ingestion. As a young man, �angelos �itnessed los’s �or��. It is precisely these behavioral, intellectual, artistic �ar and its brutal drama. The �ar drama, to him, �as a hor� and critical�theoretical games �ith the “Other”, the “double” ror of emptiness, �hich he addressed in his essays “a triumph and the “hollo�” that �angelos played, but also the games that of instincts” and “a triumph of �ar”. His pictures painted on are still being performed by his �or�� in the curatorial system student’s �riting boardlets, called Tabula rasa, �ere being of constructing identities of 20th century art 231, �hich build created from the late 1940s, until his death, not as a symbol of language maps on language, maps that offer different hypoth� death, but instead of death. The phenomenology of death in art esis on the “subject” called �angelos. �angelos the artist pre� �as one of his obsessions. dicted the year of his “death” – or more accurately, the length Bogdan Šuput 233, a painter, �as born in Sisa�� in 1914, of his life. �rediction as an effect of alienated e�istential game �here he lived until 1923, �hen his family moved to �ovi Sad. �ith the sense of settling accounts. It �as an obscure cynical He studied painting at the Royal Art School in Belgrade, at the mathematicl result. But �angelos calculated that critical year teacher’s department (1932�38). He painted art graphics and �ith great precision. As if one could have faith in the math� paintings. His art graphics �ere close to the social art. He �as ematical result in the conte�t of an art practice of a �eo�Avant� a member of O��O� (youth cultural�economic movement). 234 garde e�perimental research of the ability to represent life itself He �or��ed on improving his technique in �aris – Bernheim Jeune �allery, from 13th to 24th �arch 1939. He �as a member of the Desetorica group founded in 1940; members included Ju� 229 NenaNena Dimitrijević, Dimitrijević, ”Manifesti ”Manifesti na školskoj na školskoj pločiploči Dimitrija Dimitrija Bašičevića“ Bašičevića“ (1978), (1978), from:from: Dimitrije Mića Bašičević Mangelos – Drugi o njemu, Vojin Bašičević edition, Novi Sad, rica Ribar, �i��ola �raovac, �ilivoj �i��olajević, Ljubica So��ić, 1997, pp. 17–21. B. �rujić, D. Vlajić, Ale��sa Čelebonović, Danica Antić and 230 Mangelos, ”manifest manifestah“, from: Branka Stipančić (ed.), Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, Galleries of the City of Zagreb, Zagreb, 1990, pp. 53. 231 We are refering to the discovery of Mangelos’s work after his death and to the actions of involving his opus in the international art flows. Critics Nena Dimitrijević, 232 Mangelos no. 9 – no art shid-theory (sito-štampa), Podroom, Zagreb, November 1978. Biljana Tomić i Branka Stipančić made the intitial promotion of Mangelos’s work. Branka Stipančić made an exceptional critical, theoretical and historiographic 233 Vera Jovanović, Slikar Bogdan Šuput 1914–1942, Memorial collection of Pavle Beljan- attempt to create the mythical figure of Mangelos as an artist who names and ski, Novi Sad, 1984. conceptualizes the age of late modernity. Today his works are a part of numerous 234 Živan Milisavac, OMPOK, Omladinsko kulturno-privredni pokret 1936–1938, Novi Sad, museum collections, from MOMA in New York, to Centre Pompidou in Paris. 1959. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 53  Stojan Trumić among others. He lived in �ovi Sad until 1940, �orld” and tells a story of a universal event of the big �orld, �hen he �as dra��ed by the army. Soon a��er the beginning of all the �hile emphasizing and developing a formalist model of the �ar, he �as captured and sent to a camp. He returned to presentation in a given �odernism. �ovi Sad in late 1941. He �as ��illed by the Hungarian occupa� Stevan Ale��sić 236 (Arad, 1876 – �odoš, 1923) came from tion forces during the �ovi Sad raid in January 1942. Šuput’s a painters’ family. He studied painting at a private school and art�or�� �as in connection �ith the in��uences of the intimist then at the Academy (1896) �ith �i��olaso �yzis in �unich. �odernism of the �arisian school. His melancholy motivated He returned to Arad in 1900, and later on settled in �odoš. A girls’ semi�nude (1937), the accurate postimpressionist St. He painted icons, portraits (Self�portrait, 1906), historical Michel I Boulevard (1938), the intimately toned P. M. Interior compositions and genre scenes (Merry people of Banat, 1905). (1938) or the completely conceptless A jar and a mortar (1940) The painting that made his painting thematic�genre �or�� more �ere �or��s of moderate �odernism, �hich, �ithin the lan� serious and �hich represents a late symbolic and early proto� guage of modern painting, �ere in a search for the importance e�pressive “challenge” is At a tavern table (oil on canvas, 91 � of painting itself. One of the rare “e�ceptions” �as the painting 100cm, around 1906). This �or�� �as created at that contradic� Construction of an international road (1938), close to graphics tory and dramatic clash of international patterns of creation, pieces: Construction of the Belgrade bridge (1933), Unloading developed from symbolic, Secessionist and proto�e�pression� at the Belgrade docks (1934), Maintenance of an electric post ist �unich and the ruling planerism that �as continued �ith (1934), etc. But a conceptually different �or��, �hich does not French or secondary Impressionisms. Landscape and portrait coincide �ith Šuput’s rational painting Intimism or his graphic painting �as, under the in��uence of �agybanya, loo��ing for pragmatic�liberal social engagement, is the painting Skulls (oil greater autonomy, �hich �as visible in an almost carefree on canvas, 64.1 � 94.2cm, 1939). The painting �as created as a presentation of the light in a landscape or on the face of the development of a still�life composition �ith seven s��ulls: painted model. �eutral and intimate modes of creation of I paint every day. Seemingly, it is enough. �o� I cannot complain landscapes and portraits �ere signs of modernity, �hich �as about the mess . . . Since you’ve le��, I managed to paint a very being achieved �ith great difficulty. Ale��sić’s group portrait good painting �ith 7 thousand year old s��ulls, �hich are already �ith “death“ �as, on the contrary, an e�pression of painting decomposing and some of them half “gone off” from clay. I painted it in �atica, so I �ouldn’t have to ta��e it home. They �ere gesture that offers, to the “innocence of �odernism”, “dirty found during the leveling of the airport. A richness of grey and hands” of strong e�pressions, provincial bohemia, but also ochre tones. Slightly less than Notre Dame. 235 an e�pression of cynical distance from the “intimate idyll” to�ards the horror of drun��enness, madness, fear and death. It �as not unusual to paint and dra� s��ulls in the academic What is present is the fear of death that is cynically�sublimely training for ma��ing still�lifes. Also, there has al�ays been a offered to the spectator through the “spectacle” of a festivity. great modernist “intrigue” concerning Cézanne’s still�lifes The painter made numerous paintings �ith tavern/bohe� �ith s��ulls (Still�life with a skull, 1895�1900; or the Pyramid mian/art life subject matters (The artist and the muse, 1900; A skull, 1901): are those merely an e�ercise in form or uncertain self�portrait, 1900�1901; Marry people of Banat, 1905; Self�por� addresses to death!? There are three bizarre motifs connected trait with a fez, 1910; A self�portrait, 1912; Self�portrait with a �ith Šuput’s painting: cat, 1913) and on the topic of death (Dušan Aleksić at his death 1. A chance passing by the construction site at the airport bed, 1900; Marija Aleksić at her death bed, 1907; The grim �here the s��ulls from an old graveyard �ere found; reaper, 1916), and on the topic of inter�painting relationship of 2. An almost non�chalant composition of the everyday death and an artist (Self�portrait in a tavern, 1904; At a tavern objects (a jug, a glass, a printed page etc.) �ith the deliberately, table, 1906; An innkeeper in Szeged, 1917; Self�portrait from a and unnaturally placed s��ulls; and tavern, around 1917; A self�portrait, 1918; A self�portrait, 1922). 3. The feeling of the closeness of �ar, �hich had already Ale��sić’s obsessive treatment of the topic of the encounter �ith entered the European scene in 1939. In t�o years time, Šuput death is a part of that “para�genre” of post�symbolism and himself became a victim of that �ar, �hich �as, as it turned proto�E�pressionism developed in the �orth of Europe, �hich out, imminently approaching. The painting �as carefully can be seen in Edvard �unch’s (1863�1944) Self�portrait with prepared (“A s��etch of Skulls”, 1939), and the painting itself is an arm of a skeleton (1895), Cézanne’s Portrait of a boy with compositionally and in the sense color, �ith its intimate bi� a skull (1896�98) or Self�portrait with a skeleton (1896), and zarreness, given as a premonition of the universal destruction. �ith Lovis Corinth (1858�1925). Ho�ever, a direct source 237 This is one of the rare intimate pieces that goes out of its “little 236 Jasna Jovanov (ed.), Stevan Aleksić, Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 1989. 237 Jovan Sekulić, Minhenska škola i srpsko slikarstvo, The Republic Bureau for the protec- 235 From a letter Bogdan Šuput wrote to his brother Žarko on November 21st 1939. tion of the cultural monuments, Belgrade, 2002, pictures 35a. and 35b. 54 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina is the painting of a S�iss painter Arnold Böc��lin (1827�1901) instrument” of articulation of the public and political, rather Self�portrait with death and a violin (1872), and numerous late� than of the cultural and artistic public space and opinion. 240 romantic postcards sho�ing a dramatic relationship bet�een In the territory of Sombor, it is possible to mention the a portrait and a s��eleton as a symbol of death. All three �or��s monument Calvary in Bezdan, �ith a stone cross on the (te�t�manifest and the paintings), no matter ho� different they graveyard in �ornja Varoš, the monuments at the Holy Triity are – share the effort to sho� “death”. But this is not easily Square 241 and St. �eorge Square 242, as �ell as the monu� sho�n, nor are love and life. It is only the consequences of ments to Ferenc Rá��óczi II (1676�1735) and to József Sch�eidel death, life and love that can be sho�n. Death is “nothing” and (1796�1849) from 1907. A sculptor from �est, �yula Jan��ov� ho� can “nothing” be set free from the ��gurative character of its, (1865–1932) created the monument to Ferenc Rá��óczi in presentation. Figurativeness seems unavoidable by (inscrib� 1912. The monument �as placed on a pedestal 5.88m high, in ing) death into a letter or a painting. Ho�ever, a distance from front of the building of the today’s City �useum. The monu� ��gurativeness can be reached through cynicism to�ards death ment �as removed bet�een the World Wars. The monument (Ale��sić), through triviality of the horror/fear of death (Šuput) to József Sch�eidel �as ��nanced by the donations from the or by doubling to the point of parody the difference bet�een citizens of Sombor, and �as unveiled in 1905. It �as created by the subject and the living individual (�angelos). Lajos �yörgy �átrai (1850–1906), a sculptor from Budapest. It �as removed from the entrance to Sombor �ar��, in front of the former municipality building just before World War II. A Sculpture, politics and identities (Serbian edition, p.147) memorial monument to �ing Ale��sandar �arađorđević I by Antun Augustinčić �as placed at St. �eorge Square in 1940. It The sculpture of Hungarian and Serbian artists of a small and, �as removed in 1941, only to be dismembered and sold to the occasionally, monumental format during the period before �ragujevac foundry in 1954. World War II �as created in the sign of national modernity �onuments by �arl Salzer, B. Jablons��i and �ovač, Holy and, later on, moderate �odernism. 238 During the ��rst half Trinity (1815, Bajmo�� – 1878, 1893), can be found in Subotica. of the 20th century, sculpture in Vojvodina �as subject to the A monument by �etar �alavinči (1887�1958) Emperor Jovan political and religious demands, �hen it comes to the monu� Nenad II 2�3 dates from 1927. The monument �as destroyed mental memorial sculpture in Austro�Hungary, Hungary, the �hen the Hungarian troops entered Subotica in 1941. It �as re� �ingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the �ingdom of constructed by Sava Halugin, a sculptor, in 1991. The Emperor Yugoslavia. When it comes to “small plastics”, it �as condi� Jovan Nenad monument �as one of the symbolic signs of the tioned �ith national and social interests of the rising bourgeoi� importance or the historical presence of the Serbian people and sie classes. A small number of sculptures �ere leading to�ards the Serbian, that is, Yugoslav political interests in the terri� the autonomy of the art of sculpture 239, as it �as, quite notice� tory of the �annonian plain. It is interesting that the symbol ably, ta��ing place in painting and the graphic art. of �enad’s monument is also inscribed in the graphic �or��s of �onumental sculptures – of the political and religious type “Savez So��ola” in the “Yugoslav Subotica”. The motif of the Em� – from the period of Austro�Hungary �ere mainly placed in peror Jovan Nenad monument on Sava S. Raj��ović’s postcard Sombor, Subotica and Veli��i Beč��ere��, and in �ovi Sad and is sho�n as an emphasized neo�classical symbol of this sports Zemun. �ost of the public Austro�Hungarian and Hungarian and militant right��ing organization. monuments �ere destroyed a��er the fall of Austro�Hungary. The Croatian sculptor Ivo Rendić created the bust of �ost of the public monuments of the �ingdom of SCS and the Emperor Franz Joseph I in the to�n par�� in Zemun. The to�n �ingdom of Yugoslavia �ere destroyed during World War II by the Hungarian and �erman occupation forces, or, shortly 240 Penelope Curtis, ”The Public Place of Sculpture“ and ”The Tradition of the Monu- ment“, from: Sculpture 1900–1945 – After Rodin, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999, a��er�ards, during the communist revolution. �onumental pp. 5–34 and 37–70. and public sculpture from the end of the 19th century until the 241 The square was named after the monument to the Holy Trinity, placed in 1774, to show gratitude for the end of a plague epidemic. The monument was a classic end of World War II had clear features of a “net�or�� symbolic baroque sculpture of an elegant, graceful, highly erected column on top of which there was a statue of the Holy Trinity. The monument was removed in 1947, and was damaged during the removal. 242 A memorial monument to King Aleksandar Karađorđević by Antun Augustinčić was standing at St. George Square. Soon upon its reveal, when the Hungarian occupa- tion forces arrived, it was removed in 1941. The monument was a part of a unity with 238 Miloš Arsić, ”Razvoj skulpture u Vojvodini (1895–1980)“, from: Ljiljana Ivanović (ed.), a Christian Orthodox cross from 1795, which is today standing in the garden of the Razvoj skulpture u Vojvodini 1895–1980, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, St. George church. 1984, pp. 5–7. 243 Emperor Jovan Nenad II (died in 1527) is a mysterious figure from Serbian history, 239 One of the rare analytical studies of modern sculpture is an essay by Kosta Strajnić who started a rebellion against the Hungarian kingdom, declared himself an em- ”Evropsko vajarstvo XIX i XX veka – Klasicisti, romantičari, realisti“, Matica srpska peror, and thus, the ruler of the Serbian empire on the territory of the present-day LiteraryMagazine, Vol. 317 No. 2, Novi Sad, August 1928, pp. 209-233. Bačka. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 55  management committee for cultivation and par�� maintenance dimensions (Sorrow, 1907). Hungarian sculptors Ferenc commissioned the monument. The ��rst public sculpture �as �eđeši, Ede Telcs, Béla Radnai – Rausch (1873�1923) and Istó�� placed in the to�n par��, during the festivity commemorating János �ere creating until World War I. They mainly made the Emperor’s birthday on 27th July 1901. The bust of Emperor small plastics and civic sculptures. Several sculpting e�hibi� Ferdinand Joseph I from �hite marble �as placed on top of the tions �ere organized: �ovi Sad 1902, Veli��i Beč��ere�� 1903, pediment, �ith the to�n coat of arms. A garden �as planted Vršac 1907. behind the monument that closed the passage to Vu��’s Street. The monument �as destroyed during the brief breach of the Serbian army in Zemun in 1914. The bust disappeared, and the Socialist Realism as a socialist Internationalism “Workers of pediment �as sold in 1950. 244 all countries, Unite!” (Serbian edition, p.155) The Zagreb sculptor Rudolf Valdec created the horse�riding monument to King Petar I the Liberator in Zrenjanin in 1926. �utting forth the de��nition that modern/postmodern societies The monument �as destroyed in 1941. and cultures of late capitalism, from Western Europe and USA A parade horse�riding statue to King Petar I by �etar to Australia and Japan, are identi��ed as the societies and cul� �alavanči �as placed in �ančevo in 1932. It �as destroyed by ture of the first world, and former colonized cultures of Africa, the �ermans during the occupation. Asia and South America are cultures of the third world, then Ivan �eštrović (1893�1962) made a monument to a Ser� the societies (countries, cultures) that �ere identi��ed as societ� bian politician Svetozar �iletić (1826�1901) in �ovi Sad. The ies of the real socialism 247 could be referred to as the second monument �as erected under the initiative of �atica srps��a. world. 248 The idea of the “second �orld” is an open and het� It �as completed on 1st October 1939. It �as 5m in height and erogeneous concept, �hich, from one culture to another (from �as placed on a 2m high pedestal. The monument �as removed country to country), has completely different actual and ��c� from the square in front of the City Hall during the Hungar� tional realizations. It is possible to tal�� about different versions ian occupation of �ovi Sad in World War II. It �as placed in of the real socialism of the revolutionary governments at the the former military barrac��s, near Almaš��o graveyard. It �as end of World War I (�erman communist revolution, Hungar� returned to the central square in the autumn of 1944. It �as ian revolution of Béla �un, the Baranya Republic), from state placed on a lo�er pedestal. The sculptor �avle Radovanović socialism of the Soviet type determined by the hard concept engraved basic information onto the monument several years of soc�realist culture, through the Chinese mass revolutionary later. socialism determined by the concept of a “cultural revolution”, The follo�ing artists also created monuments and public to the Yugoslav self�governing socialism determined by hybrid sculptures: Toma Rosandić (1878–1958), Robert Frangeš� social, political and cultural potentials bet�een the political �ihanović (1872–1940), �aš��o Vučetić (1871–1925), �ilan East and West. �edelj��ović (1896–1947), �ihály �ara��rón. Sculptors A��er the dramatic �ar years �ith tragic occupations, per� �ilan �edelj��ović, Stevan Bodnarov (1905–1993) and Vo� secutions, raids and deportations, �ith the genocide over the jislav Ši��oparija�Ratimirović (1892–1966) mostly �or��ed in Je�ish people, performed by the �azi and pro��azi regimes of Belgrade. �arlo Baranji 245 created in a very late Secessionist the ISC, Hungary and �ermany, Vojvodina under�ent a brutal sculptural style (Head of Christ, 1932; or Icarus, 1936), possibly and vengeful communist revolution that led to the liquida� under in��uence from Ivan �eštrović. Zlata �ar��ov Baranji tion of the bourgeoisie urban and rural social class, and to the (1906�1986) �or��ed �ith ceramics. genocide and persecution of the Danube �ermans. A��er the The ��rst Serbian sculptures in Vojvodina �ere done by establishment of the revolutionary government and a��er the classicists Dimitrije �etrović (Baja, 1799�1852) and Đorđe revolutionary party dictatorship 249 immediately a��er World Jovanović 246 (�ovi Sad, 1861 – Belgrade, 1953). Jovanović cre� War II and during the 1950s, there �as a metamorphosis of the ated public monuments in �ovi Sad, Ruma, Srems��i �arlovci revolutionary party government into a party�bureaucratic and and Belgrade (War victims, 1918; Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, technocratic social organization under the patronage of the lib� 1937), and the academic and symbolical sculptures of smaller eralized and bureaucraticized elite in all real�socialist societies. 247 It is, of course, possible to talk about different versions of the real socialism, from the 244 Branko Najhold, ”Urbani razvoj“, from Hronika zemuna 1871-1918, Trag, Zemun, 1994, state socialism of the Soviet type, through the Chinese mass revolutionary socialism pp. 96. determined by the concept of a “cultural revolution”, to the Yugoslav self-governing 245 Bogomil Karlavaris, ”Karlo Baranji“, Umetnost, No. 39, Belgrade, 1974, pp. 76; Bela socialism between the political East and West. Duranci, ”Na prekretnici vekova: Karlo Baranji“, from: Moj izbor, Visual Cultures Center 248 Aleš Erjavec, ”Drugi svet“, from: K podobi, Zveza kulturnih organizacij Slovenije, ”Zlatno oko“, Novi Sad, 2004, pp. 4–17. Ljubljana, 1996, pp. 121–124. 246 Miodrag Jovanovic, Đoka Jovanović 1861-1953, Matica srpska Gallery, Novi Sad, 2006. 249 This process was significantly longer in USSR, and could be followed back to 1917. 5 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina Roughly spea��ing, regardless of the individual differences, late of the optimum projection (project, vision, utopia) of the ne� socialism from USSR to Yugoslavia is determined by a faster or Yugoslav socialist society. 253 Socialist Realism �as created slo�er �ea��ening of the state and party centralism and control during the 1930s in USSR, and became a dominant art in the of culture and art. Techno�bureaucratic institutions of the late countries of the social Realism immediately a��er World War real�socialism �ere considerably liberalized and redirected, II. Characteristics of social Realism are the totalitarian and e�plicitly or implicitly, to�ards the reform of real�socialist revolutionary reactions to the autonomies of �odernism, so it countries in the direction of the socialistically adapted West� is o��en seen as a constant postmodern anti��odernism, since ern liberalism or national democracies 250 during the 1980s. it develops a critique and liquidation of Avant�garde and mod� A��er the fall of the Berlin �all and of the Warsa� bloc��, there ern art; and that it, in a formal�artistic sense, returns to the �as an establishment of the so�called post�socialist or transi� forms of the mimetic representation. As a model of revolution� tional period in Eastern and Central Europe. The e�ception is, ary art, socialist Realism is anticipated in the socially engaged of course, SFRY (Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia), art of the 19th century, from Courbet’s painting Realism and in �hich the transitional period began �ith the brea��do�n of Zola’s critical �aturalism to Russian literary aesthetics in the the federative state and numerous cruel civil and intervention service of a society – Ogarjova, Dobroljubova and �isareva. It �ars, and �ith the change in the structure of society. All these �as initiated by the �ritings of �arl �ar�, Friedrich Engels, processes could be observed in terms of “entropy” �ith regards V. I. Lenin and Leon Trots��y on literature and revolution, and to the offered paradigms and ideals or goals of the real social� �as con��rmed as a state art by the speech of Andrei Ivanovich ism, but also �ith regards to the integrity of the economic�po� Zdanov at the �har��ov conference in 1934. Aesthetics of the litical system. socialist Realism �ere developed by Lu��ács �örgy and Todor The roads of transformations of the bourgeoisie art mod� �avlov, above others. Socialist Realism is a result of a long pro� ernist pluralism bet�een World Wars brutally ended during cess of selection of art means and traditions, based on the state World War II in Vojvodina, �hen either propaganda art of and political needs. As a dominant art in the countries of real the con��icting parties (�azi �erman art, �azi Hungarian socialism, it is based on: art, �azi ISC art, socialist Realism of the ��ght for national 1. �seudo�classicist, romantic and academic ��gurative ico� liberation movement) or occasional private�intimate produc� nography of the 19th century, �hich is shaped into the typical tions done out of the public eye (for instance, �or��s of Sava socialist iconography; Šumanović in Šid until 1942, �hen he �as e�ecuted, and the 2. The ideas of Realism as an art of synthesis and monu� �or�� of �ilan �onjović in Sombor or of Ale��sandar La��ić, mental (heroic) representation of the ne� society; �ho during 1942 and 1943 made several highly e�pressionist 3. The dialectic method of truthful and historically speci��c ��gurative and erotically motivated paintings) �ere the only representation of reality (re��ection theory) in its revolutionary forms of art created. According to the chronology of �iloš development; Arsić in the catalog Slikarstvo u Vojvodini ��������� (Visual 4. The actualization of the pedagogue function of art in a Arts in Vojvodina ���������) 251, it is clear that the e�hibiting society, by sho�ing the appropriate to a �ide audience. activity �as mainly connected �ith the Hungarian national According to �arel Teige, theoreticians of socialist Real� community bet�een 1941 and 1944. 252 ism de��ne and postulate Realism as an accurate representation With the end of �ar and establishment of the ne� socialist and interpretation of interesting, primarily socially important country, the processes of the rene�al of art life �ere per� and typical realities, as a means of giving values and politi� formed on t�o levels: at the level of engaging artists to�ards cally purposeful content. Those important contents must be the direction of the socialist Realism and establishing ne� art presented in a form that is easy to understand and subordinate institutions – from e�hibitions to gallery and museum �or��. to content, so that they �ould be able to transfer to the audi� Socialist Realism, or soc�Realism, could be seen as a normative ence the thoughts of the artist and his or her emotional engage� art doctrine and style formation based on the representation ment, �ith the technique that is a testament to the artist’s s��ill. Realistic painting must be eloquent and faithful to nature and reality, �ith its content and the subject matter, and �ith the 250 Aleš Erjavec, ”Kulturna dominanta ter kulturna identiteta Drugega sveta“, in: ”Drugi svet“, from: K podobi, Zveza kulturnih organizacij Slovenije, Ljubljana, 1996, pp. mimetically and illusionary set form. Socialist Realism �as 124–134. supposed to reach the high level of inner compatibility bet�een 251 Miloš Arsić, ”Pregled samostalnih izložbi sa bibliografijom (izbor)“ and ”Pregled grupnih izložbi sa bibliografijom (izbor)“, from: Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, the critical Realism and revolutionary Romanticism (�a�im Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 185–198 and 199–211. 252 Avoiding the discussion about the art during World War II is quite understandable in the period of the socialist Yugoslavia – see, for instance, footnote 7 in Miloš Arsić ”1. Zatečena situacija“, in: ”Period 1944–1950“, from the catalogue Likovna umetnost u 253 Umjetnost i revolucija: revolucionarno kiparstvo, Spektar, Zagreb, 1977; and Umjetnost i Vojvodini 1944–1954, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1980, pp. 12 i 34. revolucija: revolucionarno slikarstvo, Spektar, Zagreb, 1977. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 57  �or��y), and be proletariat in content and national in form �hich led to the softer version of the socialist Realism. �ara� (Stalin), and consequently achieve a subjective re��ection of do�ically, there �as a clash bet�een the soft socialist Realism, objective reality (�avlov) 254 and turn artists into engineers of modi��ed modernist style patterns and the introduction of the human souls (Stalin). The notion of an artist as an engineer of regional “people’s” (Serbian, Hungarian, Slova�� etc) e�pres� human souls �as shaped in the le����ing Avant�gardes. Tretja� sions in painting. In other �ords, the syntheses of the “ne�” ��ov �rote that art is a process of production and consumption revolutionary theme �ith modernist form and fol��lore e�pres� of emotionally engaged �or��s, and that an art creator must sions �ere visible during the ��rst e�hibitions of Vojvodina become a psycho�engineer and a psycho�constructor. Art is not art during 1945 and 1946. 257 An e�plicit concept of socialist just a mirror that re��ects historical class struggle, but is also Realism �as achieved at the e�hibition of the Art Club of the the �eapon of that struggle, �hich at the same time means, Fighters��ainters of the 3rd Yugoslav Army, held at the Cultural the “instrument” of intervention in the derivation of the given Center in �ovi Sad, in January 1945. �ine artists participated social reality. in the e�hibition, three of them from Vojvodina: �ilan �ečić, Speci��c features of the socialist Realism in Vojvodina 255 Jovan Vitomirov, Z. �etrović. The ��rst post�War e�hibition are obvious: socialist Realism 256 appeared �ith the victory of – Exhibition of the artists from Vojvodina – too�� place at the the political forces that �ere in charge of the national ��ght for City �useum in �etrovgrad (Zrenjanin) sho�ing �or��s from liberation and �hich established a ne� communist regime. The artists, most of �hom �ere born in Vojvodina, but �ere mainly victory of the communist regime �as not only a “revolution”, but also a comple� effect of the national ��ght for liberation associated �ith Belgrade through their �or��. First a�ards �ent movement, that is, of the clash �ith high and middle national to �ilan �onjović, for his Celebration of the October Revolu� classes and layers of society, and particularly of the enforce� tion in Sombor (1945) and to Ivan Radović – Germans passed ment of a repressive politics to�ards the �erman and Hungari� through here (1945). The ne�t important e�hibition of �avle an national minorities because of their active involvement �ith Beljans��i’s collection, entitled Contemporary Yugoslav Paint� the occupation regimes in the territory of Vojvodina. During ing, too�� place in Sombor, in October 1945. This e�hibition that period, a settlement of the “colonists”, mostly Serbs from �as seen as a diversion, since it sho�ed �or��s of the pre�War Croatia, Bosnia and �ontenegro, too�� place, �hich altered the �odernism, and the participating authors, �ilan �onjović, ethnic structure of Vojvodina, as compared �ith the pre�War Velj��o �etrović, a �riter and Jovan Hercog, �ere subjected to period. It �as only a��er the strengthening of the communist criticism. government that the establishment of the politics of national Critics and theoreticians of the socialist Realism �ith equality �as enforced. The introduction of the socialist Real� revolutionary beliefs �ere advocating an obvious revolution� ism had quite certain starting grounds in the social art of the ary turn from modernist Formalism to�ards the art in the pre�War period. With the establishment of socialist Realism as service of people and the �or��ing class. In��uential essays a dominant “style”, there �as an aesthetic, artistic and political of Jovan �opović, Sreten �arić 258 and Oto Bihalji��erin 259 turning a�ay from the bourgeoisie �odernism. A termination started appearing in the Belgrade press and ne�spapers. of the Avant�garde practices and radical�modernist tendencies Roughly spea��ing, they thought that the formalist aesthetic in Vojvodinian culture started ta��ing place in the late 1920s, of �odernism should be surpassed �ith the establishment of �ith the establishment of the dominant discourse of art of the a ne� instrumental and didactic art, �ith �hich the realistic moderate and high�modernist tendencies of the bourgeoisie and, at the same time, revolutionary and socialism oriented art Realism and �odernism, so that socialist Realism �as not cre� �as projected. Revolutionary engaged painting themes, �hich ated out of the clash �ith Avant�garde e�periments and artists’ they �ere advocating for, �ere the themes of the national ��ght e�cesses, but out of the critical clash �ith the highly aestheti� against the �azi occupation and the themes of the revolu� cized, formal and hermetic style of the moderate and high tionary reconstruction and rebuilding of the country. Both �odernism, �hich �as prone to certain versions of Realism. On the other hand, there �as an integration of formal and thematic positions are e�pressed as international demands for modernist solution into painting practices of socialist Realism, participation in the global Soviet revolution, but also in the general human didactic move to�ards the ne� socialist man 254 Teodor Pavlov, TEORIJA ODRAZA – osnovna pitanja dijalektičko-materijalističke teorije and society: saznanja, Kultura, Belgrade, 1947. 255 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Likovna umetnost u Vojvodini 1944–1954, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1980. 257 See: Boško Petrović, ”Katalog somborske Galerije moderne jugoslovenske slikarske umetnosti“, Letopis Matice srpske, Novi Sad, January-February 1946, pp. 169–171. 256 Dragoslav Đorđević, ”Socijalistički realizam, 1945–1950“, from: Miodrag B. Protić (ed.), 1929–1950: Nadrealizam Postnadrealizam Socijalna umetnost Umetnost NOR-a 258 Sreten Marić, ”Povodom jedne izložbe bez datuma“, Politika, 6–7–8. I, Belgrade, 1945. Socijalistički realizam, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1969, pp. 68–81. 259 Oto Bihalji Merin, ”Izložba likovnih umetnika Srbije“, Borba, Belgrade, July 22nd 1945. 5 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina  … true human face, tragic and heroic, glorious in this period of of our ne� society. That is �hy the �or�� on ideological a�areness ��ght for the humanity and human life, still has not been given an is crucial. e�pression on a painter’s canvas. 260 In our cultural revolution, �hich developed at a considerable rate, Here, it is important to notice that the idea of “interna� during the very construction of the material foundations of the tional art” �as changed in t�o �ays. On one side, the center ne� socialist culture, artists already have every condition pro� vided by a country of �or��ing people, a country in �hich all as� of international in��uences �as no longer the modern Vienna, sets from the production are in the hands of the �or��ing people, and the modernist �unich, �rague, Budapest or �aris, but the �here the entire cultural legacy belongs to the �or��ing people, revolutionary and communist USSR. On the other hand, the as �ell as the heritage of the socialist culture, in �hich people “international” no longer meant the artistic, intellectual or themselves are the creating subjects. Artists have a ne� audience, e�istential participation in modern �orld art, but the enforce� �hich e�pects to see in their �or��s �hat is in life felt as grand and ment of the political platform, party line, Soviet realistic style beautiful, and is grateful if those �or��s ma��e life more meaning� as a general human political�revolutionary practice. Socialist ful and beautiful. State and mass organizations commission from Realism parado�ically ��ept aspects of �odernism – art �hich artists paintings and sculptures, ornaments for big public build� is ��ghting for the project of progress and transformation of the ings and monuments for to�ns and squares. 262 current, but also some of the anti�modernist features: rejection Certain inversions of the socialist Realism (idea, didactics, of painting formalism and Aestheticism, that is, the autonomy transformation of reality, closeness of life, role of a socialist of art, in the name of the revolutionary role of art in the new country) and certain revisionist remar��s on artists’ creative society. talent, the function of art that is not only didactic�notional In the period bet�een 1945 and 1953, a “visual arts life” but focused to�ards the “beautiful” and “decorative” �ere �as established, �ith the beginning of amateur �or�� in clubs, established in this te�t. Harder versions of the socialist Realism the opening of various cultural centers, art classes, �ith the can be identi��ed in the �or��s of Boš��o �etrović (Portrait of organization of e�hibitions of contemporary Vojvodina art, Marshal Tito, 1944), �ilan �onjović (Portrait of Tito, 1944), the organization of group and solo e�hibitions, etc. A��er the Stojan Trumić (Partisan from Banat, 1945), �ileta Vitorović end of cooperation �ith USSR in 1948, the ��rst self�criticisms (graphics map Sutjeska I and II, 1945, 1954), �ilan �ečić (Mo� or revisions of canonical suppositions of the socialist Realism – for instance “Proglas saveza likovnih umetnika Jugoslavije“ tif from Batina, 1945), Đorđe Teodorović (At sunrise, 1946–47 (“The proclamation of the union of visual artists of Yugosla� or The construction of Marshal Tito Bridge in Novi Sad, 1946), via”). 261 In the introductory article “Idejnost daje krila talen� Sándor Otáh (Rukovetačica, 1948), Andraš Hanđ (Forming of tima” (“Ideas give wings to the talented”) of the ��rst issue of the navy brigade, 1949), and �ilivoj �i��olajević 263 (2� draw� Umetnost magazine, Jovan �opović provided the ne� program ings of villages, 1950). Concepts of the genre of “country life”, course of the cultural and art politics in Yugoslavia: typical of the moderate �odernism in Vojvodina, and socialist The socialist idea is one of the most important elements to be Realism �ere ideologically developed in �i��olajević’s catalog developed in our art, visual, as �ell as other. In the transformed of dra�ings. It is �ritten in the accompanying lines: social reality, �hich transforms people and is transformed by the Subject matter of countryside in t�enty�four dra�ings in this people, art, too, must be transformed together �ith social reality, catalog is not and could not have been given in the versatile, �ith the conscience of the people �ho build socialism and �ith rich, and, actually, endless content provided by our countryside, their image, �hich is a part of the country’s image. It must do especially in the present socialist transformation. This is just the this, so that it �ould affect, on its part, people’s transformation, so beginning. that it �ould not just super��cially and mechanically register, but interpret and educate as �ell, so that it �ould discover the ne� All portraits, individual ��gures and landscapes �ere done directly and imply, summon. in country �or�� communes, on communal estates and in the vil� That is �hy the socialist idea cannot be just some mechanical lages of Vojvodina. Figure compositions are entirely observed in declaration. It must permeate the content and the form of a �or��, the ��eld, and later developed, based on the dra�ings of individual it must be inseparable �ith artists’ most intimate feelings and ��gures and entire groups done directly at the source. thoughts. Artists cannot give true art �or��s if, in hidden corners �ost of the dra�ings �ere made in country �or�� communes of their individuality, they jealously nurture intimate disagree� Crvena zvezda and Pobeda in Bač��o Dobro �olje and in the Novo ments �ith the sense and perspective of our society and age. Their doba commune in Irig, and the ��nal t�o in communes Marko most intimate has to be in accordance �ith the ideas and practices Orešković in �a��ovo and Crvena zvezda in Bač��i Jara��. 264 260 Jovan Popović, ”Izložba vojvođanskih likovnih umetnika“, Borba, Belgrade, Septem- ber 20th 1945. 262 Jovan Popović, ”Idejnost daje krila talentima“, Umetnost, No. 1, Zagreb, 1949, pp. 7–8. 261 The proclamation was published in the catalogue of the first exhibition of the Union 263 Milivoj Nikolajević, 24 crteža sela, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1950. of visual artists of FPRY, Ljubljana, 1949. 264 Note from: Milivoj Nikolajević, 24 crteža sela, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1950. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 5  “The Hard” 265 version of socialist Realism is ta��en to mean that �as yet to be developed in the 1950s, through socialist the �or��s of the strict Academic Realism. �umerous Yugoslav Aestheticism and moderate �odernisms �ithin the socialist painters (�arijan Detoni, Ismet �ujezinović, Edo �urtić, �odernism. Vanja Raduš, Oton �ostružni��, �rsto Hegedušić, and even Đorđe Andrejević �un), �ho had high positions in the party system, allo�ed themselves to bend the rules of Academic Re� Modification models of socialist Realism (Serbian edition, p.162) alism �ithin the soc�realistic themes even in the 1940s. Đorđe Teodorović 266 (1907�1986) �as one of the represen� In order to understand the art of the 1950s, it is necessary to tatives of the “hard” version of socialist Realism in painting indicate fundamental changes �ithin the socialist Realism in Vojvodina. 267 He ��nished art school, �ith an academic and, more precisely, the interpretations of tension bet�een course, in Belgrade in 1933. Some of his professors �ere �i��ola the East (Warsaw pact) and the West (NATO pact). I �ill use Bešević, Ljuba Ivanović and �ilan �ilovanović. The impres� models. sionist painter �ilan �ilovanović had the greatest in��uence Model one: binary feature of the ��5�s. This is a model, on his painting development. Teodorović is one of the founders �hich in its notions confronts the art and culture of the �est� of the socially oriented art group Život (1934), �hich included ern capitalist �odernism and the eastern real�socialist anti� members li��e Đorđe Andrejević �un, �ir��o �ujačić, Dragan �odernism. Western �odernism is seen as an e�pression of Bera��ović, Radoica Živanović – �oe, and Vladeta �ipers��i. the actualization of the autonomy of art that developed in the The group �as under the in��uence of the Yugoslav Commu� industrial capitalist society of the middle of the 20th century. nist party. It acted entirely �ithin the concepts of proletariat Bourgeoisie �odernism of the 19th century and the period art, that is, the social Realism. During that period, Teodorović before World War I is the �odernism of a gro�ing culture painted paintings �ith social subject matters, mainly from the of specialized competence and conquest, for instance, in art life �or��ers�farmers: Evening walk (1935) and Resting (1939). autonomy (in the formal sense, �ith regards to the tradition A��er the �ar, he �as one of the most prominent representa� of mimesis and in the social sense, �ith regards to the institu� tives of socialist Realism. He created a series of large, monu� tions of politics, religion, and public opinion). 268 Contrary to mental paintings �ith subject matters from the national ��ght this, �odernism of the developed capitalism 269 in the 1950s for liberation (several versions of the painting Sutjeska from is a ruling hegemony and a dominant culture of its age that 1949, 1949, 1953, 1968; At sunrise from 1946�47; Seventh day integrates: from 1966). During the same period he painted large�scale (a) High formalist Aestheticism; compositions �ith historical�patriotic subject matter, for (b) Developments of the industrial use of high art in mass instance First Serbian Uprising �8�3 (1960). Teodorović �ent culture; and bac�� to painting intimist themes (nudes, portraits, landscapes) (c) Individual position of a subject (artist) in a society. a��er his visit to �aris in 1950. On the contrary, socialist Realism in the political East He �or��ed in the Agitprop of the �rovincial Committee for – although the very term of the political East is not consis� Vojvodina in �ovi Sad. He �as a professor at the Visual Arts tent at all – is based on criticism and rejection of ideals of art Academy in Belgrade from 1948 until he retired in 1968. autonomy in the name of social revolutionary victories. Before At ��rst sight, compromising the paintings of �ilan the victory of the October revolution, socialist Realism �as a �onjović Liberation of Sombor (1944) and Fight at a farm critical socialist Realism, �hich sho�ed, �ith artistic means, (1945) creates a far�reaching synthesis, �hich �ill promise the tension of the class con��ict in a bourgeoisie society. A��er possible evolutionary revisions of socialist Realism to�ards the victory of the Bolshevi�� revolution in 1918, critical social� socialist �odernism of the 1950s and 60s. �onjović ��nished ist Realism in the USSR �as transformed into an apologetic these paintings �ith temperamental stro��es, in a composition art of the interests and functions of the leaders, that is, of the and content that is utterly modernist, almost abstract. The rela� party, class struggle. In the eastern European countries, in the tionship of the “partisan subject matter” or the “ne� idea” and late 1940s and early 1950s, socialist Realism mainly stands for the modernist form and strength of e�pression �as something an e�ternally enforced model of presentation of the optimum projection of the social and revolutionary conte�t. Social� 265 Umjetnost i revolucija – Revolucionarno slikarstvo, Spektar, Zagreb, 1977. 266 Đurđe Teodorović, ”Autobiografija“, a manuscript. 268 Francis Frascina, Nigel Blake, Briony Fer, Tamara Garb, Charles Harrison, Modernity 267 Miodrag B. Protić (ed.), Jugoslovenska umetnost XX veka: Nadrealizam, postnadreali- and Modernism. French Painting in the Nineteenth Century, Yale University Press, New zam, socijalna umetnost, umetnost NOR-a, socijalistički realizam, Museum of Modern Haven, London, 1993. Art, Belgrade, 1969; Miloš Arsić (ed.), Likovna umetnost u Vojvodini 1944—1954, 269 Paul Wood, Francis Frascina, Jonathan Harris, Charles Harrison, Modernism in Dispute. Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1980. Art since the Forties, Yale University Press, New Haven, London, 1993. 0 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina ist Realism no longer had the critical function, �hereas the critical, e�perimental and emancipating �odernisms. High apologetic one �as developed into the rhetorical – ornamental �odernism is, in that respect, seen as a �odernism, developed or trivially didactic effects of the promise or projection of a and aesthetically perfected by the individual creative act of speci��c modern “age”. an artist, �ho, in e�istential terms, tempts the very nature of If �e are to remain a moment on the matter of function, it his medium. High modernist �or�� is esoteric: it is based on could be said that the West projected the function of art to be e�ceptional values outside the frames of everyday e�istence without function, �hereas the East projected the function of art and ideology, that is, on the original, the sublime and the to be in the service of the revolution, meaning permanent prog� unspo��en. It is in that spirit that certain �or��s of abstract E�� ress. Ho�ever, the function of functionlessness and the func� pressionism, Abstraction Lyrique, L’Art Informel are created, tion of utilitarianism are the effects of a speech of ideology, although, American authors, by all means, represent paradig� �hich seems to hide the actual state of affairs. It can be noticed matic e�amples, and their actions, at the turn of the 1960s, �ill that the �estern autonomous (as functionless) �odernism is be canonized by Clement �reenberg 271 as a pictorial�a�iologi� represented and interpreted as modernized �odernism or real cal�metaphysical horizon of �odernism. These �or��s �ere �odernism, and the eastern engaged (as functional or utilitar� not created at the clear plane of formalism but on a certain ian) �odernism as a ��ind of anti��odernism. On the other inconsistent juncture: hand, historical e�amples assure us that the functionlessness of (a) e�istential beliefs about the individual (parado�ical the �estern �odernism had its political utilitarian purpose of union of the French e�istentialism atmosphere of the 40s and building a special brand of social relations (liberal society) and the 50s and the American pragmatic individualism); its international hegemony, and that the overstated activism, (b) of the concept of a symbol or an archetype as a direct optimism and utilitarian character of the socialist Realism trace or e�pression of a human act; �as o��en, in the 1950s and 1960s, mere rhetoric statement (a (c) of the formalist realization and development of a �or��; decoration, didactics) about the state of affairs nobody believed Formalism here is not something that is connected �ith math� in any more, although… ematical Formalism or literary� theoretical Formalism of the Model two: hegemonic picture of Western Modernism in the Russian Avant�garde, but �ith the �ant�li��e and neo��ant�li��e ��5�s and ��6�s. In this model, the Western high �odernism ideals of the interest�free and autonomous e�perience of an art is sho�n as a dominant and the only representation of �od� �or��, �hich are connected �ith the autonomy of the manual ernism as opposed to all other possible versions and side �od� action in a pictorial ��eld; and ernisms (�odernism of the popular culture, �eo�Avant�garde (d) of beliefs about universality of the �odernist e�perience �odernism, �odernism �ithin the real socialism, moderate and appreciation of an art�or�� and of art. �odernism, regional �odernism). High �odernism is envis� As opposed to all these positions, there are principles aged, represented and realized as the history of evolutions or that cannot be identi��ed �ith esoteric high �odernism and self�progress of the art�aesthetic formalism and institutions of its autonomy. Those are esoteric approaches that see art as a culture �hich are observing that self�progress. High �odern� ��eld of the social, rather than only the pictorial, and the act of ism is based on the ideology that represents art �ith non� creation as a �ay of questioning and criticizing given envi� ideological and non�conceptual terms and e�pressions. What ronment (�orld of art) and not as a �ay of putting in motion is being indicated is the development of aesthetic formalism, unconscious po�ers in human e�istence. 272 The a priori rule abstract art and of the accomplishment of the essence of visual of taste is being confronted �ith the ideas of the concept and autonomy of an art�or��. Art�or�� is freed from the mimetic conceptualization of the process and conte�t of creation, e�� identity of representation, and the artist is an e�ceptional indi� hibiting and reception of art. The artist is the one �ho, in their vidual �ho, through their o�n human drama (of suffering or medium, �or��s �ith the conceptualization of conventions or enjoyment) transcends their e�istence in the �or�� that is, and customs from a given micro��orld or macro��orld of art and �ith that is, it con��rms the validity of the artist’s e�istential culture. This other line (of history, co�relation of scenes) is not action or act. 270 homogenous as the ��rst one and is o��en realized in any of the Model three: asymmetric models within Western Modern� four different models: ism of the 5�s. We start from the idea that Western �odernism (i) Individual approaches of painters �ho are, �ith regards is a dominant hegemonic culture, but that it is not a unitary, to their status, close to high modernists, but �ho do not adopt all�encompassing paradigm, but that the dominant concept of their universal aesthetics, but critically provo��e the status �odernism is based on the dialectic relationship of high and 271 Clement Greenberg, “Modernist Painting”, Art and Literature, no. 4, 1965, pp. 193–201. 272 Charles Harrison, “Modernism in two voices”, from: Essays on Art&Language, Basil 270 Charles Harrison, Modernism, Tate Gallery Publishing, London, 1997. Blackwell, Oxford, 1991, pp. 2–21. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 1  of the �or�� (the painting), the subject of art (painter – artist (b) An imported phenomenon, certainly from USSR, that, – human being) and of the �orld of art as a function of art and upon the victory of the socialist revolution, gains a politi� culture institutions – these authors, in the American environ� cal�utilitarian and normative�regulatory function in the ne� ment, certainly include Ad Reinhardt, Fran�� Stella, Jasper society; Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and in the European environ� (c) A rhetorical utilitarian conte�t, �hich, at the level of ment, partly �eorges �athieu, Lucio Fontana and, certainly, discourse, must be sustained bureaucratically, in order to be �iero �anzoni and Yves �lein; declared in the name of Realism (revolution, class struggle and (ii) Individual or collective approaches that reconstruct �or��ing people’s identity), but �hich can be, at the level of spe� (regenerate) the tradition of the historical construction� ci��c painting formation, be gradually modi��ed, by introducing ist (geometrical painting, neo�constructivism, ��inetics) and ne� formal solutions of the historical or current �odernism; Dada (neo�Dada, ��u�, happening, letrism) Avant�gardes in the and late 40s and 50s – these are Avant�gardes that �eter Bürger, (d) The conte�t, �hich is gradually modi��ed, a��er the justi��ably or not, critically identi��es as the second hand abandonment of relationship �ith USSR and �ith the develop� Avant�gardes; ment of the socialist self�governing, into modernist art (prac� (iii) Individual or collective approaches that establish an tices of socialist Aestheticism and, later on, socialist �odern� e�istential, artistic and theoretical criticism of the dominance ism, are being established in Vojvodina and Serbia). of high �odernism in the West and socialist Realism and Socialist Realism �as, in the speci��c historical space of Aestheticism in the East, in other �ords, Avant�garde e�peri� the second Yugoslavia, seen as a dynamic open phenomenon ments, innovations, e�cesses, subversions are not a re�ma��e of that changed its ��gures (�ays of e�pression and shaping), and the Avant�gardes prior to World War II, but a response of the guarded and sustained regulatory functions in culture. This ne� generations of artists to the canonizations, anomalies and indicates that one ideology can have at its disposal different crises of the 50s (e�amples are the artists a��er L’Art Informel, spheres of ideas, that is, �ays of announcing its identity and its ��u�, happening – main ��gures of �hich are Cage, �lein, �an� social, political, cultural and even artistic demands. zoni, group N, group T, group Zero); and �odern art in Serbia and Vojvodina �as, during the 50s, (iv) Different and incomparable approaches identifying being created out of several, incomparable sources: �ith the criticism of �odernism in the range from the le��� 1. With the rejection of socialist Realism in the current art �ing strategies of the social Realism to the right��ing proce� oriented to�ards high��odernism, seen as an e�pression of the dures of post�SurRealism, ��ction painting, ��ction Realism and e�uberant and progressive development of the socialist society, the rene�al of national and regional styles. and visible in the �or��s of the representatives of the socialist This heterogeneous un��hole model bro��e up the unity of Realism, �ho started moving to�ards aesthetic �odernism in the presentation and pointed out that the body of �odernism the late 40s and during the 50s; is more li��e a bulb, as described by Deleuze and �uattari, than 2. With gradual transformation of socialist Realism into li��e smooth billiards balls, as it �as believed and dreamed by moderate modernist art that relies upon the tradition of the the fathers of �odernism. modernist Intimism bet�een �orld �ars, on one side, and on Model four: renewals of Modernism in real socialist coun� the other side, upon the current moderate (neither�abstract� tries. In Eastern European countries, and let us say that the nor���gurative, and apolitical) tendencies of the second hand second Yugoslavia 273 is an atypical e�ample, there are several �odernism, ��rst of all of the �aris school – this tendency is fundamental parado�ical processes in the positioning of the identi��ed as socialist Aestheticism; relations of the socialist (communist) Realism and the Western 3. Socialist Aestheticism �as created in the moment �hen (capitalist) �odernism that can be pointed out. the post�revolutionary period �as established in a socialist Socialist Realism �as a��er World War II identi��ed as: revolutionary society, and �hen revolutionaries �ere replaced (a) The e�tension of the critical social Realism bet�een by the bureaucrats and technocrats at important, but not at �orld �ars, in fact, as a victorious tendency �ith regards to leading, positions, �hich means that socialist Aestheticism is the ruling, roughly spea��ing, moderate bourgeoisie �odern� an e�pression of the interests and taste of the ne� governing ism, elitist �est�oriented �odernism, avant�gardes and special class, �hich is not there simply to change the �orld, but also to national tendencies in art in every Yugoslav culture; enjoy in it; 4. As opposed to the evolutions of socialist Realism into socialist Aestheticism, radical tendencies that provo��ed the conventions of the canonic Realism and the actually govern� 273 Miodrag B. Protić (ed.), Jugoslovensko slikarstvo šeste decenije, Museum of Modern Art, ing socialist Aestheticism started to appear, in other �ords, Belgrade, 1980. 2 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina these �ere the tendencies that strived for the transformation of emancipation of the Yugoslav way to socialism from the Soviet painting itself, for instance, the events concerning Abstraction model. The concept itself �as enticed from �ithin, by former Lyrique, L’Art Informel in the 50s and the early 60s, but also Avant�garde artists and modernists �ho �ere part of the Ser� the tendencies that established the �eo�Avant�garde status as bian ne� communist intellectual elite: Oto Bihalji��erin, 274 a shield from the functions of socialist Realism and the rising Os��ar Davičo, �ar��o Ristić and others. �oderate �odernism socialist Aestheticism in the 60s; �as established as a general and universal aesthetic�artistic 5. Ho�ever, radical tendencies certainly also include the atmosphere. 275 import of ne�, modern, current and fashionable appearances from the international art – �ith this actual or ostensible (and actual and ostensible) openness, ne� art in the second Yugo� From socialist Aestheticism to socialist Modernism (p.169) slavia is formed �ith a certain a�areness (sphere of an idea) of being part of international art; and The term “socialist Aestheticism” �as introduced by the liter� 6. There �as also the appearance of tendencies, �hich are ary critic and aesthete Sveta Lu��ić in 1963, to describe the seen as the criticism of any �odernism by returning to the development of literature and art in Yugoslavia. 276 According pre�modern sources in traditional European painting, primi� to Lu��ić, socialist Aestheticism �as created a��er 1955, as a tive painting, individual post�surrealist ��ction or national reaction to socialist Realism: tradition. Aestheticism dulls the edges, rounds up things, smothers a more This is �hy it is important to emphasize the transition from speci��c, further divergence. Theoretically empty, de��nitely loose, in practice, it forms more neutral �or��s. 277 socialist Realism to socialist Aestheticism and from social� ist Aestheticism to socialist �odernism. Socialist Aestheti� A positive side of Aestheticism, on the other hand, is the cism is a modernist reaction to socialist Realism in Yugoslav criticism of e�tra�artistic criteria for grading art. �ainter and art a��er 1950. A reaction to socialist Realism as a dogmatic art historian �iodrag B. �rotić mar��ed the Aestheticism in art program model of representation and e�pression in real social� as a positive return to modern autonomy and important paint� ism is seen in the development of the aesthetic, non�program, ing issues: ideologically neutral and artistically autonomous e�pression Because of his focus on the very nature of art, Sveta Lu��ić and representation. Socialist Realism, in the revolutionary and conditionally called this period the socialist Aestheticism, post�revolutionary period, �as a part of the �ider Eastern� not giving it an other�ise negative meaning – �hich may be European realist movement as an optimum projection of the true in literature (because of its alleged avoidance of neuralgic revolutionary present and an accomplishment of the future causes) but not in painting, because there can and, due to their ideal communist society. A��er 1948, �ith the termination of different natures, have to e�ist the same functional differences the political relations �ith the USSR, socialist Realism lost its bet�een painting and literature, as there are bet�een litera� international support. During the 50s, �ith the appearance of ture and poetry, �hich Sartre emphasized in his famous essay. post�revolutionary bureaucratic and technocratic social classes When it comes to painting, �e are dealing, more or less, �ith and �ith the liberalization of society, the relationship to�ards the return to its minute ontological, structural and semantic art also changed. Art �as no longer e�pected to represent pos� content and reality. (…) Such “Aestheticism” meant, in fact, sible and optimum realities, but also to accomplish partially or activism (…), the increase of freedom and self�a�areness as an completely autonomous aesthetic functions. Since Yugoslavia anthropological necessity, o��en a ne� dra�� of the man’s �orld �as, during that period, in a political sense bet�een the East as �ell, offered by a post�revolutionary generation. (…) Hence, and the West, it opened up to�ards contemporary Western art, “Aestheticism” of the si�th decade is revolutionary, because it or more precisely, to�ards its moderate and aesthetic versions. placed in the center the unity of an idea and of matter, of hand Socialist Realism evolved, during the late 50s and during the and spirit, a paradigmatic relationship of the subject and the 60s, into a moderate �odernism that became an art tendency object . . . because it vie�ed creation as an anthropological, for almost three decades. This art �as an art of the middle way bet�een Abstraction and Figuration, modernity and 274 Oto Bihalji-Merin, Savremena nemačka umetnost, Belgrade, Nolit, 1955; Oto Bihalji tradition, regionalism and internationalism, fol��lore and the Merin, Prodori moderne umetnosti, Utopija i nove stvarnosti, Nolit, Belgrade, 1962; Oto Bihalji Merin, Graditelji moderne misli, Prosveta, Belgrade, 1965. urban. On one hand, it made dominant ��o�s of international 275 An indicative discussion on the matter: Dušan Bošković Estetika u okruženju – Sporovi �odernism closer, and on the other, it �as an e�pression of the o marksističkoj estetici i književnoj kritici u srpsko-hrvatskoj periodici od 1944. do 1972. godine, Institute for philosophy and social theory and IP Filip Višnjić, Belgrade, 2003. resistance to the radical versions of �odernism, from Abstrac� 276 Sveta Lukić, ”Socijalistički estetizam“, from: Umetnost na mostu, Belgrade, Ideje, 1975, tion to �eo�Avant�gardes. The climate of canonizing “mod� pp. 225–243. erate” modernity �as a part of the project of separation and 277 Sveta Lukić, ”Socijalistički estetizam. Jedna nova pojava“, Politika, April 28th Belgrade, 1963. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 3  signi��cant feature of the human ��ind, the socialist’s assump� system” that functioned outside the frame�or�� of rigid ideo� tion that released and developed it. 278 logical pressures, �hich e�isted in the real�socialist countries, According to art historian Lazar Trifunović 279, social� but also in the demands of the art mar��et, �hich can be found ist Aestheticism is a sign of transformation of revolutionary in the countries of liberal capitalism. During the ��rst post��ar into civic art from 1950 to 1960. Aestheticism guided by the years, being a country �ith a political order closely connected la�s of form and pictorial problems of a painting �as mod� �ith the Soviet Union and its follo�ers, Yugoslavia adopted, ern enough to enable opening up to the �orld, but traditional in culture and art, a normative doctrine of socialist Real� enough (reshaped aesthetics of Intimism of the fourth decade) ism, �hich, besides the fact that it o�es its establishment to to satisfy “citizens’ taste” developed from the social confor� e�ternal reasons, o�ned its o�n roots in the native tradition of mity, and inert enough to ��t itself into the myth of a happy a socially engaged art bet�een �orld �ars. An event that �as and uni��ed community. In other �ords, Aestheticism had crucial in the �ea��ening and ultimate rejection of the socialist everything necessary to blend �ith the projection of a partly Realism ideology too�� place in 1948, �hen Yugoslavia termi� liberalized socialist society. The art historian Ješa Denegri nated its ally connections �ith the communist countries and used this contradictory controversy on the speci��c appearance the Soviet Union as their leader, even though the communist of socialist Aestheticism to derive an issue of re�creation and order remained in po�er, and, consequently, socialist Realism re�appearance of �odernism in the conditions of real self�gov� ��ept its governing position in culture and art. The convention erning socialism during the second half of the 50s in Serbia. In of the Yugoslav Writers’ Association, held in Ljubljana in 1952 “Inside or Outside Socialist Modernism? Radical Vie�s on the and the famous essay by �iroslav �rleža, read at the conven� Yugoslav Art Scene, 1950�1970”, he carefully and appro�imate� tion, are considered to be the point of the de��nite end of the ly introduced t�o terms – “Yugoslav art scene” and “socialist dominance of socialist Realism, although numerous events in �odernism”. certain art areas prepared for that end gradually, enabling and The term “Yugoslav art scene” means the geographical area and facilitating, to a considerable e�tent this ��nal blo� given to the the political environment in �hich both polycentric and decen� ruling doctrine of the time. Today, the generally adopted opin� tralized common art life of the second Yugoslavia (1945�1991) �as ion is that the relatively short period of domination of socialist ta��ing place. �olycentric and decentralized, because it consisted of several cultural areas and their capitals, former republics of Realism (appro�imately bet�een 1945 and 1950) represents the previous country, �hich �ere no� made independent state the historical hiatus that the art of Yugoslav cultural spaces in subjects. Uni��ed and common, because the uni��cation of that life the 20th century divides into t�o great “normal” periods, into �as lin��ed �ith numerous personal and institutional connections the ��rst and the second part of the 20th century, and hence, bet�een various characters on the Yugoslav art scene of that time. the age of post��ar �odernism in Yugoslavia as a �hole and, The term “Yugoslav art scene”, according to Denegri, did not nec� separately, in each of its composing units began a��er 1950, and essarily lead to the abandonment of particularity and individual� lasted during the follo�ing several decades, creating an e�cep� ity of national cultural environments nor did it demand that they are annulled in the name of some unitary concept of “Yugoslav tionally interesting, highly comple�, rich, diluted, diverse and art”, but because of the fact that it �as placed �ithin the borders unquestionably high quality sum of numerous art appearances, of one and the same country, this art scene �as inter�oven �ith happenings and processes. 280 continuous and everyday lin��s, e�changes, contacts, of the artists’ It is certain that neither ne� cultural nor ne� art processes themselves and of the art life organizers, managers of galleries �ould have been set in motion, had there not been a general and museums, art critics and associates in the cultural columns of change in political direction, nor �ould there have been a fast, the mass media, in other �ords, of the most important factors of the country’s “art �orld” or “the sytem of art”. only a fe� years long, process of change in the art scene and, accordingly, general art climate. But that change �as not, a��er Denegri placed the other term – “socialist �odernism” – as all, conducted solely because of political reasons and inter� a condition of modern art in socialist conditions: ests, according to Denegri, but because of the art production It is �ithout doubt that the political circumstances, in itself, �hich quic��ly ��lled the space of the scene �ith different �hich the history of the “second Yugoslavia” and its unique content and e�pressive languages that had a crucial role in the political status, humorously dubbed “a see�sa� on the fence process: bet�een East and West”, too�� place, and had a considerable And this art production is, in its spirit, a change of the poetics, part in the establishment and representation of the speci��c “art trends, concepts and ideology of the global post��ar �odernism of the 50s and the 60s, about �hich it can be claimed that, because 278 Miodrag B. Protić, ”Jugoslovensko slikarstvo šeste decenije – Nove pojave“, from: Inside or Outside Socialist Modernism� Radical Views on the Yugoslav 280 Ješa Denegri, ”Inside Jugoslovensko slikarstvo šeste decenije, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1980, pp. 14. Art Scene, 1950–1970“, from: Miško Šuvaković, Dubravka Đurić (eds.), Impossible 279 Lazar Trifunović, in: Enformel u Beogradu, ”Cvijeta Zuzorić“ Art Pavilion, Belgrade, Histories – Historical Avant-gardes, Neo-Avant-gardes, and Post-avant-gardes in Yugosla- 1982, pp. 11–12. via, 1918–1991, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 2003, pp. 172. 4 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina of the speci��c characteristics of the Yugoslav social, political it is true for other tours of the Yugoslav art in numerous �estern and cultural conditions of that time, it represents a version of European countries, among �hich the E�hibition in �aris in 1961 “socialist �odernism”, �hich appeared as such, actually, only in �as especially prominent, for it led a famous French art critic, that Yugoslavia and it, therefore, represents a unique formation, �ichel Ragon, to give the follo�ing symptomatic remar��, as a created at the intersection of the features of the Eastern and the praise to that art: “In Yugoslavia, the living art is at the same time Western cultural and art model. �radually, one model (the �est the official art.” At home, the Salon, during the 50s, and shortly one) became more dominant, �hich is the consequence of estab� a��er�ards the Youth Biennale, organized by the �odern �allery lishing connections tight enough, but it �as never fully integrated in Rije��a and, a��er 1961, the Triennale of the Contemporary into the Yugoslav art scene and its speci��c formations of “socialist Yugoslav Art in Belgrade functioned as periodical manifestations �odernism” �ithin the corpus of the post��ar Western �odern� of the uni��cation of Yugoslav art scene, �hereas, since 1955, there ism, or, in more accurate terms, �ithin the corpus of the post��ar �as a regular, highly ambitious international e�hibition being West�European �odernisms. held in Ljubljana, under the name �raphics Biennale, becoming in time, because of its equal reception of the artists from the East In the establishment of the artistic system of “socialist �odern� and the West, but also of the artists from the so�called third �orld ism”, logistical support of the cultural�political institutions, countries, a true emblem of cultural policies and art system of �hich intervened in the touring e�hibitions of international art the Yugoslav “socialist �odernism”. All of this, �ith a lot of other in Yugoslavia a��er 1950, and during the return e�hibitions of factors, led to the gradual construction and strengthening of a Yugoslav selections at the international art scene, played a major comple� and speci��c art system of the second Yugoslavia, a sys� role. The chronology of such events mar��s the follo�ing most tem almost entirely organizationally based, materially dependent important dates and events: 1952, the e�hibition of the Contem� and ideologically supervised by the institutions of the political porary French Art, �ith numerous major names, in Belgrade, po�er, but – �hich should be admitted – ��e�ible enough to ma��e Zagreb, Ljubljana and S��opje; A Selection of Dutch Painting, most of the active artists feel free, participate voluntarily as much 1953, in Belgrade, Zagreb and S��opje, �ith all of the members of as they can and to the best of their abilities, thus �ith complete De Stijl; a solo e�hibition of Henry �oore in Belgrade, Zagreb conviction in the ma��ing of a culture of their o�n environment and Ljubljana in 1955, �ith Herbert Read’s preface; e�hibition higher and more contemporary, during the ��rst post��ar years of Contemporary German Graphics and Drawings in the same and decades, ��lled �ith optimistic e�uberance of the rene�al of cities, �ith Will �rohmann’s preface; e�hibition of Contemporary the entire, and hence artistic, life. 281 Italian Art, again in Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana and S��opje, in the range from Carro and Severini to Afro and Ved; and as the This comple� political, social, cultural and artistic pro� cro�ning event, e�hibition of American lithography in color in cess led to�ards a ne� ��ind of art production, different from several cities, and the famous e�hibition Contemporary US Art socialist Realism, bourgeoisie Realism and moderate or high from the collection of the �odern Art �useum in �e� Yor��, �ith a �hole great generation of abstract e�pressionist, among other �odernism bet�een World Wars. We are dealing �ith changes participants, only in Belgrade in 1956. Considering �ith �hat that �ere at the same time a rediscovery and a development ��ind of developed political strategy numerous highly prestigious of art autonomy in the conditions of a centralized govern� and high quality presentations of modern American art �ere ment and its cultural policy. Socialist �odernism – as a very organized in Western European countries, then it appears that general term – included different phenomena, from versions of Yugoslavia �as also included in that frame�or��, as an American socialist Realism, socialist Aestheticism, modern Academism, sphere of interest, both in the political and cultural sense, �ith Intimism, high pro��estern �odernism (Abstraction Lyrique, quite speci��c goals and effects. There is no need to emphasize that all these events (and many others, less spectacular) from the pro� L’Art Informel, action painting), to moderately modernist gram of international cultural e�change had deep and super��cial practices that developed from syntheses of �estern �odern� in��uences on the e�pressive directions of Yugoslav artists, �hich, isms and national or revolutionary symbolizations of identities along �ith other reasons, contributed in great deal to the re�ori� �ithin socialist Yugoslavia. entation of the general pro��le of contemporary Yugoslav art, from A turning a�ay from socialist Realism meant for the 1950s’, the abandoned socialist Realism to those signi��cantly altered 1960s’ and 1970s’ art in Vojvodina an abandonment of the foundations of the accepted phenomenon of “socialist �odern� ism”. Essentially the same, although reciprocal effects �ere caused “central�European” connections made during the ��rst half of by the return visits of Yugoslav artist abroad, especially those at the 20th century, and a focus on direct in��uences from Belgrade the Venice Biennale, �here Yugoslavia had been participating and the domination of a hegemonic and homogenizing Serbian in its o�n pavilion since 1950, furthermore, the selections �ith art as such. A brea�� from the “central�European capitals” �hich, regardless of the local criteria according to �hich they such as Budapest and �rague �as determined �ith the isola� �ere chosen, Yugoslavia, nevertheless, tried to, as appropriately as tion of Hungary and Czechoslova��ia �ithin the Warsa� �act. possible, ��t in the standards of international art discourse of the post��ar decades. This is, essentially also true for the e�hibitions of Yugoslav artists at the biennales in Sao �aulo and To��yo, at the �editerranean countries biennale in Ale�andria, �here Yugoslav 281 Ješa Denegri, ”Inside or Outside Socialist Modernism� Radical Views on the Yugoslav Art Scene, 1950–1970“, from: Miško Šuvaković, Dubravka Đurić (eds.), Impossible Histo- artists �ere o��en benevolently given numerous recognitions, as ries – Historical Avant-gardes, Neo-Avant-gardes, and Post-avant-gardes in Yugoslavia, 1918–1991, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 2003, pp. 173–175. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 5  An orientation to�ards Belgrade �as essentially guided by color and dra�ing, and his simpli��ed e�pressively presented the political�economic dominance of Belgrade as a capital human ��gures led to the sign of humanity itself, and not of a of F�RY/SFRY, but as �ell by the migration of artists from speci��c person or face. His �or��s Kozara dance (1952), Pietá former Yugoslavia, including Vojvodina, to the strong politi� (1956) or Satyr and a girl (1958) e�press the irrelevance of a cal�economic and, hence, artistic centers, such �as Belgrade. chosen subject matter: from the themes of the revolutionary On the other hand, Belgrade also became a ��ind of a “transit” ��ght for national liberation, through Christian or themes from or a “connection” point �ith �estern art, mainly because of the Classical period. Each subject matter is open to pictorial the numerous in��uential international e�hibitions that �ere reshaping and e�pressing general/universal humanity. His pro� arriving to the city. That is �hy the picture of “ne� �odern� cedure is signi��cantly connected �ith the �odernism poetry ism” in Vojvodina appeared as a “picture” of a transformation of �ablo �icasso and his humanist promise of a ne� art for a process of socialist Realism into socialist Aestheticism and modern man. socialist �odernism in Belgrade. The guiding in��uences of The �or�� of An��ica Oprešni�� represents an e�traordinary Vojvodina artists, �ho �or��ed in Belgrade, �ere also seen as e�ample of painting revolutions �ithin �odernism. She had important (Đorđe Bošan, Bogomil �arlavaris, �ilan �ečić, solo e�hibitions from 1951 (�ovi Sad). A retrospective e�hi� Zora �etrović, Zoran �etrović, Bran��o �rotić, Ivan Radović, bition �as organized in 1969. 283 She crossed a long road of Dragoslav Stojanović – SI�, Ivan Taba��ović, Živojin Turins��i, painting development from associative Figuration (Women Lazar Vozarević and others). With the development of the and a Cat or Eternal hunt, 1954), to moderate Abstraction Belgrade Academy of Visual Art to�ards �odernism, its domi� Lyrique (Requiem for an autumn, 1963; Death of Red Plants, nance in the Serbian, Vojvodina and Yugoslav space �as also 1969; Unhanded medals, 1968; Oprešnik – Spring Paths, 1970). established. �e� e�hibiting institutions �ere formed, most In graphic art, she crossed a similar road of development, from importantly, the �useum of �odern Art, founded in 1964. The Abstraction Lyrique (Little Girls, 1954, White Woman, 1960). �useum of �odern Art started and determined the project of By establishing a pictorial and visual autonomy, an individual socialist �odernism: stro��e, a universal symbolization and by ma��ing criteria for Roads from art to life are, therefore, comple�, but unavoidable the choice of a reference “theme” relative, she developed an if �hat �e �ant is for socialism to be not only an economic and open poetic platform �ithin socialist Aestheticism and, later political category, but also a category of humanism and culture on, socialist and late �odernism (Game is Over and Unfinished – a true socialism. 282 Building from 1998). Certain anticipations of socialist Aestheticism in Vojvo� This principle of constructing a painting can be also be dina �ere sensed in �onjović’s modernist e�pressive soc�realist found �ith �ilan �onjović (Bag�pipes or Scorched Vojvodina, �or��s, as �ell as in the Intimism oriented paintings of �arel 1957), Stevan �a��simović (Winter meditation, 1958), An� �apravni�� (1909–1957) – Nude in repose (1946); Stojan Trumić ��ica Oprešni�� (Autumn in a Village, 1959), �ál �etri�� (Paper (1912–1983) – Piper from Vojlovica (1949); �ilan �ečić (1910– masks, 1959), Tivadar Wanye�� (1910–1981; Family 19??), Boš��o 1998) – Quinces (1950), �ilan �erc (1914–1980) – JNA Street in �etrović (Cathedral V, 1960), or the series of paintings Bunk Novi Sad (1951); �i��ola �raovac (1907–2000) – Window (1953); bed, 1958, and 1969–1975). What is seen as a model of painting József Ács (Bač��a Topola, 1914. – �ovi Sad, 1990) – On the bank philosophy and �or�� �as an encompassing form that did not of the Danube (1954); Stevan �a��simović (1910–2002) – Cross� lose the iconic reference points and, in that �ay, established a road (1954); Boš��o �etrović (1922–1982) – Village blacksmith referential relationship �ith the local climate, intimate spaces, shop (1954); Imre Sáfrány (1928–1980) – Three graces (1954); but also �ith fol��lore characterizations. This fol��loric feature, and �ileta Vitorović (1920–1991) – Still�life with a jug (1954). so visible in Vozarević’s �or��, is also, in a certain �ay, a part of Lazar Vozarević started at the Applied Arts School in the public political discourse, because �ith the abandonment Belgrade in 1941, and the Visual Arts Academy in 1943, �hich of the revolutionary pro�Soviet universalism “Wor��ers of all he graduated from in 1948. He �as a member of art groups countries, Unite!” there �as a creation of local representation Jedanaestorica and Decembarska. He started teaching at the of folklore as a universal “type” (or archetype), �hich ta��es Visual Arts Academy in Belgrade in 1960. Besides paintings, he place �ith the synthesis of modernist socialism and national created boo�� illustrations and mosaics. He developed a speci��c identity in the direction of establishing socialist nations and manner of the ne� modern painting: he discovered the po�er nationalities. These poetic attitudes and creative procedures of inde�ed pictorial surface, the evocative relationship bet�een could be found in modern poetry (Vas��o �opa, 1922�1991) and contemporary art music (Ljubica �arić, 1901�2003. In paint� 282 Miodrag B. Protić, ”Od umetnosti do života“, Umetnost, No. 1, Belgrade, 1965, pp. 5–10. 283 Ankica Oprešnik Catalogue, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1969.  20 th Century Art In Vojvodina ing, graphic art and sculpture, a blend of fol��lore, �odernism ers and sculptors became prominent: Emeri�� Feješ (Osije��, and socialist optimism �as reached by the synthesis of modern 1904 – �ovi Sad, 1969), Ilija Bosilj (Šid, 1895 – 1972), �ál Ho� e�pressiveness and fol��lore references. The application of monai (Irig, 1922), and the art school of naive art in �ovačica, Aestheticism of socialist �odernism developed in painting and and, further on, Uzdin school of naïve art �hich is connected graphic art in graphic design, that is, mainly in political, 284 �ith the Romanian culture in Vojvodina. The representatives sports and commercial posters, is highly indicative. Dragoslav of the Uzdin school are Anuj��a �aran, �arija Balan, Flori��a Stojanović Sip 285 established a developed �odernism poetics �uja, Ana Onču, Steluca Caran, Ofelia Spariosu, So��ja Bosi��a, in the design of political (All to elections, 1958 or 5� years of Stela Đura, Viorel Bosi��a, Adam �ezin and others. October, 1967) and sports posters. An e�ample of formation �ál Homonai 289 �as born in 1922 into a farmer’s family in the socialist optimism spirit can be found in the poster of in Irig. He ��nished elementary school and cra�� school, and Bogdan��a �oznanović, Cveta Davičo and �olja Davičo May �st became s��illed in the cra�� of carpentry. He lived in �ovi Sad ’68 from 1968. 286 from 1938, �here he �ent to the Cra��s College. He �or��ed as a carpenter until the mid 1960s, �hen he turned to paint� ing. He has been living and �or��ing in �ecs��emét in Hungary Naïve art and socialist Modernism: from authentic art since 1992. Homonai is a country landscape and scene painter, to the market (Serbian edition, p.178) that is, a genre scene painter. His painting is not realistic but fairytale�li��e and idyllic, �ith emphasized styles and represen� The idea of encouraging naïve art ��t �ell �ith the concept of tations of the e�perienced �orld in pictorial signs (Wedding, the socialist �odernism, 287 for it �as an art that originated 1971; My home, 1972; In nature, 1972). from the people and addressed the people, and �as an alterna� Approaches to painting among farmers and cra��smen tive to the alienated urban professional �odernism or e�clu� in �ovačica started in the late 1930s. 290 �artin �aluš��a and sive radical �odernisms and �eo�Avant�gardes. On the other Jan So��ol began their joint �or�� on painting; later, they �ere hand, modernist critics and aesthetes thought highly of the joined by a public communal servant Vladimir Boboš. �artin naïve or authentic art, as a direct original creativity, �hich led �aluš��a and Jan So��ol participated, for the ��rst time, in an through the academic canons of ��no�ledge about art to the e�hibition of amateurs of visual arts of Vojvodina in �ovi Sad “authentic” e�pression. �aïve art had a role, furthermore, in and in Subotica, in 1950. A��er the e�perience �ith Vladimir emphasizing art creativity of the minority ethnics groups and Boboš as the chairman, they founded, �ithin the cultural� their cultures on the platforms of the socialist construction of a educational society �o��ro�� (�rogress), a visual arts�painting multi�cultural society. �aïve art and its integrations into high section. �artin Janoš and Jan �njayovic immediately joined art had a goal of creating a recognizable socialist culture for the section. T�elve painters from �ovačica e�hibited their the socialist people. One of the utopian procedures that social� paintings together for the ��rst time in 1952, during the com� ism made �as, also, the process of ma��ing art more “amateur”, memoration of 150 years since the settlement of �ovačica. that is, of establishing art creation as a general human creative Since then, e�hibitions have been held annually. On 15th �ay principle: every �or��ing man can become an artist and every 1955, the �allery of the �ational �ainters in the Communal artist, �ith his sincerity and candidness, should be a general Hall �as opened, as the ��rst country gallery in Yugoslavia. The human creator – a creative being. It should not be forgotten Society of �ovačica �ainters had 30 members at that time. The that many Yugoslav modernist critics, such as Oto Bihalji �er� gallery functioned �ithin the Culture Hall from 1955, and it in, Dimitrije Bašičević, Radoslav �utar or Boris �eleman, �ere received its o�n space as a �aïve Art �allery in 1989. �ainters advocating for an “equal” role of naïve art in modern society, from �ovačica affected the appearance of naïve painters in the culture and art. 288 A��er World War II, numerous naïve paint� surroundings to�ns and villages, among the ��rst in Uzdin and �adina. The most prominent painters from �ovačica are: �ar� tin �aluš��a, Jan So��ol, �ihal Bireš, Vladimir Boboš, �artin 284 Dr. Drago Njegovan, Politički plakat u Vojvodini (1848–2003), Novi Sad, Vojvodina Museum, 2004. Jonaš, Jan �njazovic, �avel Hr��a, Jan Stra��uše��, Jan Venjars��i, 285 Marijana Petrović Raić, Dragoslav Stojanović Sip (1920–1976) – Skica za portret, Bel- Alžbeta Čiži��ova, �atarina �arleči��ova, Zuzana Halupova, grade, Museum of Applied Arts, 2003. 286 Jevta Jevtović (ed.), Beogradski politički plakat 1944–1974, Belgrade, Museum of Ap- plied Arts,1974, illustration No. 79. 287 NinaNina Parađanin Parađanin (ed.), Jugoslovenska kolekcija naivne umetnosti – Bogosav Živković, (ed.), Ferenc Kalmar, Emerik Feješ, Milan Stanisavljević, Ilija Bosilj, Sava Sekulić, Jagodina, Museum of naive art, 2001. 289 Oto Bihalji Merin, Homonai, Belgrade, 1969. and Munich, 1988. 288 Oto Bihalji Merin, Das naive Bild der Welt, Köln, Dumont-Schauberg, 1959, or: Umet- 290 According to an anecdote: the machinist locksmith Martin Paluška and farmer Jan nost naivnih u Jugoslaviji, Belgrade, Jugoslavija, 1963; and Boris Keleman, Naivno Sokol, while playing chess on a Sunday afternoon, entrusted each other with a slikarstvo Jugoslavije, Zagreb, 1969; Catalogue Naivni ’70, Zagreb, Applied Arts Gallery, secret that they love to paint. It happened in 1939. Since then, they would occasion- 1970. ally paint together. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 7  �atarina �oži��ova, Ondrej Venjars��i, Jan �araj, �ihal �ovo� vey unusual “style” or “manner” of almost non�illusionist and lni, Jan Bačur, Eva and Husari��. 291 symbolic painting. He created paintings �ith motifs from the In the Bunjevac society, the cultural�art society “�atija Bible – Old Testament scenes �ith �oses, �oah and Elijah, �ubec” �as active in Tavan��ut, near Subotica, �ith its mem� scenes of the Apocalypse. He also �or��ed on symbolically and bers – naïve female farmer and �or��er painters: �arija allegorically presented themes from Serbian medieval epics, Iv��ović�Ivande��ić (Đurđin, 1919), �ata Rogić (Šurđin, 1919), legends and myths. In the series Iliad, named a��er the painter, Ana �ilodanović (Žedni��, 1926), Teza �ilodanović (Žedni��, he �or��ed on topics from everyday life. He painted fantastic 1936), and Đula �ilodanović��ujundžić (Žedni��, 1938). They and ��ying creatures. He started e�hibiting at group e�hibitions attracted public attention �ith an e�hibition in cultural�art in 1962, and at solo e�hibitions in 1963. He had e�hibitions in society “�atija �ubec” in 1962. 292 �ermany, the �etherlands, France, Slova��ia, Italy, Japan, etc. �aïve art, �ith its comple� role of an instrument of socialist A legacy of his paintings �as donated to the to�n of Šid, under cultural policy and utopian modernist project of the return to the name Ilianum. The initiative to place a e�hibit of the collec� ideal sources of human – people’s –creation, came a long �ay tion �as made in 1970. from authentic general human art, through a socialist sample The art historian, curator and artist Dimitrije Bašičević of the integration of fol��lore into art, to a commercial e�port of �angelos is Ilija Bašičević’s eldest son. Dimitrije Bašičević e�otic art production and cultural artefact. Oto Bihalji �erin began his involvement �ith naïve art as a critic and art histo� quite e�plicitly and in a contradictory �ay determined the at� rian in 1952. He �rote about �eneralić, peasant painters and titude to�ards naïve art: �riters in Croatia, about Virijus, Emeri�� Feješ, Ivan Rabuzin We love naïve art, even though no�adays �e loo�� at it �ith more and others. 294 He �as an associate in the �easant Art �allery criticism than �e did several decades ago, �hen it ��rst sa� the from 1954. He �as a co�founder of the �rimitive Art �allery in light of day; �e love it, because its authentic and clearly deter� Zagreb in 1957. He �as in charge of the �rimitive Art �allery mined e�pressive strength gives us bac�� the conclusion of an archaic landscape and lost visual art, and because its e�istence bet�een 1962 and 1965. He �or��ed as a museum consultant strengthens our belief that quiet gro�th of its benevolent blades until 1982, �hen he retired. Simultaneously �ith his activi� of grass and imaginative ��o�ers can be preserved in a climate of ties as an art historian, curator and critic, Dimtrije Bašičević optic machines and cybernetic contraptions. �or��ed, secretly and publicly, as an artist in Zagreb’s �eo� Today, naïve art can be seen as a trace of archaeologies Avant�garde scene. of socialist �odernism in gro�ing arts of nationalist and The end of his involvement in naïve art too�� place during religious constructions of local identities, and totalizing global a public con��ict and debate about the �or�� of Ilija Bosilj, also commercialization. ��no�n as the “Bosilj affair”, �hich reached its clima� during 1964 and 1965, but lasted until 1971. The debate and the con� ��ict too�� place �ithin the scope of the criticism of Dr. Dimi� trije Bašičević, director of the �rimitive Art �allery in Zagreb, “Bosilj affair” and a “philosophical wonder” in Šid (p.181) for promoting the paintings of his father Ilija Bosilj Bašičević, to the problem of authenticity of Bosilj’s paintings. There �ere Ilija Bašičević or Ilija Bosilj 293 is a farmer from Šid. He ��nished certain doubts that Ilija Bosilj perhaps had not painted his four grades of elementary school. He spent his childhood and �or��s on his o�n, that there �as a possibility that the �or��s adolescence as a shepherd. Over his life, he �as a farmer and a had been painted by Dimitrije Bašičević, or that perhaps the cattle breeder. During World War II, he spent time in Vienna other son, physician Dr. Vojin Bašičević, head of the TBC �ard �ith his sons Dimitrije and Vojin. There, he became ill �ith tu� of the Children’s Clinic in �ovi Sad, had painted them, and in berculosis. For medical reasons, he ceased hard manual labour. some cases, there �as even a version that an underage patient He �as an enthusiastic reader of the Bible and numerous myth� of Dr. Vojin Bašičević may have been the possible author of the ological te�ts. He started painting in 1957, at the age of 62. He made dra�ings, paintings and painted objects. He developed a 294 Dimitrije Bašičević, ”Impresije iz Galerije seljaka slikara“ (1952), ”Majstor škole u Hlebinama. Ivan Generalić“ (1953), ”Seljačka umjetnička galerija“ (1953), ”Mirko Virius“ 291 Milivoje Mihailović, Seljaci slikari iz Kovačice, Kovačica, Culture Hall in Kovačica, 1962; (1954) and ”Seljačka slikarska škola u Hlebinama i seljački slikarski pokret (1954), from: Vladimir Valenčik, Svet kovačičke naivne umetnosti, Kultura, Bački Petrovac, 2003. Vladimir Crnković (ed.), Mića Bašičević, Studije i eseji / Kritike i zapisi 1952–1954, Zagreb, Society of Art Historians of Croatia, 1995, pp. 39–45, 72–78, 123–125, 209–212, 292 Bela Duranci, ”Pletene vlati agrarnog zlata“, from: Vojvodina – bogatstvo razlika, KI 220–222. Also: Dimitrije Bašičević: ”Miris zemlje – Uz izložbu Petra Smajića“ (1956), society PČESA, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 30–33. ”Naši primitivci. Povodom Petra Smajića“ (1956), ”Emerik Feješ“ (1956), ”Slikarstvo 293 Vladimir Crnković, Slobodan S. Sanader (eds.), Ilija Bašičević Bosilj 1895–1972 – Slike, naivnih“ (1957), ”Ivan Večenaj“ (1959), ”Ivan Rabuzin“ (1960), ”O Generaliću, kao o travi, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1989; Ilija Bosilj, Museum of Naive Art, o Viriusu, o Skurjeniju, kao o pticama“ (1960), ”Ivan Generalić“ (1962), ”Umjetnost 1994; Ješa Denegri, Darinka Rackov, Vojin Bašičević (eds.), Ilija Bosilj – Ironija ironije naivnih“ (1962), ”Naivni 63“ (1963), from: Vladimir Crnković (ed.), Mića Bašičević, Studije – nepoznate slike, Museum of Vojvodina, 2004; Nebojša Milenković (ed.), Svet po Iliji, i eseji / Kritike i zapisi 1955–1963, Society of Art Historians of Croatia, Zagreb, 1995, pp. Ivan Bašičević edition, Novi Sad, 2006. 23–24, 24–31, 32–34, 65–69, 73, 74, 75, 88–98, 99–101, 102–103, 106.  20 th Century Art In Vojvodina �or��s. In less serious accusations, in��uences of the sons on the visual arts critic �ar��o �eštrović, the director of the �useum old peasant painter �ere indicated. �ost of the problematic of Arts and Cra��s Zden��o �un��, visual arts critic Radoslav statements or comments �ere about structuring the roles on �utar and architecture engineer Vjenceslav Richter. The the Croatian art scene, as an e�pression of a political, national process of assessment too�� place in Dr. Dimitrije Bašičević’s and economic po�er. 295 �o�erful or important ��gures or apartment on 18th February 1965. The commission issued a structures of the artistic and political life of Croatia and Yugo� statement entitled “Joint conclusion on the result of the investi� slavia could be seen behind the con��ict: the Educational�Cul� gation of Ilija Bosilj’s process of painting”. The document states tural Council and the Committee for the City �allery, Council the follo�ing: of the City of Zagreb �allery, 296 the director of the City of At the invitation of the committee for the City �allery of the Edu� Zagreb �allery Božo Be��, 297 art critic Dubrav��o Horvatić, 298 cational�Cultural Council of the �arliament of the City of Zagreb, �e attended on February 18th this year, in the apartment of Dr. art historian Branimir Donat, 299 visual arts critic Radoslav Dimitrije Bašičević in Zagreb, 3/I Freudeureich Street, the actual �utar, 300 painter and academic �rsto Hegedušić, 301 art his� action of painting, performed by Ilija Bašičević – Bosilj. torian �rgo �amulin, 302 curator �irjana �vozdanović, 303 The parties that signed the document generally oppose such man� painter and �riter �iro �lavurtić, 304 literature historian Josip ner of the veri��cation of authenticity in the area of painting, but Depolo, 305 Dr. Dimitrije Bašičević, 306 and others. The debate they did respond to the invitation �ith the desire to ��nally settle �as being developed in Zagreb and Belgrade daily ne�spapers, accounts �ith the entire situation concerning the City �allery, by Vjesnik, Telegram, Polet, Studentski list, Večernje novosti, Svet, using this ultimate method. Politika, Politika ekspres, Vidici, etc. The spectacular charac� Even though, the signed parties, at the request of the Commit� ter of the con��ict �as also mar��ed by a public act of painting, tee chairman, dictated their individual statements for the record �hich Ilija Bosilj performed to demonstrate his ability and ��ept during the investigation, the same felt necessary to once s��ill. Ilija Bašičević �as summoned by an Official �emo 307 more state their official opinion and formulate their ��ndings in of the Committee for the City �allery to appear in front of an the follo�ing manner: during the investigation, in the interval of about t�o hours, Ilija Bašičević – Bosilj, based on his dra�ing/ e�pert commission, �hose tas�� �as to determine the “authen� s��etch, painted a part of a larger composition of ��gures. Besides ticity” of his creative act. The commission �as composed of direct e�periences during. . . 308 of the previously ��no�n and no� e�hibited �or��s of Ilija Bosilj, �e had yet another opportunity to undoubtably con��rm the fact that Ilija Bašičević Bosilj is, in 295 Cross-reference: Vladimir Crnković, ”Mića Bašičević – Studije, eseji, kritike i zapisi o fact, the author of the �or��s publically presented under his name. likovnoj umjetnosti (1952–1963)“, from: Vladimir Crnković (ed.), Mića Bašičević, Studije i eseji / Kritike i zapisi 1952–1954, Society of Art Historians of Croatia, Zagreb, 1995, During the investigation, Ilija Bašičević also made, upon his o�n pp. 130–131 i 133–134; and Vojin Bašičević, ”Moj otac Ilija i brat Dimitrije“ and ”Bibli- request, a dra�ing �ith ��gures, �hich also contributes to the ografija“, from: Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, Moj otac Ilija – nacrt za antimonografiju, evidence that his authorship of the �or��s in question is real and Vojin Bašičević edition, Novi Sad, 1995, pp. 8–9 and 283. 296 V. Maleković, ”Povodom različitih napisa�“, Vjesnik, Zagreb, December 30th 1964. undeniable. 309 297 ”Božo Bek: S predstavnicima određenih shvaćanja i stavova u stalnom sam sukobu“, Vjesnik, Zagreb, March 1971. Follo�ing the “verdict“ 310, Ilija Bosilj ��led charges against 298 Dubravko Horvatić, ”S onu stranu Aheronta“, Telegram, Zagreb, April 2nd 1965. everyone �ho had accused him. 311 299 Branimir Donat, ”Narodno i naivno stvaralaštvo“, Telegram, Zagreb, March 26th 1965, This turbulent debate had a comple� background in the pp. 10. 300 Radoslav Putar, ”Što se događa oko Gradske galerije�“, Polet, Zagreb, February 1965, struggles for the control and the struggles for the potential pp. 4; Radoslav Putar, ”Autentično slikarstvo – Izložba slika Ilije Bosilja u Izložbenom plurality of art practices during the process of establishment of salonu Studentskog centra“, Studentski list, No. 6, Zagreb, March 2nd 1965, pp. 11. 301 ”Razgovor ove nedelje: Krsto Hegedušić – Šta je sa našim naivnim slikarima�“, the cultural�artistic system of “socialist �odernism” a��er the Politika, Belgrade, February 8th 1963; ”Krsto Hegedušić piše Ekspresu“, Ekspres Politika, prevalence of the totalitarian party control of art and culture Belgrade, September 16th 1963; B. Đorđević, ”Krsto Hegedušić, majstor slikar, jedan od najvećih stručnjaka za naivno slikarstvo: Sumnjam, da je Bosilj autor!…“, Večernje in socialist Realism. The con��ict �as ostensibly focused on the novosti, Belgrade, March 27th 1971; Gordana Brajović, ”Iza kulisa rimske izložbe samoukih slikara Srbije – Ko je, u stvari, naivan�“, Večernje novosti, Belgrade, April aesthetic�artistic issues of: 13th 1971. 1) First of all, the authenticity of Bosilj’s painting �or��, 302 Grgo Gamulin, ”S onu stranu Ahertona“, Telegram, Zagreb, March 26th 1963, pp. 2. and, also 303 Mirjana Gvozdenović, ”O Iliji Bosilju i oko njega“, Telegram, Zagreb, February 26th 1965, pp. 8; Mirjana Gvozdenović, ”Prisilna demonstracija umjetnosti“, Studentski 2) The role of family connections bet�een the protagonists list, Zagreb, March 2nd 1965; Mirjana Gvozdenović, ”Oko galerije u Hlebinama“, Bjelovarski, April 22nd 1965; Mirjana Gvozdenović, ”Razgovori o naivcima“, Telegram, in this case, that is, the role of favouring Bosilj’s �or�� by his Zagreb, April 30th 1965. 304 Miro Glavurtić, ”Svinje i Bosilje“, Vidici, Year XIII, No. 90, Belgrade, January 1965, pp. 20. 305 Josip Depolo, ”Simptom jednog stanja – Nije u pitanju slikarstvo I. Bosilja već metode koje su primenjene u njegovom oglašavanju“, Politika, Belgrade, March 308 An illegible word 21st 1965. 309 This is a signed document – with signatures of Meštrović, Munk, Putar and Richter 306 A statement by Dr. Dimitrije Bašičević in S. Saračević’s article ”Odmotava se klupko u – dated February 20th 1965. slučaju Bosilj“, Vjesnik u srijedu, Zagreb, New Year 1965. 310 T., ”Zaključen Slučaj Bosilj“, Vjesnik, Zagreb, June 29th 1965. 307 This was the Memo No. 06-511/1-65, signed by the president of the Educational-Cul- 311 B. Mirosavljević, ”Epilog slučaja Bosilj uskoro pred porotom – Tužba naivnog slikara“, tural Committee, Josip Šentija. Večernje novosti, Belgrade, October 19th 1965. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina   son Dr. Dimitrije Bašičević, the director of the �rimitive Art When Dimitrije Bašičević resigned from his job as a �allery in Zagreb. manager of the �allery, he e�ited the public and debating dis� The elements of personal con��ict bet�een painter�academic course. He �as put in the position of the manager of the Ben��o �rsto Hegedušić and Dimitrije Bašičević �ere also present. Horvat collection, and then of the Center for Film, �hotogra� The con��ict began �hile Dimitrije Bašičević �as �or��ing phy and Television, �ith the City of Zagreb �alleries. That is at the Archive of the Visual Arts Institute JAZU, �hen the �hen his “secret” �or�� of the marginal artist – the outsider and academic �rsto Hegedušić �as Bašičević’s superior. 312 But, in philosopher �angelos � began. In time, �angelos became one fact, the con��ict �as mainly focused on settling the “scores” in of the most important artists in the Croatian art scene at the the economic and cultural�political mar��et of naïve art, and, turn of the 21st century, and his �or�� became highly valuable most importantly, on the positions of critics, curators and art and respected in international scenes, �ith purchases from theoreticians �ho �ere in connection �ith the City of Zagreb museums li��e the Bobur in �aris and �O�A in �e� Yor��. 314 �allery. Hegedušić defended and represented the model of The manuscript of the boo�� Moj otac Ilija – Nacrt za jednu “naïve art” conceived in the �or�� of the socially oriented group antimonografiju (My father Ilija – A Draft for an Anti�Mono� Zemlja during the �orld �ars, and the practice of the Hlebine graph) �as �ritten in 1976 and 1977. There is no critical, his� School, �hich succeeded it. Dimitrije Bašičević advocated for toric, aesthetic�theoretical or literary equivalent to this boo�� in the ideas of the modernist representation of authenticity and Croatian, Vojvodinian or Serbian art of the 20th century. With hermeneutical search for the authentic. On one side, there �as its title alone, the te�t of the “anti�monograph”, says that it �as the question of the identity of authentic “naïve art” in social� created in a speci��c spiritual climate of the �orgona and post� ist society, and on the other side, the question of the e�hibit� �orgona, 315 more precisely of the Zagreb �eo�Avant�garde ing programme of the City of Zagreb �allery and its policy, tradition of anti�art (anti���lm �ansini, 316 anti�novel �ristl, 317 �hich, at the time, fought in a radically plural and modernist anti�painting �nifer 318). The topic of the te�t is the “son’s” �ay. We are tal��ing about the time �hen the City of Zagreb opinion of the “father” in the universality of opinions on the �allery �ith the Contemporary Art �allery under its �ing possibility of opinions of art and artists. This is an “anti�mono� �as developing a ne� concept of the museum of contempo� graph” because the te�t does not represent the monograph of rary art, that is, �hen it identi��ed itself �ith the international an artist’s life, but it e�poses the potentials of opinions on the �eo�Avant�garde and neo�constructivist movement of the conditions of authentic modern art. The discourse of the te�t “ne� tendency”. 313 The “ne� tendency” movement did not itself is established at the dramatic junction of the Heidegger� only mar�� the abandonment of the socialist Realism, but of the type (�artin Heidegger) metaphysics, modern anthropology, “socialist �odernism” as a moderate version of the acceptable structural analysis of culture and �eo�Avant�garde te�tual� and bureaucratically set up �odernism, as �ell. That is �hy interte�tual e�periment. The manuscript �as �ritten in an this �as not only a local con��ict in Zagreb or in Croatia, but a open form that resembles free verse. Te�t is grouped into Yugoslav�level con��ict of opposing the bureaucratized socialist sub�chapters ”�evanje i mišljenje“ (“Singing and thoughts”), �odernism �ith the ne� �eo�Avant�garde art practices. �u� ”�aivno o naivnom“ (“�aively about naïve”), ”�odeli smrti merous in��uential names from the cultural life of Zagreb and ili modeli ništavila“ (“�odels of death and models of nothing� Belgrade �ere being mentioned, names that �ere directly or ness”), ”�ada sam bio zvonar“ (“When I �as a bell ringer”), indirectly connected �ith the affair. In that situation the “Ilija ”Istorija teorije“ (“History of theory”), ”�ljučevi“ (“�eys”), Bosilj affair” �as a convenient super��cial cause of a comple� ”�ejasni su��obi u istoriji“ (“Unclear con��icts in history”), ”Ili� clash bet�een different centers of po�er in the ne� modernist jada ili �ordijs��i čvor simboli��e“ (“Iliad or the �ordian ��not self�governing culture. Dimitrije Bašičević, �ith his speci��c of symbolism”), ”�rogres i evolucija“ (“�rogress and evolu� critical and activist style of mysti��cations and provocations, tion”), ”Triput non��onformist“ (“Thrice a non�conformist”), added to this tense situation another dimension in the ��eld of ”Istina i stvaranje tajne“ (“Truth and the creation of a secret”), art – the dimension of manipulative interpretation. “�ljučevi metafore“ (“�eys of a metaphor”), ”�eta��zi��a pseće 314 See, for instance, the catalogue of the exhibition: Deborah Wye, Wendy Weitman (eds.), Eye on Europe – Prints, books & multiples – 1960 to now, The Museum of Modern 312 See: Dimitrije Bašičević, ”Glavnom i odgovornom uredniku Večernjih novosti drugu Art, New York, 2006, pp. 88. Mirku Stamenkoviću�“, a manuscript of the letter dated April 10th 1971. Also, look 315 On the issue of post-Gorgon see: Branka Stipančić (ed.), Josip Vaništa – Vrijeme at the statement by Dr. Dimitrije Bašičević given in the Court of Zagreb – No. Kr Gorgone i Postgorgone, Zagreb, Kratis, 2007. 70/66 – a manuscript, and a letter by Dimitrije Bašičević addressed to Vojin Bašičević, concerning the legal charges from March 26th 1965. 316 Mihovil Pansini (ed.), Knjiga Geffa 63, Zagreb, Geff,1963. 313 Ješa Denegri, Umjetnost konstruktivnog pristupa. Exat 51 Nove Tendencije, Zagreb, 317 Miško Šuvaković, ”Drama označitelja / ka teoriji apsurda u savremenoj umetnosti: Horetzky, 2000; Marijan Susovski (ed.), Konstruktivizam i kinetička umjetnost: Exat 51 Kristl i Paripović“, Quorum, No. 1, Zagreb, 1991. Nove tendencije, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb,1995. 318 Julije Knifer, ”Zapisi“, Život umjetnosti, No. 35, Zagreb, 1983. 70 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina duše i duševni život jednog divlja��a“ (“�etaphysics of a dog’s outsider contains a critical and visionary potential, �hich is soul and a social life of a savage”), ”Ironija ironije“ (“Irony of outside or above modern art and official cultural dominations, irony”). 319 This “anti�monograph” sho�ed a comple� struc� that is, civic or academic canonizations of artistically, aestheti� tural relationship of a creator of the history and the �orld. cally and culturally valuable. Today, it is possible to derive a And so, a large metaphysical act �as performed through history of outsider productions and their subsequent integra� quotation�collage simulacrums, paraphrases, ironic references tions into high art. and identi��cations. In other �ords, in the ��eld of naïve or art Stipan �opilović 321 �as, �hen it comes to elementary outside the great system of Western “artistic” art, �hat �as cre� education, a barber �ho studied painting in �est, �unich, ated �as a comple� and sophisticated philosophical�theoretical Florence and Rome, and spent time in �aris. He studied paint� �or�� on the “t�o�faced” identity of the �orld and history as a ing and dra�ing �ith the graphic artist �ustav �oreli in �est. constituent of the very character of art as such in the heart of In �unich, he studied �ith �eter Halm at the Royal Bavarian an authentic creator. Bašičević’s step into manipulation �ith Academy in 1902�1903. In 1904 he stayed in Bajmo��. There the philosophical�theoretical discussions on his father’s �or�� he taught a summer school and earned a living by modeling �ould prove right everyone �ho doubted the authenticity of and dra�ing. Travelling through Europe, he earned his living Bosilj’s painting �or��, but. . . But, that one crucial “but” con� by �or��ing as a barber. In 1907, he �ent bac�� to Subotica. He cerning �angelos’s �or�� indicates that there is no art prac� spent time in Budapest. He returned to �aris probably around tice outside manipulation, �hich preapares the �orld for the 1908. By that time, he had already declared himself an impres� appearance of art, as the only art in the �orld. That is �hy, the sionist painter: Loading a boat (around 1907), A Boat on the myth and the �or�� regarding Ilija Bosilj and �angelos, regard� Seine (1908) or Autumn (1908). His Hungarian name �as Ist� less of the fact �ho created those �or��s and �ith �hat means, ván �opilovity, and he signed his paintings �ith a single “�”. It is one of the most e�citing and dramatic procedures in the �as only until 1922 that he signed his painting, created in Ziča art of the socialist �odernism of the 1950s, 60s and the 70s. �ar�� in Bač��a Topola, �ith his full name for the ��rst time. He It is about the modernist search for the very nature of art and participated in World War I as an Austro�Hungarian soldier. painting as such. On the other side, this anti�monograph and �ear the end of the �ar, as a �ounded man, he met his future the affair that preceded it sho� that the ideas of “authenticity” �ife Terezija, a nurse in an army hospital. He participated and “originality” of the painters of naïve art, and the naïve as in the Hungarian socialist revolution. He �or��ed as a public an art paradigm, �ere in fact political, cultural and theoretical servant in Bač��a Topola. He actively agitated for the establish� art constructs in the e�ecution of socialist �odernism, social� ment of an art colony in Bač��a Topola in 1922. He is one of the ism �ith a human face and of the creation of an authentic rural founders of the Society of Visual Artists of Vojvodina, in 1923. identity of a socialist nation. When Ilija Bosilj, alone or �ith In literature, �opilović is represented as an artist recluse, �ho someone else’s help, rose above the “primary” and the “simple” �or��ed in an isolated provincial Vojvodina society during the character of the naïve, he became an object of an affair. ��rst decades of the 20th century. His preserved opus consists of 23 easel paintings and �all paintings in a Catholic church in Bajmo�� (1907�1908). Outsider art in Vojvodina: from Péter Kukac Nagyapáti �éter �u��ac �agyapáti 322 (Bač��a Topola, 1908�1944) is one to Bada Dada (Serbian edition, p.188) of the forerunners of naive painting and anticipators of “coun� try genre painting” in Vojvodina. He �as born as the ninth �e�er – culture oriented theoretical interpretations 320 of art child in a country family. There is little information about his led to�ards the selection and identi��cation of marginal or education, other than the fact that he ��nished the ��rst grade outsider art practices, that is, to�ards the location and inter� of a state civic school in 1922�1923. There is also an unsigned pretation of the marginal otherness �ith regards to the great ne�spaper article about a talented artist from Topola, pub� art practices and discourses of �odernism. A clear distinc� lished in Hirlap in 1923. 323 �éter Bics��ei, a drra�ing teacher tion can be made, bet�een “naïve”, “amateur” or “private” art from Topola, supported the idea of �éter �u��ac �agyapáti practice as the “authentic”, “e�otic”, “patriarchal�conservative” being educated in art and �anted to help realize it. There is or “commercial” as opposed to the outsider, not ��tting in and controversial information that �éter �u��ac �agyapáti probably provocative, sometimes subversive art practices. The notion of studied painting �ith Sándor Oláh or Árpád �. Balázs, and 319 Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, Moj otac Ilija – nacrt za antimonografiju, Vojin Bašičević 321 Bela Duranci (ed.), Slikar Stipan Kopilović 1877–1924, NIO Subotičke novine, 1991 edition, Novi Sad, 1995, pp. 39–113. 322 Juhász Erzsébet, Bordás Győző and Csemik Attila, Nagyapáti Kukac Peter – 1908–1944, 320 Džon Fisk, Popularna kultura, Clio, Belgrade, 2001; and Colin Rhodes, Outsider Art: Forum, Novi Sad, 1985. Spontaneous Alternatives, Thames and Hudson, London,2000. 323 Article from Hirlap, Year 3, No. 160, July 15th 1923. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 71  that he �ent to Italy 324 to study art, or that he never actually of to�ns. He �as one of the rare urban painters obsessed �ith �ent to Italy, but spent the trip money on alcohol, etc. He spent modernity and cultural layerness of the representation of a the remainder of his life �andering about the farms around to�n. He painted simple, modernistically puri��ed composition Bač��a Topola �here he painted the o�ners for money, food, of frontal representations of architectonics, as �ell as the a� alcohol or a bed for the night. All those stories about �éter logical perspectives. 326 Architectonics is presented in a highly �u��ac �agyapáti evolved into local myths. 325 �éter signed his geometricized manner, �ith emphasized horizontal and verti� paintings �ith initials �.�. �éter �agyapáti's paintings are cal lines and clear colors. �ost of his �or��s �ere created based created in a highly rational realist manner, �hich �as closer, on samples of blac�� and �hite postcards of cities (Parliament regarding its subject matter, to naïve art, than to formal precise in Pest, 1955; St. Mark, Venice, 1956; Milan, 1958; Brussels, compositional and ��gurative solutions of representation. His City Hall, 1959; A motif from Munich, 1958; Notre Dame, Paris, Realism is close to and has analogies �ith the Realisms of his 1962; Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, 1962; Vienna, Stephans� contemporaries, gathered around the Croatian group Zemlja dom, 1967; Subotica, 1960). He used the techniques of �ouache and the naïve Hlebine School, that is, to the regional Realism and tempera, and in the late period he s�itched to oil paint, of American provincial artists of the 20s and 30s. With regards and chose plastic �ood for the painting surface. His paintings to genre, �éter's paintings could be classi��ed into landscapes have facial angles, they are elementary structured and inor� and e�teriors, that is paintings of farms (Farm, 1930) and vil� ganic (no people, animals or plants). Alienation and self�refer� lage streets (Bakoš’ tavern in Gunaroš, 1935), group (Family of entialness ma��e his �or�� highly modernist. Roža Pajzer and Janoš Tot Išasegi) and individual (Woman cut� Bíró �i��lós 327 (1948�1974) �as another one of the unusual, ting bread, undated) portraits and combined genre scenes (In eccentric and marginal ��gures of the Subotica scene. His paint� tavern, undated, or Self�portrait with a Gypsy, undated), and ings, for instance Untitled (1970), �ere made from speci��c acts there are also a fe� remaining �all paintings. A repeated motif of an urban loner, �ho responds to the current and e�istential of an airplane ��ying across the s��y (Livestock farm or Water� an�ieties of art. They are neo���gurative compositions, in �hich mill, undated) appears in a number of paintings. The motif of e�pressive gesture and caricature representations are put closer a plane in the s��y is one of the obsessive subject matters of �é� to one another. ter’s painting: repeated and minutely developed. A plane in the As opposed to strong individual self�referring creators �ho s��y �as a common motif of popular culture of the late 1920s acted, at least initially, outside the system of art, a ne� model and 1930s – see, for instance, postcards of Subotica or La��e of an outsider appears out of conceptual art, as an alternative �alić, �here planes �ere dra�n into the pictures. It is assumed artist �ho intentionally �or��s on his art position outside of that he painted portraits a��er the photographs. A developed or as opposed to the official culture. Outsider art is, therefore, iconography of representing class relations in e�teriors, genre an art of marginal lives as �ell, of not ��tting into the norms of scenes and portraits is another feature of his painting, �hich urban society, art of communes, alternative productions �ithin brings him close to the ideals of bourgeoisie Realism, achieving suburbia (graffiti) and political, religious, gender and music them in a rural layered society. micro�cultures of young people above others. The focus is also Emeri�� Feješ �as born into a Hungarian family in Osije�� in on the design 328 of fanzines, posters, record covers, graffiti, T� 1904. His family moved to �ovi Sad in 1909. He trained in the shirts etc. Some artists deliberately used to choose the position button and comb ma��ing cra�� �ith his father. He �or��ed and of an outsider, stepping out of the high art, as �as the case �ith lived bet�een the �orld �ars as a button and comb ma��er, a the members of KÔD group �ith the concept of the “invisible trade assistant and a lathe operator in different to�ns through� art” 329 during the 70s. The concept stood for the abandonment out the �ingdom of SCS and Yugoslavia (Belgrade, Rije��a, Za� of the art system and of �or�� in everyday life and �ith everyday greb, Celje, �aribor, Osije��). During World War II he lived in life and everyday human relations. For instance, Nepostojeći �est and �agyvárad. He returned to �ovi Sad in 1945, �here bend (Non�existing band) that Slobodan Tišma, Svetlana Bijelić, he stayed until he died in 1969. He started painting in 1949 af� Čeda Drča and �ir��o Radojičić created by drin��ing Coca�Cola ter retiring as an invalid. He e�hibited his �or��s in 1955. Dur� ing the early period, he painted nudes, portraits, still lifes and 326 Mića Bašičević (ed.), Feješ, Peasants’ Art Gallery, Zagreb, 1956; Matko Meštrović, genre scenes, and from 1954 on�ards, he e�clusively painted Emerik Feješ, Gallery of Dom sindikata, Beograd, 1969; Emerik Feješ, Museum of Con- temporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 1997; Vladimir Crnković, ”Emerik Feješ“, from: Strani architectural scenes. In genre sense, Feješ became a painter majstori iz kolekcije Hrvatskog muzeja naivne umjetnosti, Croatian Museum of Naive Art, Zagreb, 2006, pp. 46–48. 327 Bíró Miklós (1948–1975), Forum, Novi Sad / Újvidék, 1984. 324 Imre Šafranj, ”Na tragu Nađapati-Kukaca“ (1957), from: Odlazak, Forum, Novi Sad, 328 Sava Savić, Igor Todorović, Novosadska punk verzija – Prilog istoriji novosadske 1972, pp. 112. punk-hardcore scene: 1978–2005, SKC, Novi Sad, 2006. 325 Bela Duranci, ”Tri dečaka siromaha“, from: Vojvodina – bogatstvo razlika, Cultural-his- 329 Miško Šuvaković, ”6. Nevidljiva umetnost“, in: ”Grupa KÔD“, from: Retrospektiva: Grupa torical society PČESA, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 77–89. KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995, pp. 22–24 i 32 72 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina in Liman. Art (poetic, theatrical, visual) productions of Božidar sculptor �avamata. For ten days I hammered nails for a large �andić and the members of the Porodica bistrih potoka 33� sculpture, �avamata �as ma��ing an enormous object do�nto�n. I got the job by meeting a painter, Leonard, he is from Columbia, (Family of close streams) founded on �ount Rudni�� in Serbia or Bolivia, Chile, or something li��e that, and he told me that he in 1977 also belong to the mentality of deliberate outsidedness. �as doing something in Viennerneustatt. So I told him to call me Božidar �andić �as born in 1952 in �ovi Sad. He �or��ed as a if he heard of something similar. He called straighta�ay at 5 the �riter and a theatrical �or��er. He is the founder of the Porodica ne�t morning. I �as on the train for Viennerneustatt at 6 a.m. bistrih potoka commune. He began his art �or�� as one of the sharp. There I hammered 10cm nails, for ten days. We became participants in the �ovi Sad conceptual art, collaborating �ith friends and �e tal��ed, and I didn’t even tell him that I �as also an KÔD group. He �as advocating for intimate and non�e�hibit� artist and that I made sculptures from �ood. A��er�ards, a friend of mine, a painter, brought me a buyer, and said: it’s good that ing acts. He started, a��er�ards, to sho� interest in cultural or �avamata didn’t see this, because if they ever made a project from life practices during the 70s, in the conte�t of researching ne� your dra�ings, that �ould be something. 336 forms of life. He �as under the in��uence of the Slovenian com� mune Družina u Šempasu (Society in Šempas, 1971). His �or�� has remained a movable alternative bet�een pop� Certain artists in the period of conceptual art, li��e for ular culture and an accelerated enterprise of a large cultural instance Bran��o Andrić (1942–2005), or in the age of post� industry. We are dealing �ith eccentric urban mythologies and modernity – for instance Bada Dada or Dr. �arijaš 331 � from productions of culture inde�ations in pop culture, the alterna� outsider positions outside art and cultural system crossed into tive, privacy and systems of high art. the domain of alternative art practices by subverting the po�er We are also dealing �ith nomadic artists �ho �ere �or��ing of high art, and by lin��ing high and popular culture. The �or�� and intervening bet�een cultures. Tibor Bada (Bada Dada, of Bran��o Andrić 332 covered an area bet�een �eo�Avant�garde 1963�2006) �as born in �ovi Sad. He ��nished a high school in e�periments, 333 post�pop, 334 popular music (roc��, jazz), and graphic design in �ovi Sad. He �ent to a journalism school in ��lm and multimedia proto�post�modern productions, though Belgrade. He �as involved in comics ma��ing, in painting, po� in intimist dra�ings and collages as �ell. 335 He �or��ed in Vi� etry, urban activism, performance and roc�� music. He �or��ed enna from 1974. He described his presence on the other scene in Csaba Varga’s cartoon studio in Budapest. He participated in the follo�ing manner: in group e�hibitions from 1977, and had solo e�hibitions since In Vienna, I have the status of a free artist, and I’ve been living 1981. Bada Dada �as an artist �ho did not ma��e compromises, li��e that for the past 23 years, since 1974. I’m not a member of any and �ho acted at the cross�section of individual and public association, I’ve le�� them all, didn’t pay the membership fee. I’m pop�urban mythologies. His poetry, performance, comics� �or��ing my �ay through on my o�n. It’s nothing much, I have a cartoon or painting opus �as a part of the derivation of urban pretty good image from before, and people �ant to buy my �or��s fol��lore of �ovi Sad, Belgrade and Budapest in the 1990s. He �hen they see them. I usually don’t carry around a portfolio or a CV, I only carry a catalog �ith my �or��s, I sho� it around, and �as toying �ith the critique of consumer society, cultural icons people �ho have never heard of me before – buy because they li��e and tactics of ��itsch representation and e�pression. Dr. �áriás it. Or they set up an e�hibition for me. From those encounters, I (1967) has been on the public stage since 1986. He has devel� ended up �ith several e�hibitions in the most important city gal� oped a style of marginal and urban visual and performance leries in Vienna, and they have a ��ind of a state o�ned fund, for e�pression. Bada Dada and Dr. �áriás established a poetic� e�ample in the form of galleries belonging either to an association metaphorical�symbolic e�pression of reaction and improvisa� or to the city. I have no contact �ith private gallery o�ners, e�cept tion in absurd situations in the life of a “small man”. The role that I occasionally go to an e�hibition, drin�� a glass of �ine, eat a piece of ��nger food, if there’s any . . . and that’s about it. We of an outsider �as set up as a critical model of intervention in manage. Anđelija [Andra’s �ife] started sho�ing off her �or��s a contemporary technocratized �orld. They performed �ith a too. Sometimes �e even �or��, if a job comes along. Even manual music performance group Naučnici (Tudósok, Scientists, Schol� labor. For e�ample, last year I �or��ed on a project of the Japanese ars) and published music tapes/CDs. 330 Božidar Mandić, Porodica bistrih potoka, Dnevnik, Novi Sad, 1989. 331 Catalogue: Dr Mariaš + Bada Dada, Dom omladine, Beograd, 1995; or Szombathy Age of socialist Modernism (Serbian edition, p.198) Bálint, drMáriás Képzőművészete, A38 Kulturállis Kht. – Magyar M�hely Kiadó, Buda- pest, 2007. 332 Nevena Simin spoke with Branko Andrić,, in: artmagazin.co.yu: http://www.artmaga- A poetics of modern painting, made open and eclectic in this zin.co.yu/index.php�option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=36. 333 Branko Andrić, ”Program umiranja“, Polja, No. 122, Novi Sad, 1968, pp. 13; Branko �ay, enabled the creation of a dominant “style” that �as to Andrić, ”Uvod u osnove mini-hepeninga“, Polja, No. 129–130, Novi Sad, 1969, pp. 5. mar�� the socialist age from the middle of the 1950s to the 334 Branko Andrić, ”Ja sam mamin mali seksualac“, Author’s edition, Novi Sad, 1972; Branko Andrić, Stranputice seksualne revolucije, Cultural Community of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, 1986. 336 http://www.artmagazin.co.yu/index. 335 � php�option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=36&limit=1&limitstart=2 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 73  1970s – e�amples being the �or��s of Zoran �etrović Composi� tubes, 1970), Ale��sandar Zarin (1923; Figure of the Dying, 1957, tion (1958) and Ale��sandar La��ić (1922 – 1988) War III (1960). and Over lost time, from the series Hands, 1968). Stevan �a��simović 337 graduated in painting from the A determining constant of the socialist �odernism �as Visual Arts Academy in Belgrade in 1950. He �as one of the connected �ith the preservation and presentation of a ��gura� founders of art colonies in Vojvodina. Over a long number of tive e�pression. The focus is on the procedure of abstracting years, he developed a moderate highly stylistic and associa� in the tradition of socialist Aestheticism, but, during the 60s, tive abstract composition, for instance Winter mediation in it �as o��en lin��ed �ith religious or fol��lore symbols: Stevan 1958. In the late 1970s, he �ent bac�� to a comple� and eclectic �a��simović (Offering, 1971–1971); �ith the establishement of nationally and mythically oriented e�pressive Figuration. the fantastic illusionist �or�� of the Belgrade group Mediala: Imre Šafranj 338 acted as a painter, a critic, an illustrator and �ilorad �ihajlović (Paiting, 1971); and �ith the interest in new a �riter. He �or��ed as a journalist. A large part of his artistic Figuration: �etar Ćurčić (Imperial manouvers, 1971), Ferenc legacy �as destroyed in a ��re, in the City Hall in Subotica in �aurič (Shooting grounds, 1971), Vladimir Tomić (Cork, 1975) �ovember 1970. He created paintings �ith speci��c modern� and others. ist�e�pressive styles of plant and animal motifs: Thistle or During the 60s and the early 70s, socialist �odernism Peacock (1956). His styled associative and emotionally toned �as established, in Vojvodinian art, as a dominant public E�pressionism �as certainly a part of the atmosphere of social� discourse of art creation. It �as supported by the state in� ist Aestheticism. The artist made an une�pected step out of stitution commissions, by the creation of a collection in the the frames of his opus �ith a series of collages in 1970. Those Contemporary Visual Arts �allery, and through the presenta� collages �ere simple structures of found and then quoted tion in the media. The horizon of moderate e�pression and paper objects such as train tic��ets, ��yers, �rappers, etc. It is non�interest Aestheticism �as dominant, both in visual arts characteristic that these collages do not have an associative but and in music, literature and theatre, until the appearance of a highly literal character, �hich ma��es them an e�cess in his post��odernism. painting opus. Socialist �odernism, during the 60s and the 70s, �as being developed and, more o��en, modi��ed �ith regards to the para� L’Art Informel or the borders of a painting: an unspecified digms of Abstraction and paradigms of Figuration. moment of re-examination of painting (Serbian edition, p.202) A sharp and radicalized line of abstract painting �as formed around the appearance and reception of international L’Art Informel is one of the characteristic critical points of L’Art Informel in the �or��s of certain artists (Bran��o �rotić, �odernism in painting in Serbia and Vojvodina in the 1950s. József Ács, �atri�� �al, Bogdan��a �oznanović). Lyrical ver� The importance of the appearance of Informel in Belgrade is sions and developments around Informel or through it could connected �ith painting practices, as �ell as �ith the engaged be found �ith Živojini Turins��i, �avle Blesić, Isidor Vrsaj��ov, promotional, critically�theoretical and historical graphic Zoran �etrović, �ilivoj �i��olajević (Green rhythm in space, activities of Lazar Trifunović. 339 Informel �as recognized 1968), and all the �ay up to the authors �ho faced the uncer� and e�perienced as a “modern naturalism” or the practice of tainty of geometrical Abstraction and its pop�versions: �ileta inscribing ne� materials into the pictorial area of a picture. 340 Vitorović (Sign Č, 1968), �iodrag �edeljović (Aggressive The act of inscription of the non�painting into the ��eld of form I, 1968), Dragoslav Stojanović – Sip (Rhythm variations, painting �as recognized and interpreted as a radical gesture of 1966), �ira Brt��a (K�27, 1967), etc. modernist Abstraction. 341 Informel �as seen and critically in� In the domain of sculpture, the development of abstract terpreted as a con��ict authentic and innovative phenomenon in sculpture forms can be observed from the late 1950s �ith the the confrontation �ith the socialist Realism, socialist Aestheti� transition from ��gurative sculpting to vitalistic and associa� cism and anti��odernism of the group Medijala. The role of tive abstract forms: Jovan Soldatović (1920; Family, 1954), Josip Broz Tito’s speech from 1963, �here he e�pressed, among �ira Jurišić (1928; Flow, 1963), �atija Vu��ović (1925–1985; Bison, 1965), Oto Logo (1931; In the core, 1966), Zoran �etrović (Beetles before Battle, 1966. or Musical instrument with ten 339 Lazar Trifunović (ed.), Enformel: mladi slikari Beograda, Cultural Center, Belgrade, 1962; Lazar Trifunović (ed.), Enformel u Beogradu, ”Cvijeta Zuzorić“ Art Pavilion in Belgrade, January–February 1982; and Ješa Denegri, ”Lazar Trifunović kao kritičar i istoričar beogradskog enformela“, from: Zbornik Narodnog muzeja – istorija umetnosti, XV-2, National Museum, Belgrade, 1994, pp. 249–261. 337 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Stevan Maksimović, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 340 Lazar Trifunović, ”Moderni naturalizam“ (1960), Studije, ogledi, kritike, 4, Museum of 1987. Modern Art, Belgrade, 1990, pp. 151—152. 338 Tolnai Ottó, Sáfrány Imre, Novi Sad, 1978; Imre Šafranj, Na tragu (putopisi, eseji, 341 Lazar Trifunović, ”Apstraktno slikarstvo i mogućnosti njegove ocene“, NIN, Belgrade, kritike), Osvit, Subotica, 1971. November 20th 1960. 74 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina other things, negative attitudes about abstract art, should not (Exact movement, 1961) an act of e�pressive, materially posi� be forgotten, either. tioned painting that could be characterized as �or��s of radical The appearance of Informel in Vojvodina too�� place, un� Informel. The painter and scenographer �ál �etri�� (Subotica, li��e in Belgrade, on the margins of socialist Aestheticism �ith 1916�1996) dre� attention to the processes of investigation and numerous e�periments on the status and potentials of decon� development �ithin the material pictorial ��eld of a paint� structing autonomy and pictorial�mimetic�e�pressive deter� ing (Experiment I, 1961). The painter Bogdan��a �oznanović minedness of painting surface. One of the important initial (Begeč, 1930) �ith her series of Informel paintings Pittura pro�Informel events �as the e�hibition or the painter Bran��o 6 (1962) or Composition V (1963) crossed the path from the �rotić at Tribina mladih (Young �eople’s Tribunal) in �ovi painter as a “producer of paintings” to the e�perimental artist, Sad in 1959. Bran��o �rotić (Bač��a �alan��a 1931 – Belgrade, �ho started moving, in the late 60s and during the 70s, across 1990) �or��ed mostly in Belgrade, and realized a sophisticated painting to�ards process and conceptual art. practice of literal investigation of the reduced pictorial surface and “pure” material organization on the surface, for instance Composition (1956). A��er�ards, e�hibitions Gioconda Is Not The case of Ana Bešlić: autonomous modernist vital Who She Used To Be (Young �eople’s Tribunal, 1962) and form of sculpture (Serbian edition, p.206) Twenty Seven Contemporary Painters (Li��ovna jesen �allery in Sombor, 1962) too�� place, �here L’Art Informel Abstraction Ana Bešlić 343 (Bajmo��, 1912) created an e�tremely radical Lyrique �as interpreted in a polemic or representative �ay. In modernist opus of sculptures. She graduated from the Visual the e�hibition in Sombor, József Ács represented artists from Arts Academy in Belgrade in 1947. She completed a post� Vojvodina. graduate program under �rofessor Toma Ro��sandić in 1949. Ješa Denegri, in the historical 342 revie�s of the Vojvodinian She �or��s and �or��s in Belgrade. She has had solo e�hibitions L’Art Informel, indicates the authentic individualist and isola� since 1954, �hen she had an e�hibition �ith Đorđe Bošan in tive nature of the investigation of the border of Informel: Subotica. The representatives of Informel and matter painting, �ho �or��ed Her opus began �ith the creation of a post���gurative vital� during their entire career in Vojvodina’s art scene, unli��e the Bel� ist sculpture, probably a��er Henry �oore’s archetypical au� grade representatives of the same movement, did not ��eep tight tonomous sculptures. It should not be forgotten that t�o great �or��ing relation bet�een themselves: József Ács and Bogdan��a �oznanović, even though they both lived in �ovi Sad, belonged and in��uential e�hibitions of �oore’s sculptures too�� place in to various generations; �ál �etri�� �or��ed alone in Subotica. Yugoslavia in 1955 344 and 1960. 345 These e�hibitions mar��ed Isolated, �ithout the support of the critics for this ne� tendency, the establishment of a ne� sculpting paradigm of “organic” they did not have enough time to establish a common phenom� and “vitalist” Abstraction, �hich became a model for the enon of L’Art Informel in the Vojvodinian scene, even though development of the socialist �odernism from Olga Jančić and they �ere both individually a�are of the language and spiritual Olga Jevrić to Dušan Džamonja and Vojin Ba��ić. Ana Bešlić features of their o�n painting career. There is data about Ács and �oznanović, indicating that they visited the Biennale of the “Tri� met �oore during his stay in Belgrade, as an e�ample, see the umph of Informel” in Venice in 1958 and there became familiar picture from her atelier during �oore’s visit. The sculpting �ith certain presented European events. Bogdan��a �oznanović is �or�� of Ana Bešlić started losing its instrumental�represen� a highly intellectual and very informed artist, �ith frequent peer tational relationship �ith the socialist Realism as early as the contacts in other Yugoslav art centers, and through her acquain� ��rst years of the 50s, and �as redirected to�ards the investiga� tanceship �ith �ar��o Ristić, she undoubtedly became familiar tion of primary shapes and perceptive/receptive conditions of �ith the principles of surrealist automatism as an e�perience that had a signi��cant in��uence on the genesis of the painting of a sculpture (Sitting figure, 1953, and Torso, 1954). Some of her gesture and matter. �or��s �ere realized as public sculptures (Wings, La��e �alić, 1957; A Torch of memory, Bajmo��, 1971), and in the process According to Denegri, a special quality of Vojvodinian In� they lost the references of a socialist sculpture, e�posing formel paintings is their pictorial non�referentiality, reduction themselves as models of universalist symbolic representation of surface and an obvious non�associativeness. The painter of life’s vitality 3�6, �hich can only indirectly be lin��ed �ith the and critic József Ács realized in a small number of paintings 342 Ješa Denegri, ”Enformel i slikarstvo materije“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Central- 343 Katarina Ambrozić, Ana Bešlić, City Museum, Subotica, 1983. noevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni 344 Henry Moore – Skulpture i crtež, Committee for International Cultural Connections of granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 52–53; Ješa FPRY, Belgrade, 1955. Denegri, ”Enformel u Vojvodini“, from: Ješa Denegri, Šezdesete: teme srpske umetnosti, Svetovi, Novi Sad, 1995, pp. 48–54; and Ješa Denegri, ”Enformel u Vojvodini“, from: 345 Henry Moore – Skulpture, fotografije in barvne reprodukcije, Umetnostna galerija v Mari- ”Koincidencije i paralele: pojave enformela u Španiji i Srbiji“, Newsletter of the Depart- boru and Committee for International Cultural Connections in Belgrade, 1960. ment of History at the Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade, 2006, pp. 30–31. 346 Herbert Rid, ”Višesmislenost moderne skulpture“, Umetnost, No. 22, Belgrade, 1970. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 75  ideas of optimism in real socialism – for instance Composition ments” is an e�cellent inde� of conceptual changes that �ere � (1957) and Composition 2 (1958). At one moment, she found ta��ing place in Yugoslav society, culture and art from the time “her form” in the roundness of post�L’Art Informel (from Roots, of the revolutionary socialism to the self�governing socialism 1963 or Sculpture VII, 1963, to Open form I, 1966, and Open as the “socialism �ith a human face”. First monuments, created form X, 1968b or Sculpture in two colors 2A, 1970). Since the under the in��uence of the Soviet socialist Realism, �ere made middle of the 1960s, her �or�� has been directed to�ards the on the principles of monumental post�constructionist Figura� e�ploration of potentialities of a form and its perceptive, optic tion. This means that the rational and symbolic relations �ere and plastic variations and transformations. established bet�een architectural bearing structures of monu� The sculpture �or�� of Ana Bešlić is at the same time one of ments or the buildings on a designed area for a monument and the radical e�tensions of modernist phenomenology and reduc� the sculptural realizations and e�hibits of individual statues tion of comple� sculptural forms, and also, from the point of or groups of statues. The follo�ings �or��s are created in that vie� of feminist history of art, an associative form leading manner: Antun Augustinčić (1900–1979) and an architect us to the comprehension of the “�oman’s” e�perience of a Drago �alić (1907–????) – Monument to the fighters of the Red sculptural body as a gender body. Her e�plicitly gender, almost Army (1947) above the village of Batina on the right ban�� of genital, associativeness as a subte�t of a universal modernist the Danube; also, the �or�� of Sreten Stojanović (1898–1960) abstract�vital e�pression �as an important determinant of her Monument to the perished fighters (1951) on Irig road; or emancipation as a sculptor, and of an e�traordinary struggle to Toma Rosandić’s Monument to the victims of fascism (1952) in surpass formalism, that is, to open a ne� form and relativize Subotica. A �or�� that stands out of the monumental e�hibit is the essential relationship of the “inner�outer” in the sculpture. a statue of a �oman and a boy by Ana Bešlić – Monument to By surpassing formalism, a “plastic sense” �as reached that the perished fighters and the victims of Fascist terror (1955) in enabled a ne� understanding of sculpture as a gender and Subotica (Ale��sandrovo). psycho�analytically determinable spatial event or te�t. Her pu� During the early 60s, monuments based on the architectur� ri��ed organic form could be compared to the ideas of eroticism al or sculptural arrangement of spatial comple�es started to ap� of the “eccentric Abstraction” �hich the critic Lucy Lippard pear, during �hich there �as a change of the realist ��gure �ith found in the �or��s of Louise Bourgeois or Eva Hesse. 347 This an abstract ��gure or, later on, �ith an abstract vital form: Bog� is the sculpture that reaches a spectacularization of gender dan Bogdanović (1922) – Memorial cemetery (1960) in Srem� inscription. s��a �itrovica; Ale��sandar Zarin 349 – Monument to the fallen fighters of the War for National Liberty (1961) in �i��inda or Monument to the Resistance (1961) in Ada; Rudolf �atutinović Monumental sculpture – from socialist Realism (1927) – Monument to the fighters of the partisan division in to socialist Modernism (Serbian edition, p.209) Kikinda (1966) in �i��inda; �ándor �líd – Ballad of the Hanged (1967) in Subotica; Živojin �arapešić (1938), Cveta Davičo An almost straight�line evolution of monumental ��gurative and �iša David (1942) – Monument to the revolution (1975) soc�realist monuments in honor of the revolution and the in Ruma; Dragan Radenović (1951) – Monument on the place ��ght for national liberty to the abstract vitalist and modern� of formation of Partisan division of Kikinda (1981) in �i��inda; ist constructions and architectural installations represents an �ebojša Delja (1934) – Execution grounds near Pančevo (1981) e�quisite phenomenon of Vojvodinian, Serbian and Yugoslav near �ančevo; �ilorad Berba��ov (1936) – Memorial complex art, this time observed and interpreted in the area of Vojvo� and the museum of the battle of Batina (1981) on the le�� ban�� dina. 348 Authors of these �or��s came from different centers of the Danube near Bezdan; Čedomir Radović (1937) and Sava of the second Yugoslavia. In the territory of Vojvodina, there Halugin (1946) – Memorial cemetery of the fallen fighters of the �ere around 1500 monuments and memorial sculptures to the War for National Liberty (1984) in �ovi Sad. �ar for national liberty, according to the census from 1977. Transformations of monumental construction from social� A transformation of monument construction from socialist ist Realism to�ards vitalist socialist �odernism display t�o ��gurative Realism to vitalist socialist �odernism in the case of important processes: politically demanded, standardized and commissioned “monu� (i) A higher degree of bureaucratization and technocracy in �hich the monument to the �ar for national liberty no longer has direct narrative didactic but memory and evocative� 347 Lucy R. Lippard, ”Eros Presumptive“, from: Battcock, G. (ed.), Minimal Art – A Critical Anthology, E. P. Dutton & Co., INC., New York, 1968, pp. 209–221 348 Bela Duranci (ed.), ”Spomenici revolucije u Vojvodini“, Likovna jesen Salon, Sombor, undated; and Jovan Maček, Spomenici revolucije Vojvodine, Provincial Bureau for the 349 Slavko Konculov (ed.), Aleksandar Zarin – Skulpture 1950–1974, Contemporay Gallery Protection of the Culture Monuments of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 1987. UK ”Ečka“, Zrenjanin, 1974. 7 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina symbolic�emotional functions of reminding and designating in itself contains a highly eclectic and contradictory union of a distant past; and memorial par��, soc�realist sculpture, horizontal ambient plas� (ii) A gro�ing demand for the autonomy of the principles tics, ambient art, fantastic�grotesque art of post��odernism of shape �hich are no longer utilitarian and functional but aes� and engaged Figuration, for instance in the style of the Zagreb thetically inde�ed, and thus sculptures develop into architec� Bijafra (1970�1978). Special features of this comple� are the tural monuments or spatial micro�macro�comple�es. sculpture installations in the interiors of the monument com� Still, �or��s from the period bet�een the 60s and the 80s are ple�. This memorial architectural and sculpture comple� �as monumental �or��s that represent a society that no longer sees erected at the end of the period of real socialism, 1987 – t�o monumentality in bureaucratic and technocratic developments years before the fall of the Berlin �all – and �ith its poetic and as an e�pression of revolutionary or party strictness and po�er, aesthetic Eclecticism it displays an entropy of symbols, mean� but as an e�pression of economic potential to erect stri��ing ings and values of an un��nished social and political system, “monuments” for the future. This ��ind of �or�� �as, for the destroyed �ith contradictions. sculptors, architects and engineers of horticulture, an area of ��nancially stimulated and, in the sense of shape, freer, that is, more autonomous creative �or��. Obvious contrasts bet�een Borders of modernity – or the case of Mira Brtka (p.214) vital Moore form and the instrumental patriotic, revolution� ary or party function open up critical places of the socialist �ira Brt��a 354 �as born in �ovi Banovci. She got a degree in �odernism, and perhaps any �odernism. These contradic� directing from the Theater and Film Academy in Belgrade in tions even today mar�� these monumental �or��s. A character� 1953 and from the Visual Arts Academy (Accademia di Belle istic e�ample of �oore’s, and further on, of high�modernist Arte) in Rome in 1963. She directed the theater play Glass in��uence that �as leading to the “autonomous” or the sculp� Menagerie in Subotica in 1953. She studied in �rague, �or��ing ture “itself ” can be found �ith Bran��o Ružić (1919–1927) in �ith the director Oto��ar Vavr. She �as ma��ing short ��lms for his �or�� Composition (La��e �alić, 1963) or Jovan Soldatović Zagreb�Film until 1959. She �or��ed as a screen�riter in ��lms – Family (monument to the victims of 1942 raid, created in La Steppa (1963) and Soloist (1963) and as an assistant to direc� 1970) or in the �or��s of Ferenc �almar, �arl de �egrij and tor �ietro �ermi on the ��lm Un maladetto imbroglio (1959) in Bela Duranci 350 – Turbulent plane (Tavan��ut, 1971) or László Italy. She �as assistant director on the ��lm Sutjeska (1970�71). Szilágyi – Ring (La��e �alić), �ándor �líd – Freedom (1980), She started painting more intensely during her stay in Sava Halugin – Sprouting (1982), etc. Rome, �here she had a solo e�hibition in 1964, and �here One of the most eccentric projects of memorial sculpture is she participated in several group e�hibitions, among �hich an un��nished architectural and sculpting �or�� by the sculp� Forme presenti in 1965 is the most important. She appeared tor Jovan Soldatović, 351 the architect �ir��o �rstonošić and on the Vojvodinian and Serbian art scene at the e�hibitions the agricultural engineer �ilan Sapundžić, Memorial monu� in Contemporary Visual Arts �allery in �ovi Sad and in the ment to the Srem front (1987�1988). This memorial monument Salon of the �odern Art �useum in 1971. She collaborated �as erected on the one hundred and eighth ��ilometer of the �ith the art group Illumination, formed in 1967 by a Japanese Belgrade�Zagreb high�ay near the Bosut River. The un��nished artist �obuja Abe (1913�1971), �hich had members li��e �ilena space of the memorial center consists of the “gathering site” Čubra��ović (1924–2004), the American artist �arcia Ha��f and �ith the relief of the Srem front 352 and the presentation of the t�o Italian artists – �aolo �atelli and Aldo Schmid. The group military operations, then the �all �ith the names of those did not have a declarative program, but all of its members �ere �ho died, and ��nally the museum built in the ground �ith a connected by a common conception of art as a completely non� loo��out. 353 The sculpture comple� dedicated to the Srem front referential Abstraction, �ith organic and meditative, rather �as created at the clima� of the eclectic post��odernism, and than �ith highly geometrical and constructive features. In Brt��a’s early paintings, �hich have Italian names, thus mean� 350 It is interesting that Bela Duranci, a famous art historian, appears as a co-author in ing they �ere either created or �ere included in the artistic life this sculpting work. of those surroundings, according to Ješa Denegri, there is a 351 Ljiljana Ivanović (ed.), Jovan Soldatović – skulptura: 1942–1984, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1985; Bela Duranci, ”Vajar Jovan Soldatović (1920–2005)“, gradual separation from the legacy of L’Art Informel, of �hich Rukoveti, No. 1–3, Subotica, 2006, pp. 70–83. the ��nal traces can be seen in slight relief layers of matter, �ith 352 The Srem front was formed in World War II, between 21st October 1944 and 13th April 1945. It was formed during the withdrawal of the German army from the Balkans. the painting eventually becoming an arranged and completely 250,000 soldiers participated in the fighting. Troops of the Third Reich, the Indepen- dent State of Croatia, Yugoslav National Army, Red Army, Bulgarian Army and the “Italy” brigade took part in the battles. During the fighting on the Srem front around 354 Catalogue:: Mira Brtka, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1971; and 14,000 ally soldiers lost their lives. Gordana Šarčević (ed.), Mira Brtka – Usmerena imaginacija, Contemporary Visual Arts 353 Bogdan Ibrajter, ”Tišinom kroz Aleju časti“, Politika, April 18th 1988, pp. 7. Gallery, Novi Sad, 1994. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 77  t�o�dimensional plastic organism, most o��en done in �hite, relationship �ith the falsity of the socialist �odernism but moving to the minimalization of form, and the minimalization also, on the other hand, a melancholic, almost gentle relation� in a more radical stage, �hich she, ho�ever, does not reach, ship �ith the artifacts of the �or�� and of the symbol of past because such e�treme comprehension of a painting obvi� utopian societies. ously did not suit her formation and nature. 355 In the spirit of ideas preached by Abe, �hich �as essentially accepted by her younger associates, a painting, although devoid of any object Avant-garde – from excess to the international reference and reduced to simple and concise visual effects, is experimental “platforms” (Serbian edition, p.217) not an aesthetic product, but is created and should �or�� as a sign of spiritual “enlightenment” in the tradition of Asian life Avant�garde is a super�style notion that indicates radical, philosophies. 356 A��er the group Illumination ceased to e�ist e�cess, critical, projective, e�perimental and interdisciplinary and during the continuation of an individual painting and artistic strategies of the t�entieth century. The relationship sculpting �or�� alongside other interests, Brt��a joined a type of bet�een �odernism and Avant�garde has changed during the symbiosis of the principles of organic and geometric Abstrac� t�entieth century. There are three characteristic models of tion of highly intense color palette, of �hich the colored zones relationship bet�een Avant�garde and �odernism: are separated �ith hard edges, building a type of a painting 1. Early Avant�gardes (from the middle of the nineteenth (painting from the series River “A”, 1970, or AL ��, 1970) in the century to the beginning of the Second World War); spirit of the basic plastic postulates of the painting culture of 2. �eo�Avant�gardes (from the end of the Second World the late �odernism. War to 1968); �ira Brt��a realized a number of series of sculptures at the 3. �ost�avant�gardes (�hich emerged a��er 1968). turn of the 21st century: From without – from within (1999), Early Avant�gardes or historical Avant�gardes are predeces� Readymade (2000) or Red sculpture (2005�2007). �ost of these sors to the modernistic art and culture. By means of radical sculptures 357 �ere created by “adopting”, “rearranging” and e�cesses and e�periments, they initiate the project of a ne� art, “renaming” readymade metal semi�products or prefabricated society and culture, �hich is accepted through manufacturing elements. The concept of readymade �as not set up e�plicitly and media po�er of �odernism and transformed into mass in a Duchamp�li��e manner, but in such a �ay �here the idea of culture and art of the high �odernism. The notion of early readymade is integrated in the practices of “ne� sculpture” of Avant�gardes corresponds to Burger’s concept of “historical the 80s and the 90s. These �or��s have a simple object con� Avant�gardes”. 359 ��guration and enter the procedures of conceptual sculpture �eo�Avant�garde 360 emerged �hen the modernistic culture creations. These �or��s could, in other �ords, be mar��ed as the established the dominating values and models of e�pression effects of derivation and physical perception/observation in during the Cold War epoch. 361 It arose as a criticism of the sculptural performances. The sculptor in the Red sculpture 358 modernistic dominance in culture and its models of autonomy series adopts, rearranges and renames metal semi�products and specialization of special arts, apolitical quality, abstract (processed, �elded pieces of metal) and places them on a pedi� formalism, aesthetic formalism and clear differentiation be� ment, the result of �hich is the “appearance” of the model of t�een high modernistic elite art and mass modernistic popular monumental sculpture. These “cynical sculptures” are offered art and culture. While the early Avant�garde �as developing as a ��ind of an undetermined and arbitrary “removed trace” of projective po�er of an ideal Utopia, neo�Avant�garde �as monumental sculptures from the age of socialist �odernism. establishing the models of critical �or�� and, on the other side, Their character of the trace of socialism is emphasized �ith the the possibility of an actual Utopia. use of a red metal frame around the pediment and the sculp� �ost�Avant�garde is a name for a variety of mutually dif� ture. The parado� of these �or��s is that they suggest a cynical ferent movements from the end of the si�ties, in �hich the historical heritage of �odernism and Avant�gardes is being reassessed in a theoretical and practically�critical manner. The 355 Ješa Denegri, ”Postenformel reduktivna apstrakcija“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, characteristics of �ost�Avant�garde are: fenomeni granica, Contemporary Visual Arts Museum, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 76–81. 356 Nobuja Abe represented the teachings of utter nothingness of thought before God. Nothingness is connected with reductionism and non-referentiality in painting of his followers. See: Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, “Catholic Universality and Pagan Interna- 359 Peter Birger, Teorija avangarde (The Theory of the Avant-garde), Narodna knjiga, tionalism”, http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/PCO/catholic_universality.htm Belgrade, 1998 357 Suzana Vuksanović (ed.), Nova skulptura u Vojvodini 1980–2000, Museum of Contem- 360 Mikloš Sabolči, Avangarda & Neoavangarda (The Avant-garde and the Neo-Avant- poray Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 2006. garde), Narodna knjiga, Belgrade, 1997 358 Sava Stepanov (ed.), Mira Brtka: Crvena skulptura, Center for Visual Culture ”Zlatno 361 David Caute, The Dancer Defects – The Struggle for Cultural Supremacy during the Cold oko“, Novi Sad, 2007. War, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003 7 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina  1. The non�e�istence of Utopian vie�s (criticism of Utopian of Yugoslav peoples. For e�ample, the great mainstream �as a in Avant�gardes and neo�Avant�gardes); concept and anticipation of integrated Yugoslavianism, �hich 2. Theoretically elaborated ideological and linguistically�se� �as presented as a sculpture by Ivan �eštrović �ith a model miological analysis of the nature of art and culture; for the Vidovdan Temple (1912�1913). Because of that, Avant� 3. Applying Avant�garde and neo�Avant�garde radical, gardes �ere a reaction to a secessionist and symbolic discourse e�cess and e�perimental procedures to the ne� media models of mainstream through the acceleration of the transformation of e�pression. of postimpressionism into e�pressionism and cubism, and �ost�avant�garde is manifested through various tendencies: Dada. Bet�een 1910 and 1918 several Avant�garde phenomena 1. Theoretical criticism of �odernism (conceptual art, appear, anticipating at the time contemporary modernistic and semio�art); Avant�garde ideas, though they never shaped into Avant�garde 2. Simulation of Avant�garde and neo�Avant�garde strate� movements. With the beginning of the �ingdom of Serbs, Cro� gies in post�modernistic media culture of e�travaganza (neo� ats and Slovenes, and, a �hile later the �ingdom of Yugoslavia, conceptualism, simulationism); the cultural areas of, above all, Ljubljana, Zagreb and Belgrade 3. Simultaneous simulation of Avant�garde strategies and are formed, and their solid mutual relations are established. anti�Avant�garde models of e�pression in totalitarian societies Beyond this “capital” a�is, through the activist �or�� of the (retro�Avant�garde, art of perestroi��a); Avant�gardes (Dragan Ale��sić, Bran��o Ve �oljans��i [1898 � 4. Developing of conceptual and media procedures by 1947], Ljubomir �icić [1895–1971]) and political refugees from �hich ne� ecstatic Utopias of post�modernistic societies and Hungary, the Avant�garde events ta��e place in Slavonia (Osije��, their technological�hypermedia culture are projected (�od� Vin��ovci) and Vojvodina (Subotica, �ovi Sad). In these ��inds ernism a��er �ostmodernism, technological art). of conditions Avant�garde movements �ith clear platform Vojvodinian Avant�gardes emerge as a part of Yugoslav and statements appear, becoming e�cessively detached from the Hungarian Avant�garde. It involves a variety of e�cess, e�peri� main modernistic current. From the ideological point of vie�, mental, intermediary and interdisciplinary artistic phenomena Yugoslav Avant�gardes are le�� Avant�gardes, �hich means: in the interstice of literature and visual arts (Serbia, Croatia, 1. That they �ere party�politically or indirectly manifestly Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vojvodina) bet�een the connected to �ar�ism and communist party; years 1918 and 1935. During the 20s and early 30s, speci��c 2. That they �ere critically subversive in relation to values, Avant�garde cultures, such as Serbian, Vojvodinian, Croatian meanings and models of e�pression of modern urban bour� and Slovenian Avant�garde formed in the Yugoslav cultural geois society and its culture; and space. Ho�ever, they �ere not mutually isolated, but de��ned 3. That they are antiauthoritarian, anarchical and e�cessive by interte�tual and intersubjective e�changes and in��uences. in their speci��c and Avant�garde characteristics (the ideals of A ��o� of ideas, polemical situations and actions that made an freedom, difference, distinction). open, instable, inconsistent and concisely�e�panding �orld of The ��rst real Avant�garde magazine is Svetokret � List za Avant�garde �as created in Yugoslavia, �hich �as in compli� ekspediciju na Sjeverni pol čovjekovog duha (Svetokret � The cated relations �ith Hungarian, �erman, Czech, French and magazine for an expedition to the North Pole of a human Dutch Avant�garde. spirit), published by Virgil �oljans��i (Bran��o �icić, Bran��o The artistic and cultural situation in the Slavic south before Ve �oljans��i) in Ljubljana in 1921. The magazine �as entirely the First World War �as complicated: his �or�� and �as e�plicitly of cosmopolitan and Yugoslav 1. The �ingdom of Serbia is a country in �hich a nation� character (it �as published by a Serb from Croatia, intervening ally�bourgeois moderately�modernistic culture and the values pro�Dadaisticly �ith Slovene culture). of a bourgeois society are being established, under the in��u� Zenithism is an international art movement that emerged ence of French culture; in Zagreb (Croatia, the �ingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) 2. Vojvodina, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1921. The poet Ljubomir �icić starts the international mag� �ere a part of Austria�Hungary – their cultural milieu is de� azine Zenit (Zenith), manifestly forming a ne� Avant�garde termined by a �a��ening of national cultures and searching for movement “zenithism” 362, �hich �as active for si� years (1921 the national identities on one side, and megacultural frame of – 1926). Zenithism is an eclectic, e�cess and e�perimental in� Central European �odernism on the other side (cosmopolit� ternational Avant�garde movement that emerged in the social ism and eclecticism �hich develops under the in��uences of Vienna, Budapest, �unich, Berlin and �rague). It is a period of forming and realization of political and 362 Irina Subotić (ed.), Zenit i avangarda 20-ih godina, Narodni muzej i Institut za cultural idea of Yugoslavianism as a project of the future union književnost i umetnost (National Museum and Institute for Literature and Art), Belgrade, 1983. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 7  and cultural climate a��er the First World War 363, i.e. in the spheres and innovations a��er the First World War. 366 conditions created by deterioration of the Austro�Hungarian The zenithistic movement �as active in Zagreb from 1921 Empire and the constituting of the multinational �ingdom of to 1923, and in Belgrade from 1924 to 1926. The people �ho Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, i.e. the �ingdom of Yugoslavia. 364 contributed to the magazine �ere Zagreb Avant�gardes �arian The zenithistic movement is de��ned by attitudes and manifest �i��ac 367, Andra Jutronić, Jo �le�� 368, Vil��o �ecan 369, Vin��o rhetoric that �as important for early Avant�garde movements Foretić, Vjera Biller, Dragan Ale��sić 370, Belgrade Avant�gardes such as e�pressionism, futurism, vorticism, primitivism and �ihailo �etrov, Boš��o To��in, Rast��o �etrović, Stanislav Vi� cubofuturism immediately before the First World War. These naver and others. On an international and cosmopolitan level qualities are aesthetical and technical formalism, i.e. the aspi� zenithism �as de��ned by the cooperation �ith the French poet ration to�ards a ne� topology of te�t and picture. Further, the Ivan �oll (1891 – 1950) and Ale��sander Archipen��o, Robert emphasizing of individualism �ith a mar��ed dominating male Delaunay, Ilija Erenburg, Vasilije �adins��i, El Lissitz��y, Louis self�con��dence (machismo), the tendency to�ards national�im� Lozo�ic��, Theo van Doesburg, Hannes �eyer, László �oholy� perial syntheses, �hich move from the project of Yugoslavian� �agy and others. ism, the Bal��an man (the Bal��an barbarogenious, the Bal� Dragan Ale��sić (1901–1958) started his Dadaistic artistic ��anization of Europe) 365, the ne� man of bolshevism, fantasy �or�� as a student in �rague by organizing a number of Dadais� of the pan�Slovene quality to�ards the nationalistic realpoliti� tic evening events during 1921 and 1922. Together �ith Bran��o cal Serbianism. Zenithism is de��ned by an attempt to establish �oljans��i he set a string of Dadaistic events �ith the display an authentic Avant�garde art movement on the edges of the of visual poems and poetry reading in the Yugoslav Hall on territories of �iddle Europe, Central Europe and the Bal��ans: Štepans��a Street in the center of �rague. 371 At that point, a a movement from the Bal��ans and a movement for the Bal� program te�t �as created and �ritten on a 25 meter�long piece ��anic transformation of European civilisation. �any artists of rolled paper. Ale��sić �as under the in��uence of �erman and chance fello��travellers cooperated in the publishing of Dadaistic activism. Among others, he �as in contact �ith the magazine Zenit. The movement and the magazine �ere the �elchior Vischer (i.e. Emil Walter �urt Fischer, 1895 – 1975), �or�� of Ljubomir �icić and his �ife Anuš��a (�ina��aj) �icić, and he �as given a chance to participate in the Dadaistic at� and occasional activities and participation of �icić’s younger mosphere of �rague, �hich �as initiated by Raoul Hausmann brother Bran��o Ve �oljans��i. Zenit �as initiated in the post�se� (1886 – 1971) and Richard Huelsenbec�� (1892 – 1974) during cessionist and protoe�pressionistic atmosphere of Croatian art their guest engagements there (Hausmann and Huelsenbec�� in Zagreb immediately a��er the First World War. The notions held a morning performance in 1920, and Hausmann and �urt of e�pressionism, Dada, futurism, constructivism and abstrac� Sch�itters in 1921). Through Bran��o �oljans��i he cooperated tion infused the zenithistic activities that unfolded in compli� �ith Ljubomir �icić and the Zenit magazine in Zagreb during cated and contradictory�con��icted political relations bet�een 1921. He published a proclaiming article named “Dadaism” Croatian and Serbian cultures at the beginning of the 1920s. It in the third issue of Zenit (Zagreb, April 1921). He �rote a involved a dramatic situation of facing the national – Serbian, grotesque novel “The Outburst of Mr. Hristos” (Serbian: �rovala Croatian and Slovenian – ideologies �ith the establishing gospodina Hristosa ), �hich �as supposed to be published in and failure of performing the supernational “South�Slav” or the Zenit edition, but due to a con��ict �ith �icić the publish� “Yugoslav” identity. Ljubomir �icić �as a Serb �ho acted in ing did not happen. He published t�o Dadaistic international the Croatian social, cultural and artistic environment. Zenit magazines Dada Tank and Dada Jazz in Zagreb in 1922, and also emerged in the con��icting qualities and contradictions of Ve �oljans��i published an anti�Dadaistic magazine Dada Jok ethnically�national and culturally�social confrontations of the local Bal��anic cultures �ith the international artistic atmo� 366 Ljubomir Micić, ”Papiga i monopol �hrvatska kultura’“, Zenit, No. 24, Zagreb, 1923, pp. 1–2; Anthony D. Smith, “Nationalism and Modernism”; and Esther Levinger, “Ljubomir Micić and the Zenitist Utopia”, from: Timothy O. Benson (ed.), Central European Avant- Gardes: Exchange and Transformation, 1910–1930, LACMA, Los Angeles, 2002, pp. 68–80 and 260–278 367 Branimir Donat, ”Marijan Mikac, zaboravljeni tvorac Morisa Švarca“, Vjesnik Danica, Saturday, 11th September, 1993, pp. 20–21 363 See: Paul Peppis, “Introduction: Nations, empires, and the historical avant-garde”, from: 368 Vera Horvat-Pintarić (ed.), Josip Seissel, Gallery Nova, Zagreb, 1978; V. Bužančić, Josip Litterature, Politics, And The English Avant-Garde – Nation and Empire, 1910–1918, Cam- Seissel, Art Gallery ”Branko Dešković“, Bol, 1988; Marijan Susovski (ed.), Josip Seissel. bridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000, pp. 1–19 Nadrealističko razdoblje – slike, crteži, akvareli, tempere, pasteli, crtaći blokovi od 1920. do 1987, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 1997 364 Miško Šuvaković, “Impossible Histories”, from: Miško Šuvaković, Dubravka Đurić (eds.), Impossible Histories – Historical Avant-gardes, Neo-Avant-Gardes, and Post-avant- 369 J. Ladović, Vilko Gecan, Art Studio Azinović d.o.o, Zagreb, 1997 gardes in Yugoslavia, 1918–1991, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 2003, pp. 2–35. 370 Gojko Tešić (ed.), Dragan Aleksić – Dada Tank, Nolit, Belgrade, 1978 365 Ljubomir Micić, Ivan Goll, Boško Tokin, Manifest zenitizma, Biblioteka Zenit, No. 1, 371 Jindrich Toman, “Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Dada in Czechoslovakia, with Zagreb, 1921; or Ljubomir Micić, ”Paraliza Evrope – Politička novela“, from: Ljubomir Notes On High and Low”, from: Stephen C. Foster (ed.), The Eastern Dada Orbit: Russia, Micić, Zenitizam, Oktobar, Niš, 1991, pp. 32–33. Georgia, Ukraine, Central Europe and Japan, G. K. Hall & Co., New York, 1998, pp. 14–15. 0 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina (Zagreb 1922). The polemical zenithistic �or�� and actions of almanac Crno na belo (Black on White, 1924), Hipnos (Hypnos, Bran��o Ve �oljans��i �as in the public discourse of cultural 1922 – 1923), Svedočanstva (Testemonies, 1924 – 1925), 5� u and artistic controversy in the Vojvodinian culture of the Evropi (5� in Europe, 1928) to the Belgrade surrealistic move� t�entieth century, i.e. in the confrontation of the ne� and the ment (Nemoguće [Impossible], 1930; Nadrealizam danas i ovde old ones. 372 The signi��cant artist of European Dada collabo� [Surrealism today and here], 1931 – 1932; surrealistic publica� rated in publishing Dada Tank and Dada Jazz: Tristan Tzara, tions, etc.). �urt Sch�itters, Richard Huelsenbec��. Ale��sić introduces the One of the leading Serbian Avant�garde graphic artists and notion of Yugo�dada, pointing at the Yugoslav character of his painters �as �ihailo S. �etrov. In a short period of his life, he concept of Dadaism. The cities of Dadaistic events (morning �as connected to the Avant�garde tendencies. �etrov studied performances) during 1922 �ere Osije��, Vin��ovci, �ovi Sad at art school in Belgrade from 1919 to 1921. In 1921 he stayed and Subotica. Dadaistic events �hose leading protagonist �as in Vienna. There he became familiar �ith the theory of the Dragan Ale��sić himself too�� place in Osije�� and Vin��ovci 373, ne� or “absolute” painting of Vasilije �andins��i. He translated �hile at the performances in �ovi Sad and Subotica 374 poli� �adins��i’s piece “Sli��arstvo ��ao čista umetnost” (�ainting as Avant�garde eclectic confrontation of the effects of Dadaism, a pure art, �isao, Belgrade, 1922). He �as a contributor to the activism and zenithism happened. In �ovi Sad, a lecture �as magazines Zenit (Zagreb, 1921 – 1922), Dada Tank and Dada held that �as dedicated to the presentation of e�pressionistic Jazz (1922) and Út (�ovi Sad, 1922). He published abstract Da� activist art in 1922. 375 A battle for the “Avant�garde hegemo� daistic linocuts, �hich, together �ith the graphic e�periments nies” �as fought bet�een �aša��, �icić and Ale��sić’s posi� of Jo �le��, belong to the most signi��cant visual results of the tioning on the artistic scene of Southeast Europe. Dadaistic Serbo�Croatian Dada and zenithism. At that time he complet� events or morning performances �ere eclectic combinations ed his ��ey �atercolor painting Kompozicija 77 (Composition of e�hibition and cabaret. The basic idea �as to treat poetic 77, 1924). He continued his studies at the �ra��o� academy in lyrics as a score from �hich a theatrical or a stage event �ould 1923. He e�hibited at Prva Zenitova međunarodna izložba nove be performed. To that ��ind of stage and theatricality the role umetnosti (The First Zenith International E�hibition of the model �as the cabaret “spectacle”, and for the Dadaistic man� �e� Art), �hich �as held in the Stanković School of Music in ner of grotesque, parody and the carnevalisation, the paradig� Belgrade in 1924. He �as one of the organizers and the partici� matic role model �as certainly the Zurich Cabaret Walter from pants of the Sixth Yugoslav Exhibition in �ovi Sad in 1927. He 1916. �icić �as preparing himself to perform at the Subotica quit the Avant�garde e�periments in 1925 and turned to social morning performance, and he announced it in his program art. He lived in �ovi Sad from 1926 to 1929, �here he �or��ed paper “�ategorič��i imperativ zenitistič��e pesnič��e š��ole“ (The on landscapes, �hich brought him closer to the concepts of Categorical Imperative of the Zenithistic School of �oetry) 376. painting of the New Objectivity According to the available data, �icić probably �ithdre� from Vojvodinian historical Avant�gardes emerge in the compli� performing and distanced himself from Subotica Dadaists. 377 cated relations bet�een Serbian, Croatian, Yugoslav, Hungarian Serbian, or more precisely, Belgrade Avant�garde of the and Central European Avant�garde. Avant�gardes �ere an eclec� t�enties is de��ned by opposed currents: tic and critical art phenomenon, �hich �as, at the same time, 1. The activity of zenithists, the brothers �icić and a Dada� based on the rejection of the modernistic tradition (succession, ist, Dragan Ale��sić from 1923 – this tendency can be deter� symbolism), and also on the criticism of the mainstream and mined as Belgrade Avant�garde of Serbs from Croatia; and local �odernisms. While doing so, they basically appeared in 2. Serbian (Belgrade) Avant�garde, �hich emerged from the frame�or�� of the literary e�periment and spreading into the questioning the modernistic tendencies, �hose course leads area of visual arts and actionism. Art�or��s of Avant�garde �ere from the magazine Putevi (Roads, 1922 – 1924), through the the “event” of the Avant�garde behavior and act in the cultural conditions of the bourgeois national society. In contrast to 372 V. S-Z, ”Branko Ve Poljanski: Crveni petao, Belgrade, 1927“, Letopis Matice srpske, Vol. �odernism (Dobrović, Šumanović, �onjović) and the efforts of 314 No. 2, Novi Sad, 1927, pp. 304-305 modernistic artists to create the development of artistic activ� 373 Ivan Flod, ”Dada – Povodom dodadaističke matineje održane 20. VIII 1922. u Royal- Kinu“, Hrvatska obrana, No. 187, Osijek, 21. VIII 1921, pp. 2–3 ity, the characteristics of Avant�gardes �ere permanent e�cess 374 Vida Golubović (ed.), ”Dada u Subotici“, Književnost, br. 7–8, Belgrade, 1990, pp. “capriciousness” and the aspiration to�ards the end of traditions 1383–1423 and the provo��ing of normal artistic practices. 375 ”Aktivistički dadaistički matine“ (Hirlap, ( II/258, 11th of November 1922, pp. 3), from: Vida Golubović (ed.), ”Dada u Subotici“, Književnost, No. 7–8, Belgrade, 1990, pp. 1402 In the 1920s, a �ost�e�pressionistic, activist and �ro�Da� 376 Ljubomir Micić, ”Kategorički imperativ zenitističke pesničke škole“, from: Vida daistic movement of Hungarian 378 artists �ho concentrated Golubović (ed.), ”Dada u Subotici“, Književnost, No. 7–8, Belgrade, 1990, pp. 1404–1407 377 Ljubomir Micić, ”Povodon matineje �jugoslovenskih aktivista’�“, Zenit, No. 18, Zagreb, 1922, pp. 61 378 Imre Bori, Književnost jugoslovenskih Mađara, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1979 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 1  around an Avant�garde magazine in Hungarian, Út 379 (�ut, The collaboration bet�een the Viennese circle of Ma and Berlin �ovi Sad, 1922 – 1925) and the magazine Hirlap (Messenger 380, (Der Sturm, especially the theoretician Ernő �állai), or Bau� haus (László �oholy��agy, �arcel Brauer, Far��as �olnár) �as Subotica, 1922) acted in Vojvodina (�ovi Sad and Subotica). intensive. Other than that, Ma served – especially in the part of The magazine Út �as close to the Hungarian Activism of Lajoš the �orld �here Hungarian �as spo��en – as a model for other �aša��, �hile the Subotica Dadaists, concentrated around the Avant�garde groups and their publications. In the �ingdom of Dada club and the action program of the Dada morning per� Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), in �ovi Sad, a formances, �ere close to the Dadaism of Sándor Barta (Buda� group of young Hungarian Avant�garde �riters, concentrated pest, 1897 – USSR, 1938). The Subotica Dadaists �ere in direct around the magazine Út (Road) bet�een 1922 and 1925, tried collaborating contact �ith �icić’s Zenithism and Ale��sić’s Da� to, �ith basic intellectual and ��nancial help of Ma from Vienna, to perform precisely the activist practice that Ma established in daism. Other than Hungarian, Serbian authors also published Budapest bet�een 1916 and 1919. This attempt failed. The differ� in the magazine Út: Dragan Ale��sić, �ilan Dedinac, Žar��o ences are particularly interesting, since Út �as basically under the Vasiljević, Stanislav Vinaver, Rade Drainac, Boš��o To��in, in��uence of the Dadaists and Zenithists. Also interesting are the Stanislav Vinaver, Velislav Spasić, Ljubomir �icić, and others. less obvious, but not less recognizable connections bet�een Ma in The represented painters �ere: Sava Šumanović and �ihailo Vienna and Avant�garde magazines Periszkóp and Genius, �hich �etrov. 381 The Hungarian emigration is formed right a��er �ere published in Arad (Transylvania, Romania) throughout 1925 and 1926. During his last t�o years in Vienna, �aša�� established the First World War, �hen the le�� oriented intellectuals ��ed e�traordinary connections �ith Das Junge Schlesien (The Young from Budapest and Republic of Baranya at the time of Hortij’s Schleisers), a group of artists that acted on the �erman spea��ing political terror. The Avant�garde center of Hungarian activism territory. He dedicated the last issue of the magazine Ma (15th June is formed in Vienna, and part of the emigration ��nds shelter 1925) to their �or��, and the rest of the material �as published in in the �ingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, above all in Bel� the Budapest magazine Dokumentum the follo�ing year. 383 grade, Beč��ere��, �ovi Sad and Subotica. 382 Those �ere: Zoltán Unli��e the magazine Út, the artists from Subotica �ere Csu��a (�landište, 1901. – Erd, 1984), János Csu��a (1902–1962), close to the Dadaistic approach of Sándor Barta. Barta acted Flóris �i��es, �éter Lőrinc (pseudonyms: Árpád Láng, Žar��o in �aša��’s circle in Vienna until 1922, �hen he started a le�� �lamenac), and from other parts of Hungary came: Sándor Ha� oriented magazine Akasztott Ember (The Hanged Man 384, 1922 raszti, István Tamás �rausz, Lajos Fe��ete, János Dettre, as �ell – 1923), �hich had an in��uence on the Subotica Dadaistic as painters �etar Dobrović, Jenő Len��ei, �éza Hódi and others. stage. The Subotica Activist and Dadaist morning performanc� The intellectual and political climate that these authors created es �ere connected to �icić’s Zenithistic and Ale��sić’s Dadais� �as signi��cantly connected to the problem of the double status tic performances. For e�ample, the invitation to the Morning of the “emigrant minority” and the minority �ere open to the Performance (Matine) in �ovember of 1922 �as entitled “The emancipatory and international project of �odernism, above Yugoslav Activists” (Jugoslovens��i a��tivisti). On the invita� all to the Avant�garde reception and developments of �aša��’s tion, the follo�ing artists could be found: Ljubomir �icić, Activism and international Dada. These authors established Endre Arató, Árpád Láng 385, Zoltan Ču��a, Andor Sugár, Virgil and retained the “speech platform” of Hungarian language �oljans��i, Dragan Ale��sić, �ihailo �etrov, Sándor Barta, Lajoš from �hich they communicated �ith authors of Croatian �aša�� and others. 386 and Serbian �odernism and Avant�garde. In this conte�t, The magazine Út and Subotica morning performances �ere the “transcultural” model of communication �as anticipated essentially, pro or against, connected to �aša��’s Activism, as among the minority groups on their o�n, Hungarian language. �as the Zenithistic project of Ljubomir �icić. Activism is also The authors that �ere concentrated around the magazine Út the name of the Hungarian Avant�garde �ro�Dadaistic and �ere supported by �aša�� and his circle in Vienna. The follo�� Constructivist movement formed and led by Lajoš �aša�� from ing quotation also tells about �aša��’s international cultural 1915. The movement got its name from the literary�political politics in Europe and the “region”: magazine A Tett, �hich �as founded by �aša�� in 1915. The magazine �as of anarchistic, revolutionary and antimilitaristic 379 According to the available data, six issues of magazine Út have been saved: No. 1, 2 orientation. It �as prohibited in 1916, and a��er the prohibition, and 3 from 1922, No. 1 from 1923, No. 1 from 1924 and No. 1 from 1925. 380 Hirlap (Messenger) is a magazine of Yugoslav Hungarians. The magazine was founded in Subotica, in December of 1921. It was banned in 1929. 383 Pál Deréki, ”Vienna“, from: Timothy O. Benson (ed.), Central European Avant-Gardes: 381 Ferenc Nemet, ”Predstavnici srpske avangarde u mađarskom časopisu Út“, from: Exchange and Transformation, 1910–1930, LACMA, Los Angeles, 2002, pp. 169–170 Vida Golubović, Siniša Tunjević (eds.), Srpska avangarda u periodici, Matica srpska Novi Sad and Institute for Literature and Art, Belgrade, 1996, pp. 387-393 384 Časopis Akasztott Ember (Hanged Man) was an activistic magazine which was pub- lished by Sándor Barta in Vienna in 1922 and 1923. 382 Vida Golubović, ”Dada u Subotici“, Književnost, No. 7–8, Belgrade, 1990, pp. 1383–1388; and Marija Cindori, ”Aktivistička dadaistička matineja u Subotici“, from: 385 LángLáng �rpád: Idő és művészet (Aktivista írások). Életjel, Szabadka, 1972, translation: �rpád: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Arpad Lang: Time and Art (Activist writings). Eletjel, Subotica, 1972 Granični fenomeni, fenomeni granica, Muzej savremene likovne umetnosti, Novi Sad, 386 Vida Golubović, ”Dada u Subotici“, Književnost, No. 7–8, Belgrade, 1990, pp. 2002, pp. 32–49 1383–1388; annexe, pp. 1401. 2 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina Lajoš �aša�� started the magazine Ma (Today). The magazine throughout the 20s. Zoltán Csu��a’s boo��, Megyünk: versek 3�2 , Ma started under the in��uence of E�pressionism and the �er� published in �ovi Sad in 1923, is associated �ith Far��as �ol� man magazine Der Sturm, from �here it developed to�ards the nár. The author of the poems is Zoltán Csu��a, Far��as �olnár speci��c Activist subtypes of Dadaism and Constructivism. Af� did the illustrations, and Zoltán Ember (???? � ????) designed ter the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, Ma �as published the constructivist – activist covers. The covers of the boo�� of in Vienna, �here the ��rst foreign issue �as published in 1920. poems of Zoltán Csu��a, Fundámentom 393, �ere designed by A Hungarian emigrant circle of artists �as formed in Vienna. Far��as �olnár. 394 It �as an e�ceptionally precise and obvious �e� artistically and politically oriented magazines �ere de� e�ample of the ne� graphic typographical design developed in tached from the magazine Ma, Akasztott Ember (The Hanged the European Constructivism. 395 Man), Egység (Unity) and Ék (Wedge). The Hungarian Activism Surely, one can also mention certain connections bet�een had important features of Central or �iddle European Avant� artists and students of Bauhaus �ith the Yugoslav and Vo� gardes, �hich means that it �as organized as a dynamic and jvodinian territory. According to the register of students in eclectic movement, �hich separated itself from the mythical Bauhaus, the follo�ing students came from the territory of atmosphere of E�pressionism and developed as a critical and the �ingdom of Yugoslavia or the South�Slav territory: �as le�� oriented practice close to the subversive Dada and to the Baranyai (�aria Bárányai), Oti Berger, Aogosto Černigoj (Av� speci��cally�utopian Constructivism. The very �ord “Activism” gust Černigoj, Trieste 1898. – Sežana 1985), Jaetav Bohutins��y, denoted a heterogeneous set of modernistic and progressivistic Selman Selmanagić (Srebrenica 1905 � Berlin 1986) and Ivana ideas about speed, active effects in society, transformations of Tomljenović (Zagreb 1906 � Zagreb 1988) and Henri�� Stefan. reality, brea��ing of the tradition and a�a��ing of the spirit of The Constructivistic artist László �oholy��agy (Bács� modernity. borsód, 1895 – Chicago, 1946), according to the memories 396 of his brother Jenő �agy, spent part of his childhood in the village Mohol, today in Vojvodina, on the ban��s of Tisa. This Digressions about Avant-gardes and Bauhaus ( p.226) to�n of several thousand inhabitants �as, at the time of László �oholy��agy’s childhood, divided into Hungarian and Ser� The information about the acting of the Avant�garde school for bian parts of the to�n. László �oholy��agy started adding the artists Bauhaus 387 (Vajmar, Desau, Berlin, 1919 – 1933) �ere name “�oholy” to his surname in 1919. László �oholy��agy famous among Vojvodinian Avant�gardists inside the circle had a tumultuous life: he started his career as an artist in Bu� around Zoltán Csu��a. 388 Ho�ever, a special “case” of interna� dapest, then �or��ed in Vienna in the circle around Lajoš �aša�� tional connecting �as a relation bet�een the magazine Út and and, some time later, in �ermany. He �as one of the most the artists that collaborated in the group KURI 389 (Konstruktiv, in��uential lecturer�artists in Bauhaus (1923 – 1928). He had a Utilitär, Rationell, International) in Bauhaus, �ith Far��as �ol� signi��cant in��uence on the development of Constructivism, nár (�ečuj, 1897 – Budapest,1945), Weininger Andor (�ara� ne� typography and graphic design, as �ell as the ne� media, mas, 1899 – �e� Yor��, 1986), �eler �eter (�iel 1898 – Wei� above all photography and ��lm. A��er he had le�� the Bauhaus, mar 1982), and others. The �anifesto 390 of the group �URI he �ent to Berlin, then �aris and the �etherlands. He settled �as originally published in the magazine Út, �hich �as the in London in 1935. He moved to Chicago in 1937, �here he be� consequence of the collaboration �ith Zoltán Csu��a. 391 The came the principal of the New Bauhaus. He founded the School manifesto of the group KURI is one of the rare Constructivis� of Design (1939), �hich �as transformed into the Institute of tic agenda documents ��rst published in Vojvodina and Serbia Design (1944). Behind him he le�� a great painting, sculptural, photographic and designer �or��. �e�t to the Je�ish – Soviet architect and painter, El Lisic��i (1980 – 1941), he �as one of the 387 Catalogue: Bauhaus, Institut f�r auslandsbeziehungen (Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade and Galleries of the City of Zagreb, Zagreb), Stuttgart, 1981; Miško Šuvaković, Estetika apstraktnog slikarstva. Apstraktna umetnost i teorija umetnika 20-ih godina, Narodna knjiga, Belgrade, 1998 388 Zoltan Čuka, ”Bauhaus“, Letopis Matice srpske 102, 315, 2, Novi Sad, February of 1928, pp. 273-274 389 Éva Bajkay, ”Weimar“, from: Timothy O. Benson (ed.), Central European Avant-Gardes: Exchange and Transformation, 1910–1930, LACMA, Los Angeles, 2002, pp. 208; Molnár 392 Csuka Zoltán, Megyünk, Reklam, Novi Sad, 1923 Farkas – Festő, grafikus, építész, Kassák Múzeum, Budapest, 1997, pp. 1, 13; Bakos Kata- lin, ”A Könyvm�vész és reklámgrafikus“, from: Molnár Farkas – Festő, grafikus, építész, 393 Csuka Zoltán, Fundámentom, Faust, Novi Sad, 1924 Kassák Múzeum, Budapest, 1997, pp. 19–20, 22, 30 394 Jaroslav Andel, Avant-Garde Page Design 1900-1950, Delano Greenidge Editions, New 390 ”KURI Manifesztum“, Út, Újvidék, December 1922; also, Farkas Molnár, ”KURI Mani- York, 2002, pp. 182 festo“, from: Timothy O. Benson, Éva Forgács (eds.), Between Worlds: A Sourcebook of 395 These books and their “new” Bauhaus design were pointed out to me by Darko Central European Avant-Gardes, 1910–1930, LACMA, Los Angeles, 2002, pp. 455–456 Šiminčić. 391 Csuka Zoltán, Molnár Farkas, Reklam, Urania, Novi Sad, 1923; and Zoltan Čuka, Arpad 396 ”Reminiscences of Jenő Nagy, brother of László Moholy-Nagy“, from: Krisztina Pas- Balaž, Vojvođanska galerija (Vajdasági Galéria), Minerva, Subotica, 1927 suth, Moholy Nagy, Thames and Hudson, London, 1985, pp. 384 i 433 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 3  most important international propagandists of Constructivism The case of Boško Tokin (Serbian edition, p.232) and the modern style. 397 Otti Berger 398 (Zmajevac 399, 1898 – Ausch�itz, 1944) �as Boš��o To��in (Ča��ovo, 1894 – Belgrade, 1953) �as an impor� born into a Je�ish family in Zmajevac in Baranya. She stud� tant Avant�garde “activists”, critics, �riters of manifestos and ied at the Academy of Arts in Zagreb from 1921 to 1926. She artists. He �or��ed in a heterogeneous ��eld of radicalizations of enrolled in the Bauhaus in Desau in 1927. She did the prelimi� �odernism. He �rote literary and ��lm revie�s, and �or��ed as nary course �ith László Weisz, and her tuition �ith Vasilije a ��lm theoretician 404, ��lm director, novelist and journalist 405. �adins��i and �aul �leo. She studied te�tile design in the Bau� Tol��in received education in Vršac, Zemun and Temišvar. He haus �eaving mill. 400 She �or��ed �ith �ünte Stolz and Anni �as a volunteer in the Serbian military bet�een 1914 and 1917. Albers in the te�tile department of Bauhaus. She e�hibited on He studied �orld literature at Sorbonne in �aris bet�een 1917 the Third Exhibition of the Earth in Zagreb in 1931, �here she and 1920. In France he published ��lm revie�s and translations e�hibited her te�tile �or��s. Belgrade journalist and former of poetry. He lived in Zagreb bet�een 1921 and 1922. Together Avant�gardist, Stanislav Vinaver, �rote about his encounter �ith Ljubomir �icić and Ivan �ol he �rote The Manifesto of �ith Otti Berger in Bauhaus: Zenithism (Serbian: Manifest Zenitizma). 406 In the ��rst issues She is in the te�tile department. ... She tells me about her jour� of Zenit he published te�ts, revie�s and manifestos. 407 He neys, her ecstatic mood even �ith her hearing impairment, in performed �ith the Belgrade literary group Alfa, �hich an� searching for the tangible meanings through matter, through life perceived more harshly, more tangibly… 401 nounced the end of its cooperation �ith �icić’s Zenithism. 408 He �or��ed �ith the magazines Comedia (Belgrade, 1923 She �or��ed independently as a te�tile designer from 1932 – 1926), and Drainac’s magazine Hipnos and magazine Putevi to 1937 in Berlin. She moved to London in 1937, �ith the archi� (1923 – 1926). He �or��ed on collages. Together �ith the Dada� tect Hilbersheimer. She came bac�� to her hometo�n in 1938 to ist, Dragan Ale��sić, he directed the ��lm Kačaci u Topčideru attend to her sic�� mother. She received an invitation to come (Fugitives in Topčider, 1924). He founded the magazine Film to �e� Bauhaus �ith László Weisz, but she didn’t get a visa for (1925 – 1926) in Zagreb. With the essay Estetika filma (The the USA. Her �hole family �as deported to a concentration Aesthetic of Film, 1928) he set the principles of the open and camp in Hungary, and from there to Ausch�itz in 1944, �here dynamic modernistic aesthetic of ��lm and art: her trail ran cold. 402 The aesthetic of ��lm is not and it cannot be de��nite, if nothing, Stefán Henri�� (�aria��emend 1896 – Budapest 1971) then because of the degree on �hich the seventh art is. There are studied in �eć. As a Baranyan he ethnically declared himself as many things that prevent, as �e noticed earlier, the more superior, Hungarian, �erman and Serbian. He belonged to the artistic more spiritual constructions, but the road to crystallization is certain, the road to aestheticizing of the dynamic. “Every man is circle of �eć. He studied graphic in Bauhaus in Vajmar from entitled to one dream, but he should act so as to ful��l that dream” 1921 to 1922 and in Bauhaus in Desau in 1925. He �or��ed in – that �as the title of an American ��lm. A ��lm has its dream, its Hungary from 1928. One of his �or��s e�ecuted in a combined ideal – by realizing itself, it contributes to the realizing of the hu� technique (lithography and aquarelle), Monte Venere from man ideals. That is �hat all arts pursue. 409 1921, �as published in the Bauhaus series of graphics “ Evrop� He developed a journalist career. He published a novel s��a �ra����a” (European �raphic). 403 about modern Belgrade life, Terazije (1932). He criticised �iloš Crnjans��i’s right oriented magazine Ideje (Ideas). He founded the magazine Film in Belgrade in 1936. He �or��ed �ith the 397 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Painting Photography Film, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 1973; magazines Kolo (Circle) and Filmske Novosti (Film �e�s) in i Laszlo Moholy Nagy, Vision in Motion, Paul Theobald & Company, 1947 Belgrade from 1942 to 1947. He �as convicted as a journal� 398 I was pointed out to the life, education and work of Otti Berger by Darko Šimunčić in numerous fascinating conversations about ex-Yu and Croatian Avant-garde/Avant- ist for collaboration �ith �erman occupiers and sentenced to gardes. Also see: Jadranka Vinterhalter (ed), Prodori avangarde u hrvatskoj umjetnosti prve polovice 20. stoljeća, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2007, pp. 14, 17, 166, 170. 399 According to Željko Koščević, Otti Berger was born in Senta or Bački Monoštor. See 404 Boško Tokin, ”Estetika filma“ (1928), Filmske sveske, No. 3, Belgrade, 1971, pp. 263–267; Željko Koščević (ed), Ivana (Koka) Tomljenović / Bauhaus Dessau 1929-1930, Galleries of Boško Tokin, Vladeta Lukić, Filmski leksikon, Bratstvo-jedinstvo, Novi Sad, 1953 the city of Zagreb, Zagreb, 1983, pp. 3. 405 Gojko Tešić (ed.), Avangardni pisci kao kritičari, Matica srpska, Novi Sad and Institute 400 Sigrid Weltge-Wortmann, Sigrid Weltge, Bauhaus Textiles: Women Artists and the for Literature and Art, Belgrade, 1994, pp. 49–124 and 671–687 Weaving Workshop, Thames and Hudson, London, 1998 406 Ljubomir Micić, Boško Tokin, Ivan Goll, Manifest zenitizma, Zenitistička biblioteka, 401 Stanislav Vinaver, ”Dom gradnje u Desau“, Politika No. 8222, Belgrade, 28th of March Zagreb 1921 1931, pp. 9 407 Boško Tokin, ”Evropski pesnik Ivan Goll“, Zenit, No. 1, Zagreb, 1921, pp. 5–6 i 8; ”U at- 402 Barbara V. Lucadou, ”Otti Berger – Stoffe f�r die Zukunft“, from: Wechsel Wirkungen mosferi čudesa“, Zenit, No. 3, Zagreb, 1921, pp. 2–3; ”Ma i mađarski pokret aktivizma“, – Ungarische Avantgarde in der Weimarer Republik, Jonas Verlag, Marburg, 1986, pp. Zenit, No. 6, Zagreb, 1921, pp. 12 etc. 301–311 408 ”Alpha – beogradska literarna zajednica“, in: Kritika – Književno-umetnička revija, 403 Eva Bajkay, “Weimar”, from Thimoty O. Benson (ed.), Central European Avant-Gardes: Zagreb, November–December, 1921 Exchange and Transformation, 1910–1930, LACMA, Los Angeles, 2002, pp. 207 i 408 409 Boško Tokin, ”Estetika filma“ (1928), Filmske sveske, No. 3, Belgrade, 1971, pp. 267 4 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina imprisonment (1947 – 1951, Zabela – �ožarevac). He published The art historian Dimitrije Bašičević �rote about the ��lm revie�s in the magazines Film and Republika (Republic), companionship of Sava Šumanović and Slav��o Vor��apić, and he published Filmski leksikon (The Film Lexicon, 1953). With Vor��apić’s in��uence on Šumanović: his Avant�garde te�ts, collages, ��lm studies and directing of It appears that, other than Jung, his friend and classmate Slav��o a ��lm, Boš��o To��in made a signi��cant step into the area of Vor��apić in his o�n �ay had an in��uence on Šumanović. “In that period I learned a lot from my classmate Vor��apić Slav��o, �ho research of the Avant�garde and modernistic art. had the fortune to leave the grammar school and enroll in the Bel� grade school �ith �r. Ljubo Ivanović. From that friend I learned the pencil dra�ing technique and nice dra�ing in nature.” 411 The case of the American Avant-garde film director: In late secessionist style Vor��apić dre� and painted Slavko Vorkapić (Serbian edition, p.234) landscapes and nudes, and studies for fantasy and mystical paintings. From the beginning of the �ar to the retreat of the Slav��o Vor��apić �as born in the Syrmian village of Dobrinci Serbian army through Albania, Vor��apić �or��ed as a teacher near Srems��a �itrovica in 1894. He received education in in �ratovo near Les��ovac. There he �as in contact �ith the Srems��a �itrovica and Zemun, and continued his studies of mon�� Dionisije Bur��ić, �ho had special interests in theosophy painting in the School of Arts in Belgrade. He then continued and occultism. He �as attracted by mysticism and visionary his studies of art in Budapest �ith a scholarship from �atica poetics. A��er the retreat of the Serbian army through Alba� srps��a. He studied painting at the Budapest academy until the nia he �as in France. In France he stayed in a pupils’ colony beginning of the First World War. He moved in the circles of in Voreppe near �renoble. He soon �ent to �aris �here he art students and artist in Budapest, among �etar Dobrović, enrolled in the Academy (Ecole Des Beau� Arts) in the class of Vladimir Fila��ovac (1892 – 1972), Đo��o �azalić (1888 – 1975), Fernard Cormon. He visited free art schools at �ontparnasse, Sablja�� (???), Vil��o Šeferov (1896 – 1974) and Ivan �undrum �hich �ere led by members of the Les Nabis Maurice Denis at (1892 – 1967). According to To��in, before the First World War, the Ranson Academy, and ateliers of �er�Xavier Roussel, �ierre Zemun �as a busy and dynamic political and artistic center. During his brea�� he �ould come home to Zemun �here, at the time, Bonnard, of the Cubist André Lhote and others. He associated there �as a �hole group of artists. Zemun �as a small Darmstadt or �ith To��in, Deš��ović and Tin Ujević in �aris. His �or��s �ere Fontainebleau. We could say that there �as a Zemun school of artists. reproduced in the magazine Art et les Artistes. He participated Other than Vor��apić, there �ere: Sambunja��, at the time a student in the Exhibition of Yugoslav Artists (Serbian: Izložba jugoslov� of Franz Stuc�� in �unich, then Sablja��, Sava Šumanović, �ilan enskih umetnika) in Petit Palais de la Ville de Paris from 12th �edelj��ović, �era �ap, Bogdanović and the then and present�day April to 13th �ay 1919. A��er the tumultuous �arisian artistic mayor, Dr. �era �ar��ović. Zemun – and this above all refers to the life, certain successes and great disappointments, he travelled youth – �as not only revolutionary, a to�n of secret decades, �hose leader �as �i��ola �ratić (present�day professor and �riter), �ho to the USA in 1920. His great dream of the ne� �orld and a spread among us the ideas of Vasa Stajić about “the ne� Serb”. Be� successful career �as “America”. Even in 1917 he �rote in his sides those revolutionaries, there �ere also artists in Zemun, some of notes: �hich �ere members of a secret society. The people of Zemun could If the evolution �ants me to do something for it, may it o��en see ho� their mayor goes �ith us – I �as also active in painting transfer me to America and may it give me all the necessary at the time – to �ardoš, Radec��i and other picturesque parts of Ze� resources. 412 mun, even �upinovo, to paint landscapes. There in Zemun Vor��apić’s artistic personality began developing, there �e became enthusiastic He arrived in America as a �aiter or a dec��hand on the about the ne� art, seeing in Hodler the strongest representative of the transatlantic ship Ile�de�France. He spent some time in �e� ne� possibilities. Hodler �as our “god”, the one that thre� a shado� Yor��, doing various jobs, from an advertising artist to a por� over Clinger, Roden and all the others that �e highly appreciated trait painter. In San Francisco he �or��ed in the �ingdom of until then. Holder and �eštrović �ere the personi��cations of our Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’ consulate. He settles in Los Angeles tendencies “in spite of the unheroic times”. We e�pected the grandi� in 1921. He does various jobs to survive. Among others, he ose, �e thought that “our time �as coming, that ne� and �onderful ne� forces are a�a��ing”. We e�pected the Renaissance, or rather, �e dre� a portrait of one of the stars of silent ��lms, Bebe Daniels. �ere convinced that �e, Serbo�Croats, as �e called ourselves, �ould A��er that he �or��ed as a retoucher for a photographer, and as have a golden share in the general Renaissance of Europe. We felt that a supporting actor a��er the acquaintanceship �ith the ��lm di� there �ould be great battles, but, understandably, �e could not even rector Re� Ingram. He acted in the ��lms The Prisoner of Zenda suspect that the World War �as at our doorstep… 410 411 Dimitrije Bašičević, ”Život“, from: Sava Šumanović – život i umetnost (the first edition: 1960), edition of Vojin Bašičević, Novi Sad, 1997, pp. 10 410 Boško Tokin, ”Putovi Slavka Vorkapića – etape: Zemun, Belgrade, Budimpešta, 412 Vorkapić’s note from 28th of February 1917 – according to Boško Tokin, ”Putovi Slavka Kratovo, Pariz, Holivud“, Letopis Matice srpske book. 315 volume 3, Novi Sad, 1928, pp. Vorkapića – etape: Zemun, Belgrade, Budimpešta, Kratovo, Pariz, Holivud“, Letopis 453-454 Matice srpske book 315 volume 3, Novi Sad, 1928, pp. 453 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 5  (1922), Scaramouche (1923), etc. He lived in Santa Barbara and 2. As speci��c, but marginally positioned realizations of Holly�ood. He painted and �rote essays about ��lm aesthet� great modernistic and Avant�garde technological, emancipa� ics for living from 1925. He published his essays in the famous tory, political and artistic Utopias; and Holly�ood ��lm magazine Film Mercury. Together �ith the 3. As the establishment of authentic critical, e�cessive, e�� ��lm director Robert Florey he made a short post�E�pressionist perimental and emancipatory artistic practices in the cold��ar satirical ��lm The Life and Death of ���3 a Hollywood extra 413 climate of the dominating High �odernism. from 1927 to 1928. In the creating of this ��lm, �rivo��apić The historical Avant�gardes 416 �ere, on one hand, the ad� �or��ed on the shooting, dra�ings and part of the direction. vance guard or the driving paradigm for the establishing of the With the support of the director Josef von Sternberg, Vor��apić modernist culture, and, on the other hand, the criticism of the started �or��ing on technical jobs for the �aramount ��lm traditionalisation of �odernism inside the bourgeois moder� company from 1928. With the support of David Selzni��, he ate and stabile modernity, but also the canonized autonomy of started �or��ing for the R�O Company and became a co�direc� art. On the contrary, the �eo�Avant�gardes no longer had the tor and an editor in his ��lms Viva Villa (1932) and Dancing status of the advance guard or the driving paradigm in relation Lady (1933). He co�directed four ��lms �ith �eorge Cu��or. to the �odernism, but they have a character of the corrective, Vor��apić became the head of the editing department in the alternative, critical or subversive practice inside the dominat� ��� Company, �here he �or��ed until 1939. For some time he ing High �odernism of the late and post�industrial society. tried to �or�� in industrial ��lms in �e� Yor��. He made his ��rst Because of that, the paradigms of the �eo�Avant�garde cannot e�perimental ��lm, Fingal’s Cave/Modes of the Sea in 1940 �ith be simply identi��ed as the second hand Avant�garde, 417 but the Holly�ood director and editor John Hoffman. He made must be interpretatively questioned as the e�ecutions of various his second e�perimental ��lm, named Forest Murmors in 1941. critical, emancipatory, creative, manufacturing or behavioral Throughout the Second World War he made political public� possibilities in art and culture of the High hegemonic �odern� ity ��lms in �e� Yor��. He made a documentary, named New ism. Some �eo�Avant�garde phenomena in their beginning Americans in 1944, about European artists, intellectuals and sci� directly reinterpret and recycle the practices of the histori� entists that emigrated to the USA during the Second World War, cal Avant�gardes. Some other �eo�Avant�gardes begin in the including Albert Einstein, Sto��o�s��i, Thomas �ann and others. very critical actuality of dominations and hegemony of the Vor��apić quit �or��ing in the ��lm industry �hen he �as elected High �odernism, for e�ample the art a��er the Informel, the a professor at the University of Southern California in Los An� American �eo�Dada, Flu�us, Happening and proto�conceptu� geles in 1948. He taught there until 1952. He taught at various alisms. Ho�ever, the thing that ma��es an artistic practice or in universities in Europe, and he taught at the Belgrade Academy an obvious �ay identi��es some other �or�� as �eo�Avant�garde of Arts in 1951. He died of a heart attac�� in Spain in 1976. is the critical relation to then topical High modernistic late or Slav��o Vor��apić is considered one of the ��rst American post�industrial culture and its hierarchical models of structure e�perimental directors and editors. He �rote numerous essays of the cultural autonomous identities, statuses, functions and and boo��s about aesthetics and theory of ��lm. 414 positions of the artistic practice. Vojvodinian �eo�Avant�garde groups: Zrenjanin and �ovi Sad te�tualists, groups Januar and Februar, group Bosch+Bosch, Neo-Avant-garde and conceptual art: group KÔD and group (∃ �or��ed in the range from te�tual e�� The asymmetrical other (Serbian edition, p.237) periment to the processual and conceptual art at the turn of the si�ties (1969 � 1970) and the seventies (1971 – 1973). 418 �eo�Avant�garde 415 is the name for the e�cess, e�perimental The radical �eo�Avant�garde intervention in the ��eld of and emancipatory artistic practices that emerged: critical and political art, or narro�er – ��lm, �as realized by the 1. As reconstructions, recycling or revitalisations of speci��c ��lm director Želimir Žilni�� (1942). He realized socially com� practices of historical Avant�gardes, especially Dada and mitted documentary and feature ��lms (Rani radovi [The Early Constructivism; Wor��s], 1969) in e� Yugoslavia from the late si�ties. Throughout the seventies he �or��ed as a critic of the bureaucratic system of 413 Avant-Garde – Experimental Cinema of The 1920s and ’30s – Films from the Raymond Rohauer Collection, Kino Video, New York, 2005 416 PaulPaul WoodWood The Challenge of the Avant-Garde, Yale University Press, New Haven, (ed.),(ed.), 414 David David Curtis, Curtis, “America “America between between the wars” the wars” Experimental Cinema, A delta Book, fromfrom 1999 New York, 1971, pp. 50, 52, 58, 62-63, 77; Marko Babac, Slavko Vorkapić – umentik, 417 Piter Birger, Teorija avangarde, Narodna knjiga, Belgrade, 1998, pp. 91 teoretičar i pedagog filma – Vizuelna priroda filma, Clio, Belgrade, 1994; Slavko 418 Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Scene jezika – Uloga teksta u likovnim umetnostima – Fragmen- Vorkapić, O pravom filmu, FDU, Belgrade, 1998. tarne istorije 1929–1990 – Antologija tekstova umetnika, book 2, ULUS, Belgrade, 1989; 415 HalHal Foster, Foster, “Who’s “Who’s Afraid Afraid of the of the Neo-Avant-Garde�”, Neo-Avant-Garde�”, from: The Return of the Real, The from: Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, Contemporary Visual MIT Press, Cambridge Mass., 1996, pp. 1–33 Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995  20 th Century Art In Vojvodina SFRY. 419 He realized a range of critically oriented documentary Zoran �ir��ović, Bran��o Andrić 427, Tibor Várady 428 [1939]), and feature ��lms throughout the 1980s and 1990s: Kenedi se ženi and in groups KÔD (Slobodan Tišma 429, Slav��o Bogdanović 430, (Kennedy is Getting Married, 2007), Kenedi se vraća kući (Ken� �iroslav �andić 431, Janez �ocijančić 432), Januar, Februar, nedy Goes Back Home, 2007), Tvrđava Evropa (Fortress Europe, Bosch+Bosch (Slav��o �at��ović 433, Bálint Szombathy 434, At� 2001), Kud plovi ovaj brod (Wanderlust, 1999), Dupe od mramo� tila Cserni��) and the group (∃ (Vladimir �opicl 435, �iša ra (Marble Ass, 1995), Tito po drugi put među Srbima (Tito’s Živanović). Also, one cannot ignore the fact that the e�peri� Second Time Among The Serbs, 1993), Tako se kalio čelik (The ment �ith �riting too�� place in an e�tremely multiethnic and Way Steel Was Tempered, 1988), Sve zvezde (All The Stars, 1985), multilingual environment. Certain poets and poetesses gre� up Abschied (Farewell, 1976), Paradies (Paradise, An Imperialistic parallel living in t�o or more languages. Their te�ts remained Tragicomedy, 1976), Rani radovi (Early Works, 1969). marginal, since they ��ept their distance from the �ell�estab� The e�perimental �or�� of the composer and ethnomusicolo� lished standards. They could not be put inside the frames of gist Ernő �irály 420 (1919) stands out among the Vojvodinian literature, since they �ere not constituted as lyrics or as prose, modernistic composers of artistic, popular and fol�� music (Josif nor could they be put in the frames of visual arts. They emerged �arin��ović [1851 � 1931], Isidor Bajić [1878 – 1915], �ároly on the edges and cross sections of literary genres, bet�een �rombholz [1905 – 1981], Sava Vu��osavljev [1914–1996], literature and art, bet�een theoretical discourse and literature. Rudolf Bruči [1917], �i��ola �etin [1920], Tranda��r Žuržovan They �ould not live up to the e�pectations of their readers, forc� [1924], Tibor Hartig [1934], �atija �olcer [1935], Ivan �ovač ing them to question their safe footholds and ��no�ledge. The [1937–1984], Jovan Adamov [1942], Svetozar – Saša �ovačević radical interventions in the te�t point to the fact that the author [1950], �iroslav Štat��ić [1951], Boris �ovač). �irály’s �eo� had con��dence in the language and the te�t and that he had Avant�garde e�perimental �or�� happened bet�een 1969 and little con��dence in the belief that there �as a coherent subject, 1978. He �or��ed in the domain of e�perimental composing and and he doubted the possibility of telling a coherent story. By performing vocal and instrumental music. He �or��ed on the crossing the ���ed genre boundaries, the te�ts sho� the rigidity �idening of the phenomenon and concept of the “sound”, and of the established genre system. Attitudes li��e these led to�ards on ideas and potentiality of the open musical �or��. He e�plored the e�ploration of the “ne� media”. the limits of traditional fol��, artistic and neo�technological in� struments. The special ��eld of research �as the ��eld of musical graphic (Tačke i linije [Dots and Lines,1972], Natpis na balonu Group Bosch+Bosch: or the new Activisms (Serbian edition, p.241) [Writing on a Balloon, 1973], Spiral [1976], Actiones [1977]). The Vojvodinian literary and artistic scene from the mid 60s The artistic �or�� of the group Bosch+Bosch 436 could be de� came to a radical transformation of poetry and interte�tual and scribed as a nomadic practice of moving over the Avant�garde, polygenre models of �riting. 421 Artists and �riters o��en �or��ed �eo�Avant�garde and �ost�avant�garde traces and codes. The in informal groups in Zrenjanin (Vujica Rešin Tucić 422, Vojislav group �as founded by Slav��o �at��ović 437 in Subotica in 1969. Despotov 423 [1950–2000], Jovica Aćin 424 [1946], Dušan Bijelić) and in �ovi Sad (Judita Šalgo 425 [1941–1996], �atalin Ladi�� 426, 427 Branko Andrić, ”Uvod u osnove mini-hepeninga“, Polja, No. 129–130, Novi Sad, 1969, pp. 5; Branko Andrić, Stranputice seksualne revolucije, KZ Novog Sada, Novi Sad, 1986 428 Varady Tibor, ”Ujka HO i Amerika“, Polja No. 131-132, Novi Sad, 1969, pp. 18; Tibor 419 ”Rani radovi“ (themat), Rok, No. 3, Belgrade, 1969; and Želimir Žilnik, Iznad crvene Varady, ”Izvan, unutar“, prevod Judita Šalgo, Polja, No. 140–141, Novi Sad, May–June prašine, Film Center Serbia, Belgrade, 2003 1970, pp. 25–28 420 ErneErne Kiraj, Refleksije, Forum, Novi Sad, 1998; Ira Prodanov, ”Razgovor sa kom- Kiraj, 429 Slobodan Tišma, Vrt kao to (Selected poems), Ruža lutanja, Belgrade, 1997 pozitorom Erneom Kiraljem“, Novi zvuk, No. 19, Belgrade, pp. ��–��; Milica Doroški, 430 Miško Šuvaković, Politika tela. Eseji o Slavku Bogdanoviću, Prometej and K21K, ”Stvaralaštvo Ernea Kiraja u kontekstu nove umetničke prakse (prekriveni glasovi kul- Novi Sad, 1997 ture: vojvođanska alternativna umetnička scena s kraja sedme i tokom osme decenije 431 Miroslav Mandić, Ja sam ti je on, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1984 XX veka)“, graduation thesis, Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad, 2005 432 Janez Kocijančić, Kameja vanvremenog, RU ”Radivoj �irpanov“, Novi Sad, 1975 421 Dubravka Đurić, ”Vojvođanski tekstualizam“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Cen- tralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, 433 Slavko Matković, Fotobiografija, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1985; Slavko Matković, fenomeni granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Art, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 84–88; Knjiga, City Library, Subotica, 1978 and Dubravka Đurić, ”Radical Poetic Practices – Concrete and Visual Poetry in the 434 Szombathy Bálint, Poetry – Concrete Visual Poems 1969–1979, Forum, Novi Sad, 1981 Avant-garde and Neo-avant-garde“, from: Miško Šuvaković, Dubravka Đurić (eds.), 435 Vladimir Kopicl, Aer, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1976 Impossible Histories – Historical Avant-gardes, Neo-Avant-Gardes, and Post-avant-gardes in Yugoslavia, 1918–1991, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 2003, pp. 64–95 436 Balint Szombathy, ”Značajniji momenti u radu grupe Bosch+Bosch“, from: Marijan Susovski (ed.), Nova umjetnička praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of Contemporary Art, 422 Ostoja Kisić (ed.), Vujica Rešin Tucić – Struganje mašte, Dnevnik, Novi Sad, 1991 Zagreb, 1978, pp. 48–50; Balint Szombathy (ed.), Bosch+Bosch, Showroom of the 423 Vojislav Despotov, Sabrane pesme, Town National Library “Žarko Zrenjanin”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, 1980; Ješa Denegri, ”Bosch+Bosch“, from: Zrenjanin, 2002 Ješa Denegri, Sedamdesete: Teme srpske umetnosti – Nove Prakse (1970–1980), Svetovi, Novi Sad, 1996, pp. 43–55; Nebojša Milenković, ”Bosch+Bosch“, in: ”Umetnost kao 424 Jovica Aćin, ”Prolegomena za Strip-Tease“, Polja No. 140-141, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 12-13 istraživanje umetnosti“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralnoevropski aspekti 425 Judita Šalgo, ”Rečnik“, Polja, No. 178, December 1973, pp. 12–13; and Judita Šalgo, 67 vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni granica, Museum minuta naglas, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1980 of Contemporary Visual Art, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 90–92 426 Ladik Katalin, Mesék a hétfejű varrógépről, Forum, Novi Sad, 1978 437 Nebojša Milenković (ed.), Ich bin Künstler Slavko Matković, MSLU, Novi Sad, 2005 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 7  The group enters the new artistic practices in 1971. Balint ing of art and life, meaning, more and more phenomena Szombathy 438 and László Szalma (1948) �ere in the group from everyday life obtained the artistic character. The group from the foundation; the group is joined by László �ere��es Bosch+Bosch gathered completely different, o��en competitive, (1954) during 1971, �atalin Ladi�� and Attila Cserni�� during individual nomadic and open researches and productions that 1973, and Ante Vu��ov (1954) during 1975. The activity of the �ere pointed to the radical criticism of the moderate social� group ta��es place in the border territory of Subotica, �hich is istic �odernism (for e�ample, Balint Szombathy – Bauhaus, in the border territories of �iddle Europe and in the border 1972). The group did not aim for the creation of a homogenous territories of the Bal��ans, or, politically, on the borderlines of community, but on the contrary, for the open and provocative East Europe. At the same time, it �as a far a�ay province and confrontations of various topical positions. There are almost a place of cosmopolitism that �as a characteristic for the re� no phenomena in the topical art that did not in one �ay or mains of the heterogeneous empires, such as Austria�Hungary. another problematize, tested or performed in Bosch+Bosch. The Subotica �as a city �here Hungarian, Serbian and Croatian �or�� of the group can be named the term new artistic practice cultures shoc��ingly and incompatibly come across each other or semio�art, rather than conceptual art, since the e�pressions in their heterogeneous, scattered and decentralized forms. In �ere pointed to�ards the hybrid potentialities of artistic cre� the parado�ical relations bet�een the incompatibility and the ation and e�ploration. László �ere��es performed interventions encounters, the nomadic �or�� of the group Bosch+Bosch �as in the natural space (Transformations of space: interventions emerging. Their nomadism is characterised by progress, not of the bottom of the �alić la��e, 1971 – 1972). László Szalma crossing over the distance, decentralized stories, subjectivity, performed neo�Dadaistic interventionist projects (Dada, 1972). elusive histories. Their �or�� happened in the place of hot con� Attila Cserni�� �or��ed in the domain of the concrete, visual junctions of various Avant�garde traditions and their historical and behavioral poetry (Telopis, 1975). Ante Vu��ov did concep� illustrations. Therefore, �hen their artistic heritage is observed tual �or��s �ith the ideas and appearance of everyday dra�n today, it is seen as a map of traces, not a collection of products lines (Linija, 1975). (language, not the body). Whether in the order of visual, �rit� ten or behavioral discourse, not a single element can function as a sign �ithout pointing to another element, �hich, ho�ever, Slavko Matković: the case of the nomad artist and/or is not simply present. That recursive (nomadic) connecting, the case of artistic nomadism (Serbian edition, p245) in the Bosch �or��, made every element constituted, starting from the trace of other elements of the chain or systems inside Special attention �ill be paid to the artistic projects of Slav��o it. That chain, and then �eb�li��e connecting �as an artistic �at��ović (1948 – 1994). 439 For e�ample, on the occasion of (visual, linguistic, behavioral) te�t, �hich �as created through the series of �or��s Selotejp tekstovi (Sellotape Te�ts, 1989) he transformations of other te�ts (pictures, forms of behavior, self�referentially �rote: “�y �hole life loo��s li��e these texts. It e�pression, coding). There �ere no innocent te�ts, only te�tual comes do�n to the strings of glued pieces – incomplete pieces promiscuities. It loo��ed as if �at��ović painted and multiplied of information – a narro�ly specialized �orld and life. These the lexias of the Avant�garde effects, by brea��ing them up glued pieces are my everyday forgotten telephone numbers, through the opacity of the �eo�Avant�garde e�periments and people, faces, data, boo��s and all the other tri��es that ma��e the �ost�avant�garde trans��gurations (transposition) of the everyday life in its fast passing.” 440 Self�consciousness about meaning, sense and values. The �or�� of the group members movement and immobility (about the distant spot of the “real” happened in the domain of special interventions, land�art, �orld �here commonplace and sublimated meet, about the poor art, mixed�media, project�art, concrete poetry, conceptual case that loo��s li��e a necessity, about the a�fulness of the art, visual semiology, ne� comics, mail�art, etc. Along �ith the province and the irrelevance of the place of creation for the practical artistic �or��, several authors developed the theoreti� “a�o��en” spirit) ma��es his parado�ical life of the matter of art. cal and critical practice (Slav��o �at��ović, Balint Szombathy). �at��ović can be seen as a moving map of art. He belonged to In the ��rst period of �or��, the visual mapping of nature and the speci��c ��ind (set) of artists, �hich spread from the Dada� man’s immediate surroundings �as performed, and later the ists Sch�itters and �assá�� to the Flu�us artists �a�iunas, attention �as more and more turned to�ards the research� etc. Those �ere the people �ith �hich the border of the bio� ing of the subject of art and culture, and, �ith time, the group �as pervaded by the attitude to�ards the lin��ing and imbu� 439 Miško Šuvaković, ”Jezik umetnosti / nomadizam Slavka Matkovića“, from: Asimetrični drugi. Eseji o umetnicima i konceptima, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1996, pp. 122–129; Nebojša Milenković (ed.), Slavko Matković: Ich bin Künstler, Museum of Contemporary Visual 438 Nebojša Milenković (ed.), Szombathy Art, Museum of Contemporary Visual Art, Art, Novi Sad, 2005 Novi Sad, 2005 440 Slavko Matković, Selotejp tekstovi, Új Symposion, Forum, Novi Sad, 1989, pp. n. n  20 th Century Art In Vojvodina graphical, concrete, living and artistically productive lost itself Historically observed, �at��ović’s �or�� (1969 – 1994) be� (deleted, crossed out) at one moment. It �as as if all �at��ović’s longs to �ost�Avant�garde and early postmodernist processes. �or��s melted together into an une�pected instable and vari� His �or�� is �ost�Avant�garde because he approaches Avant� able �hole, a ne� code of the artist as his own work. Details garde (Hungarian Avant�garde practice and activism of Lajos �ere lost, the heuristic �anderings �ere disregarded, and there �assá�� 445, Belgrade Surrealism, �eo�Avant�garde �eo�Dadais� only remained an e�istential drama: a loo�� loo��ing at the art� tic and Flu�us mixed�media production of Bora Ćosić, Voco� ist. It �as not by accident that it �as in the Central European visual of Vladan Radovanović, Hungarian underground, Reism monotony (shapelessness, formlessness) that Wittgenstein’s cut of the Slovenian group OHO) as an historical field of artistic of the e�pressible and ine�pressible in Tractatus 441, or Freud’s re��ections and trans��gurations (transpositioning). For him, accentuating of the unconscious as a second scene emerged. the history of Avant�gardes and �eo�Avant�gardes �as mate� For e�ample, in the �or��s 442 Paralelne ideje: Kosuth (Paral� rial from �hich the ne� post�object e�periment of semiotic lel Ideas: Kosuth, 1974) and Paralelne ideje: Cavellini (Parallel and semiological pre�structuralizing of the open and instable Ideas: Cavellini, 1977) �at��ović indicates the homologies/ nature of art. The performative character of �at��ović’s �or��s non�homologies of the other, or sceptically puts in doubt the (Preobraženja [Transfigurations] or Proboji [Breakthroughs], modernist notion of originality, indicating the po�er of the 1971, or paintings Ja tako slikam [That is how I paint], 80s) is �ost�avant�garde artist to identify himself �ith the �or�� of an� achieved by the mechanism that does not e�ecute the meanings other. The artist is not an e�traordinary creator any more, but of an act, process, situation, event or �or�� from referential re� an e�pert in the linguistic games 443, �orld of art and culture. lations or public or private rules, but from the act of e�ecution The artist, just li��e a chess player, moves the pieces (homolo� itself (art as a meta�performance, e�istence as meta�perfor� gies, relations, differences, identities), thus building temporary mance). The moment, the �ay and the reason of the e�ecution phrases and utterances about art and in art. Ho�ever, his locates the meaning and sense of the art �or��. For �at��ović, approach points to the basic difference bet�een the scene of Avant�garde and �eo�Avant�garde �ere also sentimental traces art and the Other scene. As the counter�transfer in a psycho� of the unaccomplished romantic call (Ješa Denegri �rote about analytical session �or��s (from patient to the analyst), he �or��s the great rejection 446). His �or�� belongs to the epoch of the from the other scene of art to the great art of the epoch (from critical early �ostmodernism because he opposed the e�oteric �at��ović to �osuth). methods of the inter�te�tual, inter�visual and inter�te�tually� For �at��ović, the conceptual art �as not only the style in visual production of the hermeneutic (interpretative) circling the production of the “idea of idea” or the “idea of art as an bet�een different arts of culture of the t�entieth century to the idea”, but also a formula (strategy) of dealing �ith the speci��c esoteric �odernism of the puristic pure and intuitive forms e�istential, ideological, ethical and aesthetical space of the (e�pressions, constructions). His �or�� is a synchronic bring� �orld, art, culture and society. In his paper “�onceptualna ing of modernity to the e�treme e�perimental and e�istential umetnost” (Conceptual Art, 1973), �ritten for the e�hibi� e�pression and e�ceeding of the modernity into the post� tion Tendencije 5 (Tendencies 5, 1973), �at��ović formalized historical epoch of the semiological sliding of the sign – from his understanding of the sense, meaning and functions of the the sign to the assigner. In the visual�poetic e�periments 447 conceptual art: “Conceptual art is a �ay of communicating (Poetsko trunje [Poetic Grains], Vizuelna istraživanja [Visual through ideas as �or��s – as pieces of information – �hich Explorations], Vizuelna obrada teksta [Visual Interpretation question the very nature of communication.” 444 Conceptual art of Text], 1970) 448, in the interspaces of literature and visual is revealed as progress, as moving a�ay from the art, surfacing arts, �at��ović tried different strategies of sliding of the sign, of the subject of art in relation to art, as a creation of distance the brea�� �here the te�t becomes syntactic order of signs and (thin��ing about art). The artist (conceptual artist) becomes the �here the syntactic order of the signs disintegrates until the as� outer asymmetrical other of art. As an outer he gives it tran� signer. His e�periment �ith comic strips 449 (Strip broj � [Comic scendent meaning. Strip No. �], 1971; Mi smo mali šašavi potrošači [We Are the Silly Little Consumers], 1974; Esej o grupi Bosch+Bosch [Essay about 441 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus, Publishing House Veselin 445 Compare: Ješa Denegri, ”Mađarski aktivizam“, Umetnost, No. 52–53, Belgrade, 1977, Masleša, Sarajevo, 1985 pp. 65–67 442 In: Marijan Susovski (ed.), Nova umjetnička praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of Contempo- 446 Ješa Denegri, ”Slavko Matković“ (1989), from: Fragmenti – šezdesete–devedesete … rary Art, Zagreb, 1978, illustrations 207 and 208 umetnici iz Vojvodine, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1994, pp. 60 443 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Filozofska istraživanja, Nolit, Belgrade, 1980 447 Slavko Matković, Knjiga - Vizuelno-poetska istraživanja 1971–1978, Osvit, Subotica, 1979, pp. n. n 444 Slavko Matković, ”Konceptualna umetnost (fragment)“ (1973), in: Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Scene jezika – Uloga teksta u likovnim umetnostima… Fragmentarne istorije 448 Slavko Matković, Knjiga - Vizuelno-poetska istraživanja 1971–1978, pp. n. n 1920–1990 – Antologija tekstova umetnika, ULUS, Belgrade, 1989, pp. 55–56 449 Slavko Matković, Knjiga - Vizuelno-poetska istraživanja 1971–1978, pp. n. n 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina   the Group Bosch+Bosch], 1975) as the object of meta�trans��gu� Sada batine dobiću rations and transformations are: Zima je igraću �iću igraću dojiću 1. Ironical confrontations of high art and popular culture, �eđ’ nogama mi nebo but also simulations of the underground atmosphere of the Sada već umreću consumerist society in the conditions of East European alter� (I shall drin�� the mil�� no� native �orlds; �o� I �ill be beaten 2. Introducing the effect of sliding of the sign in the narra� It is �inter, I shall dance tive structures (sequence) of the plot of a comic strip; his comic I shall drin��, I shall dance, I shall breast�feed strips have a speci��c feedbac�� �ith the high literature; S��y is bet�een my legs 3. Rhetorical creation of ne� mythology in such a �ay that �o� I shall already die) 452 the �orld of art becomes the mythical code (or analogue to the The performance of the “poetic te�t” as an oral event or mythical code) of the mass culture. theatricalized bodily event (happening) and performance �as noticeable. In the performance Vabljenje (Tempting, �ovi Sad, 1970) she displayed her na��ed para�ritual body resorting The case of Katalin Ladik: towards the performance to another. In the performance Rupa ��oja vrišti (The Scream� of first person speech (Serbian edition, p.250) ing Hole, Tribina mladih [The Youth Stand], �ovi Sad, 1979 and Budapest, 1995) she �or��ed �ith the symbolically�bodily �atalin Ladi�� (1942) �as born in �ovi Sad, and today she lives structuring of the simultaneous “impossibility” and “potential� and �or��s in Budapest. As an actress she has �or��ed from ity” of a �oman. 1963. She �as a member of the Drama of the �ovi Sad Theatre. On the artistic scene of �ovi Sad in the early 70s, �atalin She �or��ed �ith the group Bosch+Bosch from 1973 to 1978. Ladi�� participated in several public performances. She �or��ed She started �or��ing �ith performance in 1970. �atalin Ladi�� on Carlo Colnaghi’s project together �ith Éva Újházy, Ana �or��ed in the domain of �ost�Avant�garde e�cess and subver� Ra��ović, Slav��o Bogdanović, Čeda Drča, Vladimir �opicla, sive performance during the 70s. In her actions and perfor� �ir��o Radojičić, �iroslav �andić and �eđa Vranešević. 453 mances she problematized and provo��ed se�ual, political and Colnaghi �as an associate of the performance group of �i� cultural identities, norms and horizons of comprehension of chelangelo �istoleto, Lo Zoo, �hich �as performing as a guest the role and function of an artist in the socialistic society. Her in �ovi Sad in September of 1970. Colnaghi stayed in �ovi �or�� spread in a �ide nomadic range, from �ritten, spo��en Sad a��er the guest performance of the group and �or��ed as an and phonic poetry, through the bodily and behavioral actions, active participant of the �ovi Sad “alternative”. �atalina Ladi�� performances and para�theater and e�perimental music, to the also �or��ed on the interventionistic ambiance project that she visually�te�tual e�plorations. named Spuštanje Novog Sada na Dunavu (The Descending The early �or��s of �atalin Ladi�� �ere related to e�peri� of �ovi Sad on the Danube, 1973, 1975). The scenic�musical mental poetry �ritten in Hungarian, and presented in Hunga� happening R�O�M�E�T �as performed by �atalin Ladi�� and ry and to Yugoslav cultures in the Serbo�Croatian and Slove� Janez �ocijančić on the Youth Stand in �ovi Sad in 1972. One nian languages. 450 She moved from the domain of modernistic segment of this “happening” �as the action by �atalin Ladi��, “e�pressive” lyricism into the domain of erotic �ritten and �hen she performed the �or��s of manicure and cosmetic spo��en poetry in �hich she located the “subjectivising” posi� interventions on �ocijančić’s body as an object of aestheticiz� tion of the female se�ual and the female erotic voice inside the ing. In the �or�� Change Art (1975), she �or��ed on the inter� ��eld of heterose�ual differences. By shaping the appearance subjective relations (changes, modi��cations and alterations) of the female voice, on the one hand the notion of the female� of t�o or more participants. 454 The performance Blac�� Shave fertile/se�ual/erotic action identity �as projected, and on the �oem (1978) �as based on the presentation of the bodily other, the border of the autonomic high aesthetical lyricism event through �hich “everyday” acts and gestures of man and and fol��, everyday oriented poetry 451: �omen �ere provo��ed (�earing clothes, relation bet�een un� �opiću sada mle��o der�ear and clothes, shaving, etc.). The �or�� Poemim � (1978) 450 ”Katalin Ladik – Portret savremenice“ (themat), ProFemina, No. 5–6, Belgrade, 1996, pp. 126–147; Dubravka Đurić, ”Katalin Ladik“, in: “The Construction of Heterosexual 452 Katalin Ladik, ”Autobiografija“, from: ”Katalin Ladik – Portret savremenice“ (themat), and Lesbian Identities in Katalin Ladik, Radmila Lazić and Aida Bagic’s Poetry”, from: ProFemina, No. 5–6, Belgrade, 1996, pp. 127 Jelisaveta Blagojević, Katerina Kolozova, Svetlana Slapšak (eds.), Gender and Identity 453 Miško Šuvaković, ”Parateatar“, in: ”Parateatar i akcije“, in: ”Grupa KÔD“, from: Retro- – Theories from and/or on Southeastern Europe, Athena, Belgrade, 2006, pp. 175–179 spektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, Museum of Contemporary Visual Art, Novi Sad, 451 Judita Šalgo, ”Opasne igre razgrađivanja – Beleška uz poeziju Ladik Katalin“, Polja No. 1995, pp. 9 128, Novi Sad, 1969, pp. 3 454 Katalin Ladik, ”Change Art“, from: Wow, No. 5, Novi Sad, 1978, pp. 6 0 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina �as designed as a poetic body�art in �hich the artist deforms ter of the counter�cultural 459 and alternative movement of her face �ith glass. e�perimental artists. �roups Januar and Februar are informal In the domain of phonic 455 e�plorations, she �or��ed on groupings that build a short term, e�cess and provocative, in a the development of ne� themes and techniques of the phoneti� political, artistic and e�istential sense, a movement or a �ave cally�acoustic �or��: ne� methods, sound recording, radio, of the alternative scene that emerges by lin��ing artists from television and synthetisation multiply the possibilities of e�plo� Zrenjanin and �ovi Sad. The members of Januar and Februar rations and e�perimenting. She �or��ed in the interdisciplin� are connected by a critical and subversive attitude to�ards the ary area of e�ploration of voice bet�een verbal poetry, poetic dominating moderate modernistic and social�bureaucratic concrete art, e�perimental music and performance. She used culture. The manifestation of the group Februar is called “Za� effects of shaping sound, rhythmics, mime, tact and the role kuska novih umetnosti” (“Snack of the New Arts”) and it �as of pause or silence. She used concrete and visual songs that realized as a happening. In the occasion of the performance of she �rote herself or too�� from other authors as scores. �honic the group Februar, a manifesto �as published, called “Otvoreno e�plorations �ere collected and published on the gramo� pismo jugoslovenskoj javnosti” (“An Open Letter to the Yugoslav phone record Phonopoetica 456 (1976). The gramophone record Public”), signed by Bran��o Andrić, Slav��o Bogdanović, Čeda Phonopoetica �as realised as an “open��or��” based on the Drča, Janez �ocijančić, Vladimir �opicl, Božidar �andić, graphical score made of concretistic patterns of Balint Szom� �iroslav �andić, �ir��o Radojčić, Ana Ra��ović, Dušan Sabo, bathy, �ábor Tóth and others. That �as follo�ed by an event of Slobodan Tišma, Vujica Rešin Tucić, �eđa Vranešević and �iša oral performing of phonetic events, �hich �ere documented Živanović. The provocative neo�anarchistic performance of the in photographic and audio recordings. �atalin Ladi�� made an group Februar leads to a con��ict bet�een the �ovi Sad alterna� appearance in the international festival of phonic poetry in tive and the socialistic modernistic conception of art, �hich Amsterdam in �ay of 1977. �as represented by party and cultural bureaucratic structures The Croatian e�perimental composer �il��o �eleman in �ovi Sad and Belgrade. The con��ict around the group Feb� composed a piece called Yebell 457 based on the subject/bodily ruar too�� on �ider dimensions, causing the Belgrade press to poetry of �atalin Ladi�� and Attila Cserni��, �hich �as per� get involved in it (NIN, Večernje novosti) �ith a severe bureau� formed as a part of the artistic program on the XX Olympic cratic criticism of the “ne� art”; especially harsh �ere the te�ts Games in �unich on the 1st September 1972. The piece �as by Sava Dautović and Bogdan Tirnanić. On the other side, performed by the group Acezantez, and Ladi�� �as the leading the support to the groups Januar and Februar �as given in vocal. In association �ith the group Acezantez, she �or��ed on Belgrade by Jovica Aćin, the representatives of the Zagreb art a project by the Croatian composer Dubrav��o Detoni, La Voix scene Zvon��o �a��ović, Hrvoje Tur��ović and the representa� du silence 458 (1972). In the process of a musical event, she �as tives of the Slovene youth and alternative structures, above all the e�tra�musical emergency subject, �hich had an effect on Jaša Zlobec. A��er the ne�spaper attac��s on the group Februar, the projected musical performance via orally�phonetic alea� the Youth Stand, the magazine Polja (Fields), Uj Simpozion and toric interventions. Index found themselves in the center of the con��ict. The board of the oral program of the Youth Stand refused to accept Vujica Rešin Tucić as a fello���or��er in February of 1972. 460 The con� Groups Januar and Februar and the experimental case of ��ict on the �ovi Sad scene �as resolved by drastic score�set� Vujica Rešin Tucić (Serbian edition, p.252) tling �ith the alternative. The management of the Youth Stand (Judita Šalgo 461 and Dar��o Hohnjec 462), �hich supported the On the Youth Stand, on 21st January 1971, the group Januar groups Januar and Februar �as replaced, and �iroslav �andić had a performance from 12 noon to 9 in the evening. It �as the and Slav��o Bogdanović �ere sentenced to imprisonment. day of death of the leader of the Soviet revolution, Vladimir Ilič One of the leading ��gures of the groups/movements Januar Lenin. In Dom omladine (House of Youth, cinema and concert and Februar �as the poet Vujica Rešin Tucić 463 (1941). Tucić hall) in Belgrade, on 9th February 1971, the group Februar had started his e�perimental literary and te�tual �or�� in Zrenjanin a performance. �roups Januar and Februar have the charac� 459 T. Roszak, Kontrakultura, Naprijed, Zagreb, 1978 455 Balint Sombati, ”Značajni momenti u radu grupe Bosch+Bosch“, from: Marijan 460 Slobodan Milovanović’s letter from the 8th of February to the Board of oral program Susovski, Nova umjetnička praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, of the Youth Stand in Novi Sad 1978, pp. 49 461 Judita Šalgo was the main editor of the Youth Stand from 1st March, 1967 to 2nd July, 456 Katalin Ladik, Phonopoetica, SKC, 197�. 1971, and 10th September, 1972 457 Milko Keleman, Labirinti, MIC Koncertne direkcije, Zagreb, 1991, pp. 164 462 Darko Hohnjec was the headmaster of the Youth Stand from 1st December, 1971 to 458 Raul Knežević, Dalibor Davidović (eds.), Acezantez, MIC Koncertne direkcije, Zagreb, 30th August, 1973. 1999, pp. 143–145 463 Ostoja Kisić (ed.), Vujica Rešin Tucić: Struganje mašte , Dnevnik, Novi Sad, 1991 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 1  as a part of Zrenjanin e�perimental practice. Zrenjanin te�tual ne� novel and American meta�prose to the poli�medial �or��. e�plorations �ere connected to Pamphlets and the edition Ful Boš��o Iv��ov interpreted his destructive and shoc��ing prose max 68. The editors �ere Tucić and Jovica Aćin in the Writers’ “performative” quite precisely: Club of Zrenjanin. Tucić published one of the pioneer literary (Vujica Rešin Tucić lives and �rites A�AI�ST life and �riting performances, “Moje menstruacije” (“My Menstruations”) 464, in general and, particularly, A�AI�ST his o�n life and his o�n �riting. in the Belgrade pro�Flu�us magazine Rok (1969), �hich �as published by the novelist Bora Ćosić. It �as the relation His poetry stands O��OSITE the dead poetry of the dead birds, bet�een the te�tual, para�narrative and bodily action in the dead darlings, dead s��ies, dead �aters, dead grass, dead bitters, dead enthusiastic, dead smiling, dead asleep, dead a�a��en, dead sphere of everyday life and rhetorically emphasized triviality of unborn, dead deceased, the deadest. everyday life. Tucić used the elements of the situational relying on the transpositions of the trivialities of everyday life into It IS �OT for a man �ith the capital �, for beauty �ith the capital B, for love �ith the capital L, for truth �ith the capital T, for the literary te�t and theatricalized behavior of the artist in the justice �ith a capital J, for reality �ith the capital R, for sleep �ith private space. The turn to the “trivial everyday life” is identi��ed the capital S, for e�istence �ith the capital E, for death �ith the as the subversive instruments in relation to the public social capital D. discourses inside the socialist �odernism. In his para�essay It says �O to aesthetics, ethics, being pathetic and all the other “Rešin, nerasvetljeni esej” (“Rešin, the unexplained essay”) 465, tics, those prides of theories of literature, nice behavior, nice Jovica Aćin, for e�ample, conceptualized the very trivialis� clothing, nice spea��ing. ing gesture of the poet that becomes an artist�performer by It �IS�S �hen being courted by various isms.) 469 empasizing the dialectical and grotesque parodity – “We hug and ��iss each other. There is his ans�er. In him, virulence is It �as a strong �eo�Avant�garde gesture of refusal, as shiny as the ��ghting spirit in �ar�, the impression of his �hich too�� place in the concurrence of the post�Surrealistic resistance is irascible, but on the edge of the insane poetic speech, 470 destruction of the normative typography of print� thought.” 466 Tucić then published the e�perimental boo���ob� ing syllable in the spirit of the �eo�Dadaistic topographic ject “Jaje u čeličnoj ljusci” (“The Egg in an Steel Eggshell”) 467. In poetry 471 or reconstituting the lyrical inside the inconsistence the spirit and the atmosphere of the East European alternative, and hybridity of the popular culture inside the autonomous Vujica Rešin Tucić planned to overcome the static quality of socialism. 472 Tucić offered the poetic and artistic paradigm of artistic groups and stood for the open and changeable groups the activistic hybridity. that �ould �or�� in certain months: January, February, �arch, etc. His activism stirred the �ovi Sad artistic scene. A��er the disappearance of the groups Januar and Februar, Tucić The context of the conceptual art in Novi Sad (p.255) devoted himself to literary e�periment and visual e�plorations inside the poetic and narrative sequence. His megaproject �as The group KÔD and the group (∃ �or��ed in the domain of an e�perimentally�interte�tual and intermedial �or�� “Stru� processual and conceptual art 473 at the turn of the 60s (1969 ganje mašte – vizuelni roman – esej – poema” (“Scraping of the – 1970) into the 70s (1971 – 1973). The groups KÔD and (∃ Imagination – Visual Novel – Essay – Poem”) 468, done bet�een constituted the conte�t of �or�� that resulted in the short term 1970 and 1982. It �as an elaborated model of interte�tual �or�� of the group (∃�KÔD and the longer�lasting atmosphere e�plorations inside the verbal and the visual, or collage and of individual intellectual, interte�tual and intermedial �or��. 474 prefabricated meaning. With this �or��, Tucić confronted the In the dominant appearance, the conceptual art belongs �eo�Avant�garde fragmentation of the narrative of a novel to to the evolutions of the visual arts, most frequent frame of its the �ost�modernistic interte�tual collage, ma��ing and mount� institutional development is the �orld of visual arts. Synchro� ing of the potentiality of the meaning inside e�perimental and nous to the general line, a part of the conceptualistic produc� popular culture. His �or�� in the domain of visualized collage� tion also involves the areas of literary �or��, or the interspaces prefabricated prose �as one step behind the strategies of the e�istentialistic “anti�novel”, and through e�perimental French 469 Boško Ivkov, ”UJICA je V / EŠIN je R / UCI� je T“, Polja, No. 125–126, Novi Sad, 1969, pp. 20. 470 Vujica Rešin Tucić, ”Kupanje belih miševa“, Polja, No. 121, Novi Sad, 1968, pp. 18 464 Vujica Rešin Tucić, ”Moje menstruacije“, Rok, No. 2, Belgrade, 1969, pp. 120–128 471 Vujica Rešin Tucić, ”Reform grotesk“, Polja, No. 143, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 28–29 465 Jovica Aćin, ”Rešin, nerasvetljeni esej“, Rok, No. 2, Belgrade, 1969, pp. 119–120 472 Vujica Rešin Tucić, ”Izašao je novi Čik!“, from; Ostoja Kisić (ed.), Vujica Rešin Tucić: 466 Jovica Aćin, ”Rešin, nerasvetljeni esej“, Rok, No. 2, Belgrade, 1969, pp. 120 Struganje mašte, Dnevnik, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 78–79 467 Vujica Rešin Tucić, Jaje u čeličnoj ljusci, Serija AG 70, The Youth Stand, Novi Sad, 1970 473 Mirko Radojičić (ed.), ”Konceptualna umetnost“ (temat), Polja, No. 156, Novi Sad, 1972 468 Vujica Rešin Tucić, Struganje mašte – vizuelni roman – esej – poema; see: Ostoja Kisić 474 Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, Museum of Contempo- (ed.), Vujica Rešin Tucić: Struganje mašte, Dnevnik, Novi Sad, 1991, pp. 251–393 rary Visual Art, Novi Sad, 1995 2 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina of literary, philosophical (philosophy, linguistics, semiotics and Hungarian Uj Simpozion) in Zrenjanin (Zrenjanin e�cess con� semiology) and visual �or��, and the conception of the visual crete art and e�perimental te�tualism of Vujica Rešin Tucić, is sho�n through the topical presence of various media (��lm, Jovica Aćin, Vojislav Despotov, Dušan Bjelić), in Subotica photography, video, boo��, performance, installation), and not (the occurrence of the concrete art and conceptualist group just through painting and its history. The documents and te�ts Bosch+Bosch), in Belgrade (�allery 212 479, festivals BITEF and of the members of the groups KÔD and (∃ point to the compli� FEST, Bora Ćoić’s magazine Ro��) 480. cated and heterogeneous production of theoretical objects in In strong cultural frames, such as Anglo�Sa�on, �erman the conte�ts of literary te�t, artistic te�t, e�hibiting�object�te�t or French culture, artistic �or�� is directly determined by the and te�tual spo��en and behavioral situation. po�erful logistical theories of culture, for e�ample, pragmatism, The surrounding conte�t of �or�� and performance of the empiricism and interest in language are emphasized in the An� groups KÔD and (∃ can be described by the follo�ing charac� glo�Sa�on �orld. American and British conceptual arts emerged teristic positions and situations: at the end of the 60s as a reaction to the dominant cultural 1. The general climate and atmosphere of the late 60s, models of high �reenbergian painting of �odernism. �erman, �hich is seen in the alternative formations and actions in cul� Italian or French conceptualism emerged from the syntheses ture and politics, or the artistic, cultural, political and e�isten� of the phenomenological demonstration (�ermany), ne� le�� tial provocative liberalism, radicalism and actionism (neo�an� oriented and guerrilla sensibility (Italy) and structuralism archism, the ne� le��, ne� sensibility, hippy movements, roc�� (France) �ith the international language of the processional art culture, communes); (Flu�us, Antiform, Arte �overa). 481 In Yugoslavia, the situation 2. The tradition of the Avant�gardes, from the French sym� �as signi��cantly different. In Yugoslavia there �as no dominant bolism (�allarmé) , through �ertrude Stein, Russian Formal� culture conception, nor a signi��cant frame of the coherent theo� ism and Dadaism, to the theoretically�literary e�periments of retical and aesthetical opinion. One cannot isolate a comple� authors in the �arisian magazine Tel Quel 475 (1960 – 198?); of theoretical thought that de��nes culture in an autochthonous 3. The interest for the linguistic, semiotic and semiological manner, as critical philosophy of language de��nes the British analysis of the “concept” of art and studying the philosophical culture, pragmatism and empiricism, or �reenbergian �odern� �ritings of Lud�ig Wittgenstein 476 in the Anglo�Sa�on con� ism de��nes American culture, structuralism de��nes the French ceptual art (Art & Language, Joseph �osuth, La�rence Weiner, cultural sphere, phenomenology de��nes the �erman culture. Robert Barry, Victor Burgin) 477; At the turn of the 60s into the 70s, �ar�ism (real�socialism and 4. Contacts, cooperation and interte�tual e�change �ith autonomous socialism) in �ovi Sad �as the outer frame of the the Slovenian Reism (literary�theoretical post�phenomenologi� actual culture, but it is more a state�building mechanism of the cal e�periment) and the group OHO (transformations from government and a hypocritical discourse of identi��cation, and the literary e�periment through processional to the conceptual not a productive and critical frame. In that ��ind of situation, the art) 478; and members of the groups KÔD and (∃ had to create the produc� 5. The comple� of the intermedial e�periments in �ovi Sad tive, critical, spiritual and semantic base of their �or�� on an (�ovi Sad te�tualis of Judita Šalgo, performance and poetry of open and eclectic base, �hich �as also the case �ith the other �atalin Ladi��, magazine �olja, e�perimentally�research �or��s groups, from OHO 482, through the group Penzioner Tihomir of Bogdan��a �oznanović and Dejan �oznanović in the domain Simčić, or individual �or��s of Dimitrijević Brothers and �oran of the ne� media [the members of the group KÔD participated Trbulja�� 483, to the Belgrade conceptualistic groupings (grupa in the realization of the action of Bogdan��a �oznanović, Ak� šest autora [group of the six authors] and Grupa ��3 [Group cija, Srce, Predmet {Action, Heart, Object}, 1970], magazine in ��3]) 484. The creation of the productive, critical, spiritual and semantic base for their �or�� �as realized by testing models and 475 Patrick Ffrench, The Time of Theory. A History of Tel �uel (1960–1983), Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995 479 Tomaž Brejc, Ješa Denegri, Željko Koščević, Irina Subotić, Tomaž Šalamun, Biljana 476 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Veselin Masleša and Svjetlost, Tomić (eds.), Galerija 212 ’68, Gallery 212, Belgrade, 1968 Sarajevo, 1987 480 Bora �osić (ed.), Rok, br. 1, 2, 3, 4, 4a, Belgrade, 1969–70; Bora �osić (ed.), Mixed Media, 477 Ursula Meyer, Conceptual Art, A Dutton Paperback, New York, 1972 autorsko izdanje, Belgrade, 1970. 478 The Slovene reistic poetry, textual experiments and works of conceptual art were 481 Germano Celant, Arte Povera: Earthworks, Impossible Art, Actual Art, Conceptual Art, translater in the magazine Polja, thanks to the efforts of the interpreter Dejan Praeger, New York, 1969 Poznanović: poetry of Tomaž Šalamun, Franci Zagoričnik, I.G. Plamen, Polja No. 139, 482 Tomaž Brejc (ed.), Grupa OHO 1966–1971, Student Cultural Center, Ljubljana, 1978 Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 7; then, “Pu”, Marko Pogačnik, “Grafički Materijal” and David Nez, “Putovanje Ljubljana – Vašington”, Polja, No. 140 – 141, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 17-18, 19, 483 Marijan Susovski (ed.), Nova umjetnička praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of Contemporary 34-35, and “Beli Ljudi (the first film of Naško Križnar on the 35 mm tape)”, Polja No. Art, Zagreb, 1978; and Marijan Susovski (ed.), Inovacije u hrvatskoj umjetnosti sedam- 143, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 31; and thanks to the efforts of interpreter Gojko Janjušević: desetih godina, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 1982 Iztok Geister “Za slobodu onoga što se kritikuje” and I.G. Plamen, “Muva”, “Podne”, 484 Marijan Susovski (ed.), Nova umjetnička praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of Contemporary Polja, No. 115-116, Novi Sad, 1968, pp.29 Art, Zagreb, 1978 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 3  schematisation of different origin in the speci��c �or�� and its The founding of the group KÔD �as announced on 9th discoursive surroundings. If the process of building conte�t can April 1970 during the action Prostorne interakcije (Spatial be understood that �ay, then one can conclude that t�o impor� Interactions) in the parquet�sho�room of the Youth Stand in tant moments are the parts of the very base: �ovi Sad. The ��rst actions of the group KÔD had the character 1. Interte�tuality: individual art �or�� has aspects of the of neo�Dadaistic and Flu�us happenings and interventions in interte�tual mapping in the ��eld of potential and available the urban space. Slobodan Tišma realized the action Kocka discourses of homogenous origin; and (The Cube) on 18th April, and �ir��o Radojičić photographed 2. Inferiority: an art �or�� does not start as superior to the neon sign of the construction company “Esteti��a”. Slobo� evolve to the meta�lingual functions, but the forming of the dan Tišma and �iroslav �andić performed the action More inferior frames and superior realizations happens synchronous – Antimore (Nightmares – Anti�nightmares) in front of the through the developing of the conte�t of the �or�� of the group. cathedral in the center of �ovi Sad on 22nd April 1970. The Eclecticism and radical questioning of various artistic, realization of the para�theatrical event called Zglob – tretiranje e�istential and political contents and modus of e�pression, pre� teatra (The Joint – Treatment of the Theater), on the occasion senting and behavior �or��ed as a provocation or shock therapy of Sterijino �ozorje Festival, �as realized on the Youth Stand in the environment of a strong bureaucratic real�socialistic on 24th �ay 1970. The ne�t day the action Ogledalo u gradu structure �hich sees art as a “moderate modernistic” super� (The Mirror in the City) �as performed. Bet�een the 23rd and structure of party and therefore social interests. The groups the 28th of July 1970 on Tjenište, as a part of the manifestation KÔD and (∃ e�plicitly cast doubt on: “�ladost Sutjes��e ’70” (The Youth of Sutjes��a ’70), a series of 1. �oderate modernistic values of the artistic production, projects�interventions �as performed, �hich can be called both on theoretical and production level; interventions in the free space and land�art works (Slav��o 2. Bureaucratically determined borders of art, culture and Bogdanović, Kaskade [Cascades]; and �ir��o Radojičić and politics through the intermediality and interte�tuality; and Slav��o Bogdanović, Apoteoza Dzeksonu Poloku [The Apotheosis 3. The behavior of the bureaucrat artist; they created the of Jackson Polock], 1970). The para�theatrical performance of ne� concept of an artist in the range from the theoretician �iroslav �andić, TRI TRI, in �hich �ir��o Radojičić, Slav��o artist, through the shaman artist, to the anarchist �hich de� Bogdanović, Slobodan Tišma, Vladimir �andić, and Božidar stroys social values (family – commune, rational consciousness �andić participated, �as held in the auditorium of the Youth – drugs, party politics – individual ideological and mythical Stand on 9th October 1970. On the Danube quay in �ovi Sad, �orlds, institutional – non�institutional, artist as individuality the action of the group KÔD �as held in cooperation �ith a – artistic collective, aesthetical value – e�istential value). conceptual artist from Zagreb, �oran Trbulja��, called Javni čas umetnosti (The Public Art Class). In October of 1970, �iro� slav �andić realized the action Beli Čovek (The White Man), The history and practice of the group KÔD (Serbian edition, p.260) performed on the streets of �ovi Sad. In the student magazine Index (issue �o 201 to �o 209, from �ay to �ovember of 1970) The group KÔD �as founded on 8th April, 1970 in �ovi Sad. 485 te�tual e�periments of the members of the group KÔD �ere The members of the group �ere Slav��o Bogdanović, �iroslav published, ranging from dra�ings, through conceptual poetry �andić, �ir��o Radojičić, Slobodan Tišma, Janez �ocijančić and and te�ts of conceptual art, to essays and translations. Index Bran��o Andrić. Immediately a��er the founding, Bran��o Andrić �o 209 �as not printed, the editorial board �as dissolved a��er le�� the group. Janez �ocijančić remained a member of the group the party punishing of some members of the editorial board, until the action on Tjenište in July of 1970. Ferenc �iš�Jova�� and the type matter �as cancelled. Bet�een the 15th and the �or��ed �ith the group on the realization of the project Zglob 18th of January 1971, the group appeared �ith its performances (Joint). �eđa Vranešević joined the group in December of 1970. on the stage of the ��lm festival FEST in Belgrade. During the functioning of the group and later in the “postperi� Throughout 1971 there �as a series of performances of the od”, Boš��o �andić and Dušan Bjelić cooperated �ith the group. members of the group KÔD in e�hibitions of conceptual art. They too�� part in the e�hibition Primeri konceptualne umet� nosti u Jugoslaviji 486 (The Examples of Conceptual Art in Yugo� 485 Mirko Radojičić, ”Aktivnost grupe KÔD“, from: Susovski, M. (ed.), Nova umjetnička slavia) in the organization of Biljana Tomić and Ješa Denegri praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Zagreb , 1978, pp. 36–43; Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995; Miško Šuvaković, Konceptualna umetnost, Museum of Con- temporary Art of Vojvodina and Cultural Center of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, 2007; 486 Ješa Denegri, Biljana Tomić (eds.), Primeri konceptualne umetnosti u Jugoslaviji, the Ješa Denegri, Fragmenti / šezdesete – devedesete / umetnici, iz Vojvodine, Prometej, showroom of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, 1971; Ješa Denegri, Novi Sad, 1994; and Ješa Denegri, Sedamdesete: teme srpske umetnosit, Svetovi, ”Primjeri konceptualne umjetnosti u Jugoslaviji“ , Život umjetnosit, No. 15–16, Zagreb, Novi Sad, 1996 1971, pp. ��–�� 4 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina in 1971. In the occasion of the e�hibition Primeri konceptualne Boš��o �andić, the younger brother of �iroslav �andić, �ho umetnosti u Jugoslaviji (The Examples of Conceptual Art in �as close to the groups KÔD and (∃ in the village Brezovica Yugoslavia), in the sho�room of the �useum of Contempo� on the mountain of Rudni�� founded a village commune �hich rary Art in Belgrade, at the Youth Stand 487 in �ovi Sad, in can be considered, at least in the ��rst period of �or��, a spiri� April of 1970, a discussion on conceptual art �as held in �hich tual sucessor of the group KÔD. 490 the participants �ere �ar��o �ogačni��, �ilen��o �atanović, Andraž Šalamun, �oran Trbulja��, the group KÔD and group (∃. The e�hibition At the Moment 488, in the organization of Textual conceptualism and invisible art: the case �ena Balj��ović and Braco Dimitrijević �as held in the passage of Slobodan Tišma (Serbian edition, p.265) of the Fran��opans��a Street 2A in Zagreb, on 22nd April 1971. In the 7e Biennnale de Paris 489 in September of 1971, they did not Slobodan Tišma �as born in Stara �azova in 1946. He studied at participate as the group KÔD, but Slav��o Bogdanović e�hibited the Faculty of �hilosophy in �ovi Sad. He �rote poetry. He �as independently, �eđa Vranešević and �ir��o Radojičić e�hibited a member of the groups KÔD and (∃�KÔD 491 (1970 – 1971). �ith the group (∃�KÔD, �iroslav �andić refused to partici� He realized regulatory �or��s in nature. He dre� a self�portrait pate, and Slobodan Tišma �ithdre� from participating. The on the pavement during “The �ublic Art Class” on the �ovi participation in the �arisian biennial �as of signi��cance, since Sad quay in 1970. He hung a metal contour of a cube above the that �as one of the moments �hen Yugoslav art directly and in street near the Youth Stand. He pulled colored ribbons through time stepped out onto the �orld art scene. All the important the building of the Youth Stand. He produced conceptual art. representatives of conceptual art participated in the e�hibit: He faced the borders of art and life. With the other members Art&Language, Joseph �osuth, La�rence Weiner, Robert Barry, of KÔD, he tried to reach the “invisible art”. 492 Slobodan Tišma Victor Burgin, Ian Burn, Hane Darboven, Bernar Venet, group is in constant turns and suspensions. Those �ere also the years OHO, group Penzioner Tihomir Simčić (Braco Dimitrijević and of roc�� bands, music, the group Luna, turning to people and �oran Trbulja��), etc. people scattering about. Today, the scattering leads to mono� The group KÔD stopped �or��ing in April of 1971. The logue, concentration on the hidden inscription, searching for group stopped �or��ing because of disagreements about the nature of the spea��ing/�riting voice inside the te�t and song, place and the functions of the artistic �or�� and e�hibiting. The religiousness put bet�een the hedonistic indolence and noble direct motive �as the invitation for the �arisian biennial. Dur� distance of the outcast �ho endured. 493 In his post�poetic 494 ing the spring, the members of the group KÔD had intervie�s and proto�conceptualistic te�tual e�periments, Tišma tears apart �ith Oto Bihalji �erin, Zaneti, Damnjan and Reljić. During �hat �as given as a te�tually�narrative structure �hose mem� the spring of 1971, �iroslav �andić decided to stop doing bers �ere differential, relatively free, reducible and e�tensible; he art, having the need for a deeper, un��no�n and miraculous offers it as the subject of te�t, the subject of poem, the subject of e�perience. During the summer, �iroslav �andić, Slobodan enjoyment in �riting and reading. For e�ample, in the note for Tišma and Dušan Bjelić decided to travel around Europe the te�t “Kao neko” 495 (Like Somebody) he �rote: and tal�� to artists. They stayed in Zagreb, �ranj, Sempas and “Everything that can be a subject, object or a predicate in a state� �ilan. A��er their stay in �ilan, they came bac�� to �ovi Sad. ment is not a �ord. �ouns are not �ords. House, for e�ample, is not a �ord nor is it less of a �ord than others. Also, verbs, �iroslav �andić, �ir��o Radojičić, Slobodan Tišma and Slav��o perhaps, are not �ords. Adjectives? Real �ords are, for e�ample, Bogdanović founded an intimate circle as a group on 23rd July LI�E, WHERE, OR, ALWAYS, WITH. I al�ays say: seen from the 1971. �ir��o Radojičić, �eđa Vranešević and Slobodan Tišma outside. What does that mean? This is designed from the outside cooperated �ith the group (∃�KÔD (founded in June, 1971) or from the inside. But not to the statement. The e�terior is undi� and under its name performed during 1971, 1972 and 1973. rected and unbound. It �as appearance. Language is not EVERY� From 1971, the associates of the groups KÔD, (∃ and (∃� THI��. I cannot ta��e responsibility for this note. Everything that KÔD �ith several friends �or��ed on the founding of the city is in it is probably �rong and senseless and, �hat is even �orse: arbitrary. I am babbling and I am no� completely frantic. Long commune. The commune e�isted during 1973 in the house (ground���oor and garret) in Teslina Street 18. During 1977, 490 Božidar Mandić, Porodica bistrih potoka, Dnevnik, Novi Sad, 1989 491 Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, The Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995 487 The exhibition was held at the Youth Stand in Novi Sad through May and June of 492 Mirko Radojičić, ”Aktivnost grupe KÔD“, from: Susovski, M. (ed.), Nova umjetnička 1971 too. praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 1978, pp. 43 488 Nena Dimitrijević, Braco Dimitrijević (eds.), In Another Moment, Student Cultural 493 Miško Šuvaković, ”Tekstualnost teksta Slobodana Tišme“, from: Asimetrični drugi. Eseji Center, Belgrade, 1971. o umetnicima i konceptima, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1996, pp. 65–73 489 N. Auberge, C. Millet, A. Pacquement (eds.), ”Concept“, from: Septieme Biennale de 494 Slobodan Tišma, Vrt kao to, edition Ruža lutanja, Belgrade, 1997 Paris, Paris, 1971 495 Slobodan Tišma, ”Kao neko“, Index, No. 207–208, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 12 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 5  time ago humiliated, LI�E is a very abused and �rongly used and relation to �aljevič’s square of metaphysics. The Cube, for �ord, up until today. Too authoritative on my behalf.” e�ample, �as a �ire contour of a cube (edges of a cube) hung What does Tišma do in the note for the te�t “�ao �e��o” above the street at a height of nine meters. The placement of the (Li��e Somebody)? He destroys, and destruction is a degree cube, the platonic idealness, into the concrete urban space is a that goes beyond the deridian sophisticated and erotic decon� system of the �eo�Avant�garde strategies of intervention, but, struction of the �estern tradition. He tears the subject of the it is also the throw of the dice that will never abolish chance. The te�t do�n, the subject �hich is introduced as a hypothesis in Cube sho�s that the discussion bet�een the te�t (�allarme) the �or�� of the te�t, so by the very fact that it is a sign, it can and the non�te�tual (Tišma) is possible. Indicating that the become a mar��er and be con��rmed as and inde� of the absent discussion is possible is the determining of the hierarchy of dis� subject of not just te�tuality, but metaphysics. By appearing as a courses about discourses: e�amples (sensation of e�amples) are hypothesis or an event of the mar��er of the te�t, it (the subject) not the only things that are confronting, but also the ��no�ledge is given to �ords, and that is �hy Tišma ta��es the name “�ord” about the place of the e�ample in the hierarchy of the discourse a�ay from �ords, leaving that the �ords are only the �ords that of the �orlds of art. And A Square of Kazimir Maljevič and do not bear a name (LI�E, WHERE, OR, ALWAYS, WITH). By The Dimension of Error locate, although not e�plore, the thin ta��ing the subject a�ay from the te�t, li��e in the mirror, Tišma borderline of the topology of dra�ings and the topology of te�t faces the removal of the subject from the te�t, the subject �hich in relation to the non�presented, or the metaphysical. The �or��s ta��es the subject a�ay from the te�t: he faces Slobodan Tišma. sho� that the topologies of the mar��ers and their geometrics The note for the te�t “�ao �e��o” (Li��e Somebody) is a statement of te�tuality and dra�ings are similar, although not identical. of conceptual art: Tišma’s phenomenology of statement cor� There are no correspondences of te�t and dra�ings, something responds to the analytics of Robert Barry, La�rence Weiner or is al�ays le�� out, there is a shortage that controls the differences Ian Wilson. But, the note for the te�t “Li��e Somebody” is in the bet�een the �riting and the dra�ing creature. provocative relations and �ith quilted points of e�perimental Tišma’s �or�� �as greatly determined by the search for the literature. Tišma’s scepticism is synchronously the scepticism “invisible” from the linguistic borders of a poem to the visual� of a conceptual artist and the dissatisfaction that also imbued spacial borders of the sensory perception to the pseudo�ritual or �allarme’s (Stephane �allarme, 1842 – 1898) introduction to, para�ritual in the forest, on the street, and on the concert roc�� �e �ill call it �riting “A Thro� of the Dice Will �ever Abol� stage. Certainly a distinctive artistic performance �or�� (1973) ish Chance” (1897). Tišma �rote: “For this note I cannot ta��e is a �or�� that �as performed �ith Čeda Drča on the streets of responsibility. Everything that is in it is probably �rong and �ovi Sad. There are a number of photographical sequences that senseless and, �hat is even �orse: arbitrary.” document this “invisible” �or�� in everyday life. It is a parado�i� The analysis of the poems and te�ts of Slobodan Tišma cal presence bet�een the urban and the transcendent. indicates, formally, these three cases: 1. The te�ts, or poems, �hich move to�ards the “being” and the “phenomenology” of the poetic discourse, becoming the The case of Slavko Bogdanović: Novi Sad actionism or discourse themselves; the new concepts of political art (Serbian edition, p.268) 2. Te�ts, or poems, that move to�ards the confrontation of “semantic production” and “quilted points” (mar��ers that stop Slav��o Bogdanović 497 (1948) started his �or�� in art as an the interminable sliding of the meaning); and e�perimental poet and a conceptual artist. His early �or��s 3. Te�ts that can be called theoretical objects, since they of� from the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s �ere fer the phenomenology of the te�t in order to reveal the mecha� anarchistically�e�cess, actionistic, of emphasized gestural� nisms of te�t to the mind’s eye, to demonstrate that, as Joseph ness, intermedial and conceptual. Bogdanović �rote poems �osuth implied, the de��nition of art (te�t) is art (te�t). that became te�ts and projects of intentional structurations of The installations Crna i žuta vrpca (Black and Yellow Rib� object, for e�ample, “2�� ideja” (“2�� Ideas”). 498 The te�t �as bon 1970), Kocka (Cube 1970), and dra�ings Kvadrat Kazimira about possible/potential artistic �or�� (dig a hole, ma��e a boo��, Maljeviča (A Square of Kazimir Maljevič) and Dimenzija greške burn a boo��, e�hibit the Sun and the Earth, etc.), the te�t �as (The Dimension of Error) 496 are signi��cant conceptualistic real� a speech about the intentions of an artist, and �ith the boo�� izations. At the ��rst step the �or��s indicate Tišma’s urgent and “Močvara” (Swamp) 499 it became analytical linguistically�se� obsessive affinities: the relation �ith �allarme’s dice of chance 497 Miško Šuvaković, Politika tela. Eseji o Slavku Bogdanoviću, Prometej and K21K, Novi Sad, 1997 496 Slobodan Tišma, Kvadrat Kazimira Maljeviča i Dimenzija greške, Index, No. 201, 498 Slavko Bogdanović, ”200 ideja“, Index, No. 201, Novi Sad, 1970 Novi Sad, 1970 499 Slavko Bogdanović, Močvara, auctorial edition, Novi Sad, 1970  20 th Century Art In Vojvodina miotic �or�� �ith the materiality of the spo��en language as Duchamps’s ready�made 500 and indicates the pro�Dadaistic a �or�� of art. On the other hand, the e�pressive gesture of neo�anarchistic strategy of activity. The magazine �as pub� hammering boo��s �ith nails (Zakovana knjiga [The Ham� lished si� times �ith the subheading “List za permanentnu mered Book], 1971) started an avalanche of archetypal potential destru��ciju svega postojećeg” (“The magazine for the per� brea��throughs behind the linguistic utilitarian conventions. manent destruction of everything e�istent”, Issue �os. 1�6), The boo�� �as the very subject (in the phenomenological sense), three times �ith the subheading “Underground list za razvi� the operational area of the gestural mixed�media �or�� of art, janje međusobnih odnosa” (“Underground magazine for the but it could also be an allegory of Christ’s body, or the demol� development of mutual relations”, Issue �os. 7, 9, 11) and three ished, dishonoured and destroyed object of the high culture. times as “Underground list za novu revoluciju” (“The under� Slav��o Bogdanović offered the follo�ing autocritical comment: ground magazine for the ne� revolution”, Issue �os. 8, 10 and “I just hammered them. Therefore, the cruci���ion as a conno� 12), and the thirteenth issue �as published under the name tation can only stand as an intermediary e�ecuted paradigm. “List za prijatelje” (The magazine for friends). The ��rst issue of Other�ise, I didn’t have it in my mind. The Hammered Book is, the magazine L.H.O.O.Q. �ith the te�ts of Slav��o Bogdanović in the conte�t of other �or��s, e�plainable as the relinquishing and �iroslav �andić “�i smo dražesni dečaci II” (“We are of previous e�periences: the need for the layers of education, charming boys II”) came out translated into Hungarian (trans� conventions, considerations, political pressures, fears – all lation of �atalin Ladi��) as part of the magazine Új Symposion. accepted from the outside as a personal e�perience – to be The �ay out of conceptual art too�� through the discourses removed (or, perhaps, close into a, some sort of, �andora’s bo�), of the political ne� le�� actionistic anarchism. Those �ere the so that the clean, liberated (emptied) Being can be e�posed to te�ts 501 that entered the direct activist settling of accounts the effect of selected e�periences (in��uences). So that the cup �ith the cultural and artistic politics in �ovi Sad and Vojvo� that somebody else ��lled �ith tea can be emptied. So that one’s dina. For Bogdanović, the deconstruction of utilitarian and o�n tea can be drun��. So that one’s o�n �od can be found. In pragmatic languages of culture �as not just a deconstruction that conte�t a line (gradation) could be found, made of: of aesthetical, but also a step into the terror of the political � The medium is the message (1970); po�ers in the language and behind the language. Bogdanović � T�T' (1970); �as accused and sentenced to imprisonment for the te�t � Otvorene knjige (The Open Boo��s, 1971); “�esma underground tribina mladih novi sad” (“The �oem of � Zatvorene knjige (The Closed Boo��s, 1971); the Underground Youth Stands �ovi Sad”), published in the � Zakovane knjige (The Hammered Boo��s, 1971); ne�spaper Student. That issue of Student �as banned before � Močvara (The S�amp, 1970). the ne�spaper �as publicly distributed. Slav��o Bogdanović “In that sequence, the te�t �as the ��rst to serve the reistic �as sentenced to eight months imprisonment by the verdict game, and then the boo��. The end of everything is, de��nitely, of District Court of �ovi Sad �o. �.77/72 for the violation of The Swamp, as the ��nal destruction, decomposition of �ords, Article 292 of the Criminal Code and Article 116 of the La� on but also as the beginning, because by deconstructing the �ords �ress and other Types of �edia. The sentence �as pronounced boo�� �as created (�hich means, a ne� composition�construc� on 12th �ay 1972. In the argumentation of the verdict, it �as tion). The circle of e�periences �as thereby closed.” e�plained that in the te�t “�esma underground tribina mladih �roto�Conceptualism �as a step out of the culture of the novi sad” (The �oem of the Underground Youth Stands �ovi High �odernism (culture of intermediary meanings, e�peri� Sad), published in the ne�spaper Student, Slav��o Bogdanović ences, emotions, e�pressions, symbolisation) to�ards the real stated “… the false ne�s, and also allegations considering vari� HERE presence (o��en tautological presence) of the object itself, ous issues and events”. 502 The parado� of this verdict �as in the the direct meaning, the immediate e�perience, the imminent fact that Slav��o Bogdanović �as sentenced for the publishing emotion, the pure e�pression and unambiguous symbolisation. The search of the mar��er, the zero alphabet, the performative voice and the dematerialized object of art �as in the function 500 Thierry de Duve (ed), The Definitively Unfinished Marcel Duchamp, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 1993 of reaching the departure point (the zero stage of culture), or 501 Slavko Bogdanović, Miroslav Mandić, ”Mi smo dražesni dečaci I“ – unique item, 1971; the possibility for the culture to be rebuilt and for the symbol� Slavko Bogdanović, Miroslav Mandić, ”Mi smo dražesni dečaci II“, from: L.H.O.O.Q, Novi Sad, 23rd March 1971; Slavko Bogdanović, ”Pesma underground tribina mladih ization to start from the very beginning. novi sad“, from: ”Specijalni broj posvećen Undergroundu“ (themat), Student, Belgrade, 1971, pp. 31; Slavko Bogdanović, ”Otvoreno pismo Jaši Zlopcu“, Bosut, In the autumn of 1971, Slav��o Bogdanović started a lo�� 11th December 1971. (unpublished at the time it was written) circulation magazine L.H.O.O.Q., �hich �as printed in 13 502 See documents ”Presuda“ (The Verdict), Business No. K. 77/72 from 12th May 1972, signed by the head of the court council, Đorđe Rogulja for the District Court in Novi issues. The name of the magazine �as ta��en from the famous Sad. The Supreme Court of Vojvodina denied the appeal to the ”Presuda“ (Verdict) – Business No. Kž. 621/72, signed by the head of the court council Dr. Branko Petrić, 6th October 1972. 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 7  of a te�t that �as never publicly distributed. The �hole process �andić conducted conceptual researches of the language of led to the dismissal of the e�ecutives of the Youth Stand and, art by means of tautological interventions in the public space actually, to the shutting do�n of the e�perimental artistic and during 1970: for e�ample, by releasing Styrofoam letters form� cultural scene in �ovi Sad during 1973. The politically�judi� ing the �ord “Dunav” (Danube) into the river Danube or by cial settling of accounts �ith Slav��o Bogdanović and �iroslav placing the �ord “Trava” (�rass) cut out of paper letters onto �andić, and the administration �ith the e�ecutives of the the grass surface. The conceptual dra�ings Čelik (Steel), Delo Youth Stand during 1972 and 1973 �as the consequence of A,B,C (Work A, B, C) or 3�� tačaka (3�� spots), or Ulaznica complicated political, but also cultural struggles in Serbia, Vo� u galerije savremene umjetnosti (The Ticket to the Galleries of jvodina and �ovi Sad. That con��ict �as not only an e�pression Contemporary Art) are conceptually�mental e�ercises based on of the state repression over the young e�perimental and critical repetition, tautology, reduction, seriality and metalinguisti� artists, but also a reaction of the dominant artistic and cultural cally�institutional description. The �or�� Ulaznica u galerije system inside the socialistic �odernism, to the e�cess that �as savremene umetnosti (The Ticket to Galleries of Contemporary not ��t in or controlled, and that happened from the formally� Art) is a linguistic game �ith the institution of museum and linguistic and ne� media innovations to the politically�spiri� gallery as a closed, guarded and controlled public space. With tual life attitudes and activist and actionistic subversions. 503 the te�t “�alerije” (�alleries) 508, �andić as��ed questions about An important “digression”: in the middle of the ��rst decade the system of art as the contradictory space of social, cultural of the 21st century, Slav��o Bogdanović e�ecuted t�o politically and artistic politics of e�hibiting. Close to this te�t, a range of oriented �or��s of art in the transitional conditions of nation� critical te�ts about e�hibits, ��lms or cultural circumstances alistic and con��icting Serbian sociability. Both �or��s �ere set emerged. 509 as the symptoms of contemporary social, political and religious On the occasion of the performance of the groups JANUAR hegemonies and censorships: a series of paintings/icons on a and FEBRUAR he realised 10 messages (1971) by �hich he tree (W)holly Composite Singularity (Byzantine XXI) 504 (2005 introduced the role of the political slogans and political e�pres� – 2006) and the short motion picture Final Shot Final Cut 505 sion in the artistic �or��. In the late period of �or�� of the group (2007). Both these �or��s �ere not “artistic decorations” of the KÔD and just a��er its disbandment, he �rote manifest critical actualities, but provocations of the post�socialistic taboos of and subversive te�ts �ith Slav��o Bogdanović and Dušan the religious and theocratic conception of the modern lifestyle, Bijelić: “Mi smo dražesni dečaci I&II” (“We Are Charming Boys or brutal confrontation �ith the symbols of the national my� I&II”, 1971) or “Droga ili revolucija – Narkomani svih zemalja thology and national political program as the only project of ujedinite se” (“Drugs or a Revolution – Junkies of all Countries the post�communistic Serbia. Unite”, 1971) or “Pesma o filmu” 510 (“Poem about Film”, 1971). In the history of Vojvodinian portrait, the �or�� of �iroslav �andić “Pesma o filmu” (“Poem about Film”) is an important The case of Miroslav Mandić: art between provocation e�ception that offers conceptual version of the political portrait and walking (Serbian edition, p.273) or, more precisely, the anti�portrait of �arshal Josip Broz Tito, in a �ay that had subversive consequences and provocation of �iroslav �andić (1949) started his artistic �or�� in the conte�t the political system. For that te�t�portrait, �andić �as sen� of e�perimental poetry 506 para�theatrical e�pressions 507 and tenced by the criminal la�. conceptual art in the conte�t of the �or�� of the group KÔD. A��er the conceptual art, and a��er the serving of his sentence of imprisonment, �iroslav �andić had a one year long suspension in public e�hibiting and performing, to start 503 Center for New Media Media_kuda.org (eds.), ”Izostavljena istorija – The transcrip- tion of the debate held on 18th November 2005 on the occasion of the opening of building and performing in isolation the “character” of the the exhibit Trajni Čas Umetnosti, Novosadska neoavangarda ’60-ih i’ 70-ih godina XX veka in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Novi Sad, from Izostavljena istorija, kuda. charismatic ��gure on the other scene of Vojvodinian, Serbian read, Novi Sad, 2006, pp. 18-48. and Yugoslav art. About his “stay” in prison he �rote the para� 504 Miško Šuvaković (ed), Hibridno imaginarno: slikarstvo i/ili ekran – O slici i slikarstvu u diary poetic notes “Zatvor” (“Prison”), �hich �ere published in epohi medija, Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 2006, pp. 54-55, 83 the boo�� Ne, ne verujem da se ova rečenica ne čuje (No, I Don’t 505 Slavko Bogdanović, Final Shotfinal Cut, Exit, Novi Sad, 2007 506 Miroslav Mandić, ”201“, ”Mirko Radojičić“, ”Pesma o sebi“, Index No. 201, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. ���. 507 Slobodan Tišma and Miroslav Mandić, action More - Antimore in front of the Cathedral 508 Miroslav Mandić, ”Galerije“, Index No. 202, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 7 in the center of Novi Sad 22nd April 1970; Performance of the group KÔD, Zglob (The Youth Stand, 24th of May 1970), see: Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, 509 Miroslav Mandić, ”Suma 2N – Povodom izložbe Slobodana Dimitrijevića - Braca“ and (∃ i (∃ KÔD, pp. 35; group action Ogledalo u gradu (25th of May 1970, Novi Sad); para- ”Film govori sam za sebe – Filmovi Tomislava Gotovca“, Index No. 3, Novi Sad, 1970, theatrical performance of Miroslav Mandić TRI TRI in which Mirko Radojičić, Slavko pp. 10 Bogdanović, Slobodan Tišma, Vladimir Mandić, Božidar Mandić took part, was held in 510 Miroslav Mandić, “Pesma o filmu” (translation into Hungarian by Katalin Ladik), the hall of the Youth Stand on the 9th of October 1970, and others Új Symposion No. 77, Novi Sad, 1971, pp. 389  20 th Century Art In Vojvodina Believe that this Sentence Isn’t Heard) 511 from 1987, ����een of public opinion �ere provo��ed by means of e�perimental years a��er the serving of his sentence in prison. He devoted te�t “products”. �ovács Lu��ács �rote about the Hungarian himself to �andering, everyday life, physical �or��, meditative �eo�Avant�garde director Jancsó �i��lós, and Fe��ete Elvira dra�ings and paintings, rituals of everyday life, mysticism, �rote about the critic of ��lm critic. Tolnai Ottó analyzed the documenting of everyday life, etc. 512 It all happened in private �eo�Avant�garde ��lm, a comic by Bran��o Andrić Tou Boof spaces, on the margins of late�socialistic society. He started �as published, among other things. �iroslav �andić �rote the lifelong project called Čove�� (�an), based on the photo� the essay Vers a Filmröl (A poem about the film – a sonnet or graphic shooting of his o�n face once a month his �hole life. �� stanzas), in �hich he pulled out a characteristical post�Code He �or��ed on a ten year long project of dra�ing Lišće – Drvo political provocation inside the discourse about the ��lm in Života (Leaves – the Tree of Life, 1975 � 1985), �hen over 3650 socialist Yugoslavia. The essay itself contained e�periments and dra�ings �ere created, together covering an area of 2.7�20 me� conceptual �or��s of Slobodan Tišma, �ilan Živ��ović, �iho� ters. He returned to public artistic �or�� in 1981. He published vil �ansini, �oran Trbulja��, Božidar �andić, and �iroslav poetry. 513 He started creating �or��s of art �ith �al��ing and �andić himself 515. The magazine Új Symposion, issue 77, �as interactions �ith the environmental and human situations. banned by the decision of the County �rosecutor’s Office in He aspired to art as a heroic deed. He copied t�enty novels be� �ovi Sad on 9th December 1971. The decision reads as follo�s: t�een 1985 and 1987. He realised his ten year long project Ruža THERE IS A TE��ORARY BA� on distribution of Új Sympo� lutanja (The Rose of Wandering) bet�een 1991 and 2001. 514 sion art and critic magazine in Hungarian from �ovi Sad, issue 77 – �atolič��a porta street 5/II – due to publishing the essay by Those �or��s of his emerged in the spirit of the postmodernist �iroslav �andić: Vers a Filmröl (A poem about the film – a sonnet nomadism, eclecticism and individual mythologies. The artist or �� stanzas), on pages 376�389, translated by Ladi�� �atalina, is the one �ho starts his �al�� to�ards the eternity in the inter� �hich soils the honor and reputation of the �resident of the spaces of the mythical and literally e�istentional. Republic, the people and the State of SFRY, and gives false and t�isted claims that may cause unease among citizens – brea��ing the La� of �ress and other media under section 52, paragraph 1, points 2 and 7. 516 A case of political repression: Új Symposion magazine, issue 77, 1971 (Serbian edition, p.275) E�planation of the decision �as formulated so that �andić’s critique of Yugoslav cinema seemed as an “attac��” of The Új Symposion (The New Symposium) magazine has been the poet/artist on the character of the �resident, therefore, on published in Hungarian in �ovi Sad since January 1965. It �as the very foundations and symbols of socialist society of Yugo� published by Tribina mladih (Young People’s Tribunal). �any slavia. Among the numerous quotations, one about Josip Broz Hungarian and Yugoslav authors �rote for the magazine: Tolnai Tito �as also singled out: Ottó (1940), Domon��os István (1940), Sziveri János (1954� On the page 389, in chapter IX, the title says: “instructions for 1990), Fenyvesi Ottó (1954), Végel László (1941), Balázs Attila, ma��ing a ��lm about the revolution”, and the subtitle says: “A script for ma��ing a ��lm JOSI� BROZ TITO”, under �hich follo�s: Thom��a Beáta, Balint Szombathy, Radics Vi��tória, and many others. At the time �hen Tolnai Ottó �as the editor, and Balint “….ta��e a photograph of Josip Broz Tito in color, one ta��e, lasting Szombathy �as the graphical editor, the magazine �as support� for t�o hours. Static camera. With the end credits, a voice says that this �as Josip Broz Tito 517.” ing e�periments of �eo�Avant�garde and conceptualistic nature. Issue 77 of the magazine from September of 1971 �as Also, as the ��nishing evidence, the follo�ing is quoted: devoted to cinema: “Müvészeti�kritikai folyóizat”. It �as one On the same page, chapter XIV, titled: “Why I have �ritten this of the ��ey critical, theoretical and artistic provocations of the te�t”: status and effects of ��lm in real�socialist countries, and, before “…Because I believe only in Yugoslavian society, even though it is all, in Hungarian and Yugoslav society. Cultural, ��lmographic in deep shit.” and artistic fascinations �ith “po�ers” of ��lm as the ne� mass As the above mentioned incriminations contain characteristics of and totalitarian medium for communication and shaping criminal acts from paragraph 174 of the Criminal La�, and such �riting causes uneasiness among citizens today, due to false and 511 Miroslav Mandić, Ne, ne verujem da se ova rečenica ne čuje, Literary Association of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, 1987, pp. 13–73 512 Miroslav Mandić, Ne, ne verujem da se ova rečenica ne čuje, Literary Association of Novi 515 Miroslav Mandić, ”Vers a Filmröl – szonett avagy tizennégy versslor”, Új Symposion 77, Sad, Novi Sad, 1987 Novi Sad, September, 1971, pp. 376-389. 513 Miroslav Mandić, Ja sam ti je on, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1984; Miroslav Mandić, Kaja, 516 Decision of the County prosecutor’s office 79/71, December 9, 1971, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1993 Novi Sad, signed by the public prosecutor A. Miškov. 514 See: Miroslav Mandić, Ruža lutanja 1, Društvo prijatelja ”Ruže lutanja“, Belgrade, 1992; 517 Explanation of the County prosecutor’s office 79/71, December 9, 1971, Ruža lutanja 2, Društvo prijatelja ”Ruže lutanja“, Belgrade, 1994 Novi Sad, page 3 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina   t�isted statements being made, it also violates section 52, para� Polje devoted to conceptual art (issue 156, 1972), �ith te�t of graph 1, points 2 and 7 of the La� of �ress and other media, �hich Joseph �osuth, the Art&Language group, Catherine �illet, ful��lls the la�ful conditions from section 53 of the said La�, and �ar��o �ogacni��, Victor Bergin, Vladimir �opicl, Sol Le Witt, allo�s a temporary ban and reach this decision. 518 etc. 523 He taught grammar in a school for typists, �as a lector Legal action against �iroslav �andić follo�ed, and he �as in Dijon, Bucharest and �ancy. He translated from and to sentenced to nine months of prison by the �unicipal Court French, presented boo��s and magazines. He contributed �ith in �ovi Sad. ZzI� (Community for Spatial E�ploration), �ith e�hibitions and the publishing of Mental Spaces 52�; he prepared one of the The banning the Új Symposion magazine is one of the char� ZzI� seminars dedicated to Jacque Lacan (Jacque Lacan and acteristic parado�es of socialist Yugoslavia. This magazine �as the Theory of Art) for publishing in Letopis Matice srpske 525 . not one of the “right��inged dissident” anti�communist and Three periods and conte�ts of �ir��o Radojičić’s �or�� as an anti�le�� magazines or semi�public spaces for dissident national� artist are important: ism, quite the opposite, it �as a le����inged magazine of e�peri� 1) E�amples of analytical conceptualistic te�tual practice mental and critical opinion, committed to the “revolution”, the from 1971; revolutionary cultures and arts in a multinational society. Still, 2) E�amples of e�ploration of natural morphologies and the literally understood and developed “aesthetical�ethical at� topologies of the trans��gurational shapes of nature, started in titude” and the policy of action �ere the challenges of carrying 1971 �ith dra�ings, developed to a rounded�off project a��er out the socialist�bureaucratic modernism in culture and art, 1975; and thus, canonizing and freezing the ideals of the revolution. As 3) E�amples of comple� meaning models of eclectic ba� in the case of Želimir Žitni��’s ��lms and Slav��o Bogdanović’s roque conceptualism during the 80s. te�ts, in Új Symposion magazine and the te�t�poem by �iro� Te�tual practice of conceptual art is determined through slav �andić �e are tal��ing about subversive and critical action demands that the te�t is the object of art at the visual or spatial by artists �ho understand the revolution seriously, instead of area, and that the te�t is a second�degree (target having n� the cynical 519, conformist and measured bureaucratizing of the degrees) discussion of the nature of art, paradigm of art, �orld self�ruled culture and art by culture �or��ers, artists and politi� of art, etc. It is a characteristic of conceptual art at the transi� cians, that is, the police and the judicial system. tion from the 60s to 70s, especially the Anglo�Sa�on authors (�osuth, Art&Language, Bergin, Weiner, Barry), 526 to reduce the te�t to tautological e�pressions and analytical e�pres� The case of Mirko Radojičić: From analytical sions, �or��ing �ith propositions of art, during �hich the te�t to spiritual conceptualism (Serbian edition, p.278) phenomenon and language work are neglected (subjected to a ��rm order of unambiguity of the document). For Radojičić, as �ir��o Radojičić (1948�2003), a��er a short engagement �ith �ell as some other members of KÔD and (∃, the potential of processual art, interventions in natural and urban space, and sensual and intelligible appearance of te�t and language work performance art, during 1970 turns to the te�t and te�tual �as the goal, �hile tautological and analytical e�pressions analysis: conceptual art. Wor��s from that period �ere present� (proportions) �ere the means. In a �ay they anticipated the ed on several important e�hibitions of conceptual art: Seventh idea of non�visual abstraction that Ian Wilson 527 developed at Young Artists’ Biennale in Paris 52� (1971), Examples of Concep� the beginning of the 80s, de��ning the character of non�referen� tual Art in Yugoslavia 52� (Zagreb, 1971), At the Moment (1971), tial te�tuality. Radojičić’s Text � (1971) �as �ritten in the form In Another Moment 522 (S�C gallery, Belgrade, 1971), etc. Li��e of statements, o�ing to the long traditions of manifestos/state� other contributors of groups KÔD and (∃, Radojičić �or��ed at Young People’s Tribunal in �ovi Sad on organizing e�hibi� 523 Mirko Radojičić (ed.), ”Konceptualna umetnost“, Polja, issue 156, Novi Sad, 1972 tions. He also organized intervie�s and �or��ed as an editor 524 Zoran Belić, Juraj Dobrović, Darko Hohnjec, Miroslav Mandić, Nenad Petrović, Marko of several publications. He �as the editor of a special issue of Pogačnik, Mirko Radojičić, Maja Savić, Paja Stanković, Miško Šuvaković M., Zajednička škola o prostoru (zbornik), Hall of the Museum of Modern art, Belgrade, 1981; Zoran Belić, W., Dubravka Đurić, Miško Šuvaković (eds.), ”Kulture Istoka – vizuelna umetnost Zapada XX veka“, Mentalni Prostor, issue 3, Museum of ethnography in Belgrade, Belgrade, 1986; Zoran Belić, W., Dubravka Đurić, Miško Šuvaković (eds.), ”Analiza 518 Explanation of the County prosecutor’s office 79/71, December 9, 1971, – tekstualnost – fenomenologija i vizuelne umetnosti“, Mentalni Prostor, issue 4, SKC, Novi Sad, page 3 Belgrade, 1987 519 Slavoj Žižek, Birokratija i uživanje, SIC, Belgrade, 1984. 525 Mirko Radojičić, Matjaž Potrč, Nenad Miščević, Radoman Kordić, Miško Šuvaković, 520 N. Auberge, C. Millet, A. Pacquement (eds.), ”Concept“, iz: Septieme Biennale de Paris, Zoran Belić and Žak Lakan, ”Žak Lakan i teorija umetnosti“, Posebne sveske LMS (2), Paris, 1971 Novi Sad, 1987 521 Ješa Denegri, Biljana Tomić (eds.), Primeri konceptualne umetnosti u Jugoslaviji, Hall of 526 Ursula Meyer, Conceptual Art, A Dutton Paperback, New York, 1972 the Museum of Modern Art, Beograd, 1971. 527 Ian Wilson, ”Conceptual Art“, Artforum, New York, February 1984, str. 60–61. 522 Nena Dimitrijević, Braco Dimitrijević (eds.), In Another Moment, SKC, Belgrade, 1971 Prevedeno u časopisu Mentalni prostor, br. 4, Beograd, 1987, str. 157 100 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina ments, i.e. the speech of an artist in the ��rst person. Text 2 authors from Clodel to Barthes. 532 Radojičić �or��ed �ith non� (1971) is a theoretical object set for a gallery e�hibition. formal institution from Belgrade, ZzI� (Community for spatial In a series of dra�ings Structure of growth – circle (square, exploration) on heoretical projects of analytic, semiological triangle) from 1971, published in the magazine Problemi 528, and phenomenological art a��er modernism. 533 Radojičić mar��ed the problems �ith �hich he �ould deal in the 70s and 80s. From the analysis of the language (the con� ceptual character of art) he moved, during the 70s, to studying History, and the context of group (∃ (Serbian edition, p.282) and e�ploring speci��c lingual (symbolic, therefore archetypal) models, pointing out uncertain “universal” invariants in hu� The people �ho contributed to group (∃ 53� �ere Ana Ra��ović, man nature, consciousness/subconsciousness, una�are of the Vladimir �opicl, Čeda Drča and �iša Živanović. Cooperation mar��ers and trac��s of cultural economies of identifying. It of future members of group฀(∃ began during year 1970. Before meant a move a�ay from Wittgenstein’s meta�analysis to�ards founding (∃ they participated in groups JANUAR (Young Jungian 529 psychoanalysis of the collective unconscious and �eople’s Tribunal, �ovi Sad) and FEBRUAR (Dom Omladine, the process of symbolization. Radojičić’s �or�� of this period Belgrade). �roup (∃ �as founded at the end of February 1971. corresponds to certain original memories/emotional connec� �iša Živanović le�� the group in �arch 1971. During �ay of tions to nature/space of his bac��ground (landscape of Herze� 1971, group (∃�KÔD �as created. govina), live and �or�� of the commune/family in Sempas 530, �embers of (∃ group �ere students of literature. They �ere and the interest in Western (alchemical, romantic) and Eastern interested in theory of literature, linguistics, theory of infor� (zen, taoism) “sacredness”. It is noticeable that Radojičić, mation, philosophy of the language and the theory of sets (Ana although pointing out distinctions (of symbol and sign, nature Ra��ović, Čeda Drča), philosophy of the language, most of all and culture, matter and spirit, language and the e�tralingual, the philosophy of Lud�ig Wittgenstein (Vladimir �opicl) and circle in nature and circle in art), does not ta��e sides, does not linguistics (�iša Živanović), set their �or�� to�ards analyti� create the synthesis of the cognitive (e�ternal and internal). His cal and theoretical conceptual art since the beginning 535. In �or�� remains conceptualistic to a degree that allo�s for the art the artistic area they �ere interested in the American Avant� �or�� to be seen, e�perienced, contemplated, understood, etc, garde from John Cage, through beatni��s, to conceptual art and as the nature of the phenomenon and the discourse of different e�perimental poetry. They �ere very close to KÔD group since natures and functions. Radojičić, through his readings of Jung, their beginnings. sho�s us ho� the symbolic order has the po�er to blind us The �or�� of (∃ starts from literary e�periments by introduc� and bind us, but also sho�s that �ithout it there is no culture ing metalingual interpretive aspects in the poetical te�t and (civilization). Radojičić’s �or�� in the 80s, ho�ever small it may its transformation into a metalingual �or�� of conceptual art. have been in the number of �or��s, it �as rich and e�pansive �etalingual �or�� of conceptual art is no longer de��ned by in crossbreeding e�tentional transparency of references �ith disciplinary speci��cations, but hermeneutic discussion realized intentional opaqueness of nominalistic consistentions of visual through “concept” (te�tual�diagram art �or�� or project) and and discoursive: With Blue (1982), The Ambivalent Line 53� through te�tual analysis of status, functions and effects of the (1982), The Moon (1983) etc. During the 80s, Radojičić vis� �orld of art, notion of art, artist, art �or��, discourse in art and ited France t�ice and this �as not �ithout trace. The Jung� about art. We recognize: ian concept of archetypal symbolization �as pushed for�ard, 1) �roup �or��s; and the deconstructive semioticity of postmodern culture �as 2) Joint �or��s of Ana Ra��ović and Čeda Drča; and emphasized, along �ith the dialectics of the mar��ed and the 3) Individual �or��s of group members during and a��er its mar��er. He �as, at the time, translating Roland Barthes and e�istence. Jacques Lacan, and that is �hen his short, almost program�li��e te�t for the ne� semiology of art �as created: Lines and dots / for the study of the presence of the East in the works of French 532 Mirko Radojičić, ”Crte i tačke �� za studiju o prisustvu kultura Istoka u delima fran- cuskih stvaralaca od Klodela do Barta“, Mentalni Prostor, issue 3, Belgrade 1987, pp. 155-156 533 In ZzIP there were, apart from Radojičić: Zoran Belic W., Nenad Petrović, Marko 528 Mirko Radojičić, drawings, Problemi, issue 101, Ljubljana, 1971 Pogacnik, Dubravka Đuric, the author, and, at times, Miodrag Lazarov Pashu, 529 Carl Jung (ed.), Man and his Symbols, Pan Books, London, 1978 Miroslav Mandić and others. See: Miško Šuvaković, ”ZzIP: teorija u umetnosti“, from: 530 Tomaž Brejc, ”Obitelj u Šempasu“, iz: Marijan Susovski (ed.), Nova umjetnička praksa Konceptualna umetnost, MSUV, Novi Sad, 2007, pp.569-575 1966–1978, Gallery of contemporary art, Zagreb, 1978, pp.19-20 534 Mirko Radojičić, ”Grupa (∃“, from: Marijan Susovski (ed.), Nova umjetnička praksa 531 This was partially published in the catalogue of the exhibition Examples of photogra- 1966–1978, Contemporary art gallery, Zagreb, 1978, pp. 43-45; Miško Šuvaković (ed.), phy in conceptual and postconceptual art in Yugoslavia, Photo lounge, Belgrade, 1985, Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995 and Photography in Serbia 1839-1989, SANU, Belgrade, 1991 535 Filiberto Mena, Analitička linija moderne umetnosti, Clio, Belgrade, 2001 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 101  Several group projects �ere realized in the form of dia� the intentional ones. This �ay the language as a descriptive sys� gram�te�tual �or�� to do �ith the psycho�physical states of tem is transformed into the language as a productive system. the artist, mental notions, conceptual formulations and �orld Their study 66 squares is realized as a net made of 66 phenomena. These are analytical auto�re��e�ive �or��s, sho�ing squares �ith 66 �ords inside them. The study has a supplement ho� certain idea is formulated (described, planned, document� of si� smaller diagrams �ith 66 squares in �hich suggestions ed) and represented in the formal model of diagrams and te�t. for reading the te�t (the �ords in squares) are given diagram� Vladimir �opicl, Ana Ra��ović and Čeda Drča realized the matically. The idea is e�pressed �ith the attitude: ‘by acting follo�ing �or��s: Transformation of a three�dimensional system to�ards creating lingual connections among the elements of into an N�dimensional one, System of absolute measurements, the system, it is possible to get an in��nite number of lingually� 66 squares, An attempt to establish continuity achieved through aesthetical values.’ A study �ith this concept points to t�o the method of exhausting the organism, An action of setting basic stand�points: spatial distances and ���� (all from 1971). In the te�t of �ir��o 1) The idea of linguistic language as the material basis of Radojičić about (∃ group, there are also �or��s mentioned that formal combining; and are based on: 2) The idea of language game, developed by Lud�ig Witt� 1) The analysis of the relationship of moving cubes, one genstein, as the basis for building a te�t. mar��ed and one unmar��ed, that can be set as the relationships of Te�t is not a consistent structure of referential meaning full space and time, absence and presence of communication; of sense, but the effect of possible formal combining in the lan� 2) The ful��lment of a situation in real space and time – each guage game. Also, a characteristic conceptual move: the rules of the participants go to a different city and spend some time per� of combining are given as graphical signs (reading diagrams), forming planned actions, the goal is to ma��e individual e�peri� and the phenomenon that creates the aesthetic effect is given as ences mutual. linguistic material. The traditional visual arts scheme in �hich Diagram�te�tual studies, Transformation of the three the aesthetic phenomenon is an image has been inverted and dimensional system into an N�dimensional system and Absolute the rules of aesthetic�artistic activity are linguistic. measurement system 536 are realized as conceptual hypotheti� Study ���� has been done as the order based on analytic cal models. Their goal is to sho� that the characteristic art propositions of ordinal numbering in the decimal number phenomena, li��e space and color, can be conceptually and system. The study is simple. T�o number columns have been mentally presented through formal combinations and corre� given, consisting of numbers from 1 to 10. The ��rst column is spondences. In Transformation of the three dimensional system made from rising numbers from 1 to 10, in accordance �ith into an N�dimensional system the correspondences are formally numbering in the integer set, and the other one is given as a established bet�een the spatial model (coordinate system �, y, random list of numbers from 1 to 10. When correspondence z) and the color system (blue, red, yello�). By introducing con� is set bet�een these t�o columns, the ��rst column represents ventions about identity of the system and colors, as �ell as the an ordinal number or the place of the number from the second in��nite number of colors in the system, a formal transforma� column. For e�ample, number 4 from the second column has tion of the spatial system (three dimensions) into an ��dimen� the ordinal place 1, and number 9 from the second column has sional system is established. The de��ning quality of this is the ordinal place 6. This study sho�s that it is possible, bet�een ‘po�er’ of creating analytical proportion about the terms that any t�o sets of elements, to establish a formal relationship of potentially have references to�ards the �orld phenomena (col� order based on a rule (analytical proposition). When such an or and space). In other �ords, e�tentional terms (terms �ith analytical correspondence has been set, the connected ele� outside reference) are transformed into an intentional system ments, in accordance �ith the given rule, are in a tautologi� (a system of abstract formal structure). In their Absolute mea� cal relationship. In other �ords, the relationship bet�een the surement system, the starting point is the tautological model elements of the ��rst and the second column is al�ays true if the of analytic proportions by �hich the metaphysical judgments rule of their correspondence is accepted. This type of study has of the absolute characters of each color (blue, red, yello�) in its matri� the position of ready�made (choosing an inartis� are made. For this study it is characteristic that the analytic tic phenomenon as the object of artistic study, li��e a number proposition (a formally composed e�pression) is speculatively list), and in its developed form it has the position of a mental developed as a metaphysical e�pression (synthetic proposition). e�ercise (non�visual e�pression, e�pression �ith linguistic, �roup (∃ sho�s that e�tentional terms can be treated just as mathematical or mental presentations). The projects Attempt of reaching continuity by the method of organism exhaustion and Action of establishing spatial distances 536 Grupa (∃, ”Transformacija trodimenzionalnog sistema u N-dimenzionalni“ i ”Sistem apsolutne mere“, Problemi, issue 101, Ljubljana 1971 102 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina are concepts that have real �orld references and therefore they �ir��o Radojičić, Ana Ra��ović, Slobodan Tišma (only on the are structured as synthetic propositions. Young Artists and Young Critics ‘7� 538 e�hibition, 1971) and The Attempt of reaching continuity by the method of organ� �eđa Vranešević. (∃�KÔD can be understood in three �ays. ism exhaustion is realized as: 1) as a short term cooperation of some members of (∃ and 1) An event; KÔD on rounding off the conceptual art (project Moving is the 2) A document; and other in the same, 1971); 3) A metalingual interpretation. 2) as a relative and tolerant frame for individual �or��; and An event: a��er running a certain distance the participant 3) as e�istential inter�space of ‘invisible art’ realization and dra�s a line that characterizes his/her state. creating a commune as a form of different existence. A document: the dra�ings made a��er organism e�haustion The group e�hibited at the Seventh Young Artists’ Biennale through running. in Paris and at the In Another Moment 53�, Young Artists and Metalingual interpretation: Young Critics 7�. 1) The rules of Attempt… are given. A��er running differ� The only thing the group (∃�KÔD did ‘together’ �as the te�t ent distances, the participant mar��s the degree of possibility of of Moving is the other in the same. The te�t �as �ritten for the continuity (dra�ing the line). In an ideal case, due to the e�� Seventh Young Artists’ Biennale in Paris 1971. The te�t �as one haustion of the organism, the line �ould reach continuity; and of the possible solutions of �opicl’s ‘private and public language’ 2) The event �ould be represented via a diagram model dilemma that is Radojičić’s parado�ical meeting �ith the ideals that conceptually sho�s the e�periential relations of organ� of a perfect language (or art�or��) and the necessary non��hole� ism, physical condition, psychological condition and the effect ness of every human act. The solution �as behavioristic, and (continuity). e�istential. Behavioristic because the offered art�or�� (the te�t) The Action of establishing spatial distances is part of the �as not theirs, it is a process of thought and e�istence of four distance project (distance as non�visual, spatial, behavioral people. The te�t is just a document or inde� of a process that is and mental relationship). The study is realized as an event and outside of the te�t, and it can belong to the game of life itself, as a concept. The event is based on establishing hypothetical the language of thoughts, or consciousness. The solution is concordance bet�een three participants in the action, �ho are e�istential since the members of the group have channelled their in Zrenjanin, �ovi Sad, and Belgrade. They ma��e hypothetical interests and activities from an analytical �or�� (the e�ploration contact by tuning in on the program of Radio �ovi Sad, �ave� of language, te�t, the mental) to�ards e�istence itself (a social� length 236.6m, at a certain time (13:00 hours, 20th �arch 1971) psychological situation that emerges from a speech situation). at different places. An event realized li��e this is an e�ample of In that direction, one of the goals of the group �as to establish dematerialization of an artistic object. As an art form, it is not a commune. The range of the �or��s of KÔD and (∃ �as a para� the object that is offered, but the e�istential situation de��ned do�ical confrontation �ith t�o great ideals of contemporary art: by a certain ‘invisible’ and ‘macro�spatial phenomenon’, i.e. the obsession �ith ��no�ledge and the obsession �ith e�istence. radio �aves. Radio �ave is input in the art �orld as a ready� made, and then it is used as an element of a language game bet�een three people. It is a ‘conceptual ambient’ and a ‘con� A case of analytical art: Vladimir Kopicl (Serbian edition, p.287) ceptual sculpture’, in a sense that the Art&Language group did hypothetical structures �ith pillars of air, or Robert Berry’s 537 Vladimir �opicl 540 �as a member of (∃ and (∃�KÔD groups that �or�� �ith radioactive materials and inert gasses. The descrip� �ere created in �ovi Sad during 1970 and 1971. Vladimir �opicl, tion of the event and its analysis is a document that spea��s a��er several studies, abandoned simple conceptualizations and factographically about the action of group members and gives formal schematizations of the ‘idea’ and dematerialization of you the opportunity to analyze space, condition, time and art�or�� in order to initiate the problem of te�tual analytical consciousness before and during communication. practice of the artist. While conceptual art, based on dematerial� ization of an art�or��, aspired to substitute the object�as�art�or�� concept; in the analytical line of conceptual art the subject �as A very short history of (∃-KÔD group (Serbian edition, p.286) 538 Mladi umetnici i mladi kritičari 71, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 1972. �eople �ho participated in (∃�KÔD group’s �or�� bet�een 1971 539 Nena Dimitrijević, Braco Dimitrijević (eds.), In Another Moment, SKC, Belgrade, 1971. and 1973 �ere, among others, Čeda Drča, Vladimir �opicl, 540 Miško Šuvaković, ”Oko teksta i jezika – Ko je Vladimir Kopicl�“, from: Miško Šuvaković, Asimetrični drugi. Eseji o umetnicima i konceptima, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1996, pp. 107–121; Nebojša Milenković, Vladimir Kopicl. ništa još nije ovde ali neki oblik već može da mu odgovara… Retrospektivna izložba, Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, 537 E. Franz (ed.), Robert Barry, Karl Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, 1986. Novi Sad, 2007 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 103  the language or the art of nature. Unli��e American conceptual the productivity of the te�t. Saying that te�t is productivity means artists (Ian Wilson, Robert Berry, Huebler, Winner), �opicl does that the te�tual alphabet presupposes, as its tactics, th�arting not follo� the path of reduction but a path of te�tual trans��gura� the descriptive orientation of the language and introducing one tion. He trans��gured the language based on reference (mimetic procedure that creates room for the full s�ing of its generative te�t) into a te�t �hose reference is the process of �riting the te�t, abilities, i.e. synta� arti��ciality, the discontinuity of transparent� of locating private language of thought of the one �ho is �riting nontransparent semantics and ��ctionality of pragmatics. it do�n, thus he is the subject outside the te�t, tal��ing through Conceptual art in Vladimir �opicl’s surroundings �as not the te�t, transforming into the subject of the te�t (Barthes’ paper subordinated to the tas�� of ��nding high objectless art, ho�ever, subject). It �as all possible only �hen te�t, te�tual practice, it did not have to do �ith e�panding or opening a concept of �ords, phrases, punctuation, auto�re��e�ion, �riting e�ercises, art to the ne� media, �itticism or puns. Quite the opposite, his bared quotes of quotes and logical constructions �ere set as the �or�� is strict, but not �ithout irony or humour, a step outside the object and subject of artistic creation – as matter and phenom� hermeneutical circles of e�pected art. In that sense, conceptual enon of shaping the discourse �ithin discourse. The attitude art and the corresponding te�tual practice are not �eo�Avant� that language is the matter of artistic �or�� is only possible as the garde projects (the rene�al of the Avant�garde e�cess, novum and discourse of a higher level (meta�language) through �hich the the project of social change in synthesis �ith a scienti��c vie� of artist comes out of his everyday surroundings of speech, �riting, the �orld), but critical and sceptic voices of modernism confront� painting, running and enters a �orld of auto�re��e�ive analysis ing the borders of seen, �ritten, said and thought. Wittgenstein and demonstration of �hat �riting do�n his/her being really said that the borders of language are the borders of our �orld is. When �opicl tal��s about himself and his relationship �ith – and conceptual art has sho�n that the borders of the (art) the te�t in the te�t (I, IV ��7�) 5�� he carries out the needed tas��s �orld are not natural borders. While modernity mythologized of le�icography, grammar, language of �riting, for�ards and an e�ceptional individual (the artist), �ho creates an autonomous bac���ards, so as to frame an ontological vie�point of the te�t, �orld of images, poems or ��eeing intuition, and postmodernity different form the ontological subject of �riting, the object of de� transcendetalized cultural arbitraries to universal la�s of a se� scription, and all the inter�propositions that ma��e a conceptualist miotic creation of the �orld, beings, even art, the analytic line of discourse. �opicl’s te�ts from bet�een 1971 and 1973 (including conceptual art �as more an invitation to doubt and �ithholding the materials for the e�hibition at the Young �eople’s Tribunal), the judgment: ‘A �or�� of art is a record of a�areness of the im� start from de��ning conceptual art (‘Conceptual art is only �hat possibility of recording a �or�� of art.’ 546 – said �opicl. He sho�ed could not e�ist as such’ or ‘…but in conceptual art the �or�� is that the te�t is the ambivalent space only of te�tual and non���tted yet still recorded’ or ‘…thus, conceptual art is not the one it is’) place�shaping subject in the te�t. A conclusion can be made that in terms of negative heuristic (e�ploration that does not project �opicl’s te�tual practice oscillates bet�een the analytical te�t (a a possible method or a vision of the �orld, but points out the te�t that opens its structure tautologically, through autore��e�� parado�, the borders, cul�de�sacs and problems of tal��ing of and ion) and the phenomenological te�t (a te�t by �hich an abstract being in the art), and go to discursive shaping of an absent visual propositional �orld of non�visual conceptuality is shaped). His shape (‘bet�een one and the other, the distance has been brought �or��s for the e�hibition at the Young �eople’s Tribunal (1973) use do�n �ith the same…’ 542 or ‘outside of the one that �as �anted the already described te�tual, productive and phenomenologi� to be (here)…’ 543 or ‘nothing (that by itself) still is not (is <is not>) cal patterns – for e�ample, from the poster of the e�hibition �e here…’ 544 ‘nothing still is not here, but some form may already ��t read ‘nothing still is not here, but some form may already ��t it’. it’ 545). The evolution from metadiscourse (negative heuristics) to Ho�ever, the presentational media (slides, projections, a record of the visual abstraction points out to the ��tting of the language into the �riting procedure, just li��e on a ��lm) place the te�t, based on language. �opicl’s �or�� on the te�t, i.e. his variety of analytical discursive shaping of abstract propositional (non�visual) concep� art starts as e�planatory (even negative) te�t and moves to�ards tualities, to a concrete space of visual presentation (the gallery) as visual presentation (projected image). With this �opicl broadens his negative heuristics to the oppositions: visual space, projected ( IV 1971), from: Mirko Radojičić (ed.), �Konceptualna umetnost’, Polja, 541 Vladimir Kopicl, (I, issue 156, Novi Sad, 1972, pp. 18 te�t of tautological reticence (non�visual discursive shaping), 542 Vladimir Kopicl, (II(I); IV 1971), from: Mirko Radojičić (ed.), �Konceptualna umetnost’, the remnants (record) of the idea (mental image, state of things). Polja, issue 156, Novi Sad, 1972, pp. 18. �opicl’s ambientization has its relations to the slide�projections 543 Vladimir Kopicl, (1(II)), from: Mirko Radojičić (ed.), �Konceptualna umetnost’, Polja, issue 156, Novi Sad, 1972, pp. 18. of Robert Berry, in �hich te�tual slides and photos interchange 544 Vladimir Kopicl, (1(II)), from: Mirko Radojičić (ed.), �Konceptualna umetnost’, Polja, issue 156, Novi Sad, 1972, pp. 18. 545 Vladimir Kopicl, �nothing still is not here, but some form may already fit it’, a text on a poster on his one-man exhibition in the Visual Arts Hall of Young People’s Tribunal, 546 Vladimir Kopicl, (I, IV1971), from: Mirko Radojičić (ed.), �Konceptualna umetnost’, Polja, Novi Sad, 21st June t o 21st July 1973 issue 156, Novi Sad, 1972, pp. 18. 104 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina in the articulation of time, or �ith te�tual ambients of Joseph �iloš Arsić 560, �rozdana Šarčević 561, Ana Baranji 562, Imre �osuth, Berry and Winner. Bor 563, among others), over the 60s to the 90s and the critics in The e�hibition held in the S�C �allery in Belgrade 1976 �as the postmodernity (�iloš Arsić 564, Sava Stepanov 565, Svetlana a surprise, in a �ay, since it sho�ed an interruption in the te�tual �ladenov 566, Andrej Tišma 567 and others) of the 80s and 90s. practice. The interruption �as emphasized also �ith confronting This historization of the critic, only promised by this, sho�s a ne� studies (fabrics and threads) �ith samples of earlier te�tual pro��ling of a discipline called ‘art criticism’ and the authority �or��s that �ere also e�hibited. �opicl e�hibited a structural of the ‘art critic’ in the ��eld of painting, sculpturing, graphics system based on ��nitting, the placing of threads in ��nitting, and photography in the ��eld of art history. A crucial impact on isolating threads from ��nitting, and pointing out to an idealized forming modern and postmodern criticism in Vojvodina �as isolated thread (a golden thread). The e�hibited �or��s are visual, provided by the methods of a Belgrade art history professor, La� relief�li��e, tactile, of archetype�symbolic ��ind (Jungian primarity zar Trifunović 568, and �iodrag B. �rotić 569, the manager of the in the sense of structure and the ��ind of material, as �ell as the Contemporary Art �useum in Belgrade. They offered, through basic forms) 547. their �or��s about criticism and art history, a methodological and normative model�paradigm for the development of Vojvodinian art criticism and the discourse of custodial practice in socialist A controversy, from modernist critic over �odernism and �ostmodernism. acritic to metacritic (Serbian edition, p.290) Based on that, a critical identi��cation of art in Vojvodina as ‘Vojvodinian art’ �as realized. It �as a relatively coherent Visual arts critic in Vojvodina during the 20th century passed regionally�oriented idea of ‘Vojvodinian modern art’, via ideals of through the typical phases – from literary�essayistic �riting modern liberty and regional landscapism and intimism. A critic, about it (Velj��o �etrović 548, Todor �anojlović 549, �iloš Crn� Đorđe Jović, in his lengthy practice as a ‘Vojvodinian art critic’, jans��i), establishing a national history of art (Velj��o �etrović, �hich started in 1956, developed criticism discourse genres of �ilan �asanin 550) and critical �ritings of artists �ho created art of the socialist �odernism: ‘te�ts for group e�hibitions’, ‘te�ts bet�een the t�o �orld �ars (Sava Šumanović, �etar Dobrović, for one�man e�hibitions’, ‘monograph te�ts’, ‘television te�ts’ 570, Vasa �omorišac), through soc�realistic propaganda and norma� �hile his discourse functioned as a discourse of a chronicler tive criticism (Oto Bihalji �erin, Đerđ Sabo 551, Stojan Trumić 552, �ho identi��es, conte�tualizes and judges current �or��s of art. A Bos��o �etrović 553, Đorđe Bosan 554), in the late 40s and 50s, to the discussion by �iloš Arsić, ‘Universal and local – �ilan �onjović criticism in the epoch of socialist modernism (Stojan Trumić 555, Bela Duranci 556, József Ács 557, Imre Safranj 558, Đorđe Jović 559, 560 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Aktuelnosti u slikarstvu Vojvodine 1973–1993, Contemporary Visual 547 Ješa Denegri, �Vladimir Kopicl’, Umetnost, issue 51, Belgrade, 1977, p.68 Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1994 548 Predrag Protić, Pisci kao kritičari pre Prvog svetskog rata: izabrani kritički radovi Jovana 561 Grozdana Šarčević (ed.), Milan Kečić, Mestna gallery, Ljubljana, 1976; Grozdana Dučića, Svetislava Stefanovića, Milana Ćurčina, Sime Pandurovića, Veljka Petrovića, Šarčević (ed.), Petrik Pal, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1979 Dušana S. Nikolajevića, Dimitrija Mitrinovića, Vladimira Gaćinovića, Miloša Vidakovića, 562 Ana Baranji (ed.), Nandor Glid, City Museum, Subotica, 1990 Milutina Bojića, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, Institute for Literature and Art, Belgrade, 563 Imre Bor, Balazs G. Arpad, Forum, Novi Sad, 1980 1979 564 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Stabilna konvencija slike – trenutak koji traje, Museum of Contem- 549 Todor Manojlović, Likovne kritike, Public library �Žarko Zrenjanin’, Zrenjanin, 2007 porary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002; Miloš Arsić (ed.), Tradicija tautološkog – plastičke 550 Milan Kasanin, Art and artists, Bureau of text books and educational aids, Belgrade, norme ne-konačnog, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002; Miloš 2004 Arsić (ed.), Paradoksi eklektičkog – Realne vrednosti kontinuiteta obnavljanja, Museum 551 Đerđ Đerđ Sabo, Sabo, ”Izložba ”Izložba likovnih likovnih umetnika umetnika Vojvodine“, Letopis Matice srpske, issue 5-6, Vojvodine“, of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2003; Miloš Arsić (ed.), Između geometrije i Novi Sad, 1948, pp. 377-380 geometrijskog – Kontekst retrostanja, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2005. 552 Stojan Stojan Trumić, Trumić, ”Deveta ”Deveta izložba izložba savremenih savremenih likovnih likovnih umetnika umetnika Vojvodine“, Letopis Vojvodine“, Matice srpske, Novi Sad, December 1950, pp. 643-644 565 See the catalogues published by the Center for Visual Culture �’Golden Eye’’, Novi Sad, from 1993; Sava Stepanov, Potreba za slikom, Contemporary Art Gallery of the 553 Boško Boško Petrović, Petrović, ”Treća ”Treća izložba izložba vojvođanskih vojvođanskih slikara“, Letopis Matice srpske, December slikara“, Cultural Center �Olga Petrov’, Pančevo, 1998 1949, pp. 375-379; Boško Petrović, ”Četvrta izložba likovnih umetnika Vojvodine“, Letopis Matice srpske, December 1950, pp. 460-465 566 Svetlana Mladenov (ed.), Prilog novijoj istoriji vojvođanske skulpture, Contemporary Art Gallery, Pančevo, 2002; Svetlana Mladenov, ”Devedesete“, from: Jasmina Čubrilo, 554 Đorđe Đorđe Bošan, Bošan, ”Kritičke ”Kritičke zabeleške zabeleške sa IIIsaizložbe III izložbe vojvođanskih vojvođanskih likovnih likovnih umetnika“, umetnika“, Svetlana Mladenov, Irina Subotić, Dušan Todorović, Suzana Vuksanović (eds.), MADE Slobodna Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 6th November, 1949 + IN NOV I + SAD – Savremena umetnička scena, Tableau Gallery, Novi Sad, 2006, pp. 555 Stojan Stojan Trumić, Eseji o vojvođanskim slikarima i drugi eseji, Writers Association, Trumić, 10–12. Pančevo, 1997 567 Andrej Tišma, Sublimni objekti: primeri likovne umetnosti u Jugoslaviji na kraju 20. veka, 556 BelaBela Duranci, Umetničke kolonije, Osvit, Subotica, 1989 Duranci, Prometej, Novi Sad, 2002 557 Jožef Jožef Ač, Ač, ”Izložba ”Izložba vojvođanskih vojvođanskih slikara slikara u Somboru“, Letopis Matice srpske, Novi Sad, u Somboru“, 568 Lazar Trifunović, Srpska likovna kritika – a selection, SKZ, Belgrade, 1967; Lazar January 1957, pp. 15; Jozef Ač, ”Električni rekvijem Ferenca Mauritisa“, Polja, No. 166, Trifunović, Srpsko slikarstvo 1900–1950, Nolit, Belgrade, 1973 Novi Sad, 1972, pp. 15; Jožef Ač, ”Šta je naivna umetnost = Mi a naiv m�vészet“, 569 First of all, methodological and normative influence on Vojvodinian criticism was Ulaznica, No. 34-35, Zrenjanin, 1973, pp. 85-87 done by monographic �decennial’ catalogues edited by Miodrag B. Protić in the 558 Imre Šafranj, Na tragu – putopisi, eseji, kritike, Osvit Subotica, 1971 Museum of Modern Art in Belgrade 559 Đorđe Jović, Savremeni likovni umetnici Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1975; Đorđe Jović, Ka 570 Đorđe Jović, ”Predgovor“, from: Ka umetnosti – izbor tekstova, Cultural Center �Olga umetnosti – izbor tekstova, Cultural Center �Olga Petrov’, Pančevo, 1987 Petrov’, Pančevo, 1987, pp. 7 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 105  and the landscapes of Vojvodina’, sho�s a problem in a critical zine Polja, from 1958 to 1962, at a time �hen that magazine pub� �ay, concerning the paradigm of ‘Vojvodinian art’. lished the �or��s of Slovenian, Croatian, and �acedonian artists, Instead of that, let’s really say it, ’greatcoat of �onjović’, out of as �ell as artists from Vojvodina. He �as actively translating from �hich many ‘Vojvodinian landscapists’ came, the ‘grand master’ Slovenian, �acedonian and Russian. In his translation, the dra� stands alone today �ith his vie�s on art (�e don’t count other mas Congress (1969) by �rimoz �oza�� and Liberation of Skoplje painters of Vojvodina) and his paintings. �e� times ‘brea�� do�n old idols’, the ideal of, let’s call it, ‘Vojvodinian realism’ (maybe (1979) �ere performed at Sterijino �ozorje. He �as the ��rst one even ‘romanticism’) is e�changed today for another, more Eu� to translate Slovenian te�ts about the �or�� of a conceptual group ropean, more universal, current, more of a ‘plastic objectivism’. OHO, by �hich he affected their promotion and joined �ith �eople of the ne� art ‘run a�ay’ from this arti��cial ‘Vojvodinian other tendencies of conceptual art in Yugoslavia and �ovi Sad of bastion’, �hile the desire for ‘opening up’ to�ards more general the time. He published his literary research in many magazines: Yugoslav �ays of art has prevailed over the ‘need for a regional Delo, Student, Vidici, Rok, Politika, Polet, Borba, Književnost, type of artist’ 571. Književna reč, Scena, Književne novine, Letopis Matice srpske, Artistic and critical confrontation �ith the poetics and etc. In the atelier of Bogdan��a and Dejan �oznanović a very implied ‘ideologies’, and ‘pragmatic politics’ of the Vojvodin� in��uential e�hibition, A book as a place of exploration, �as held ian regionalism, and, �hat is more, characteristics of projected from 21st December 1974 to 18th January 1975. The boo��s e�hib� socialist �odernism as provincial art �as possible only in one ited �ere by �ar��o �ogačni��, I. �. �lamen, Franci Zagorični��, e�cessive e�it outside the art that happened in practice and �atjaz Hanze��a, �ilen��o �atanović, Dreje Rotar, �iroljub theory of conceptual art at the transition bet�een the 60s and Todorović, Olga Vicic, Slav��o Bogdanović, Slav��o �at��ović, the 70s. Bran��o Andrić, Laszlo �ere��es, Slobodan Tišma, Žar��o Ro� As opposed to the values of moderate modernisms and, later, sulja, Bogdan��a �oznanović, �redrag Siđanin, Atila Cerni��, postmodernisms, a radical and e�perimental critical and cus� Balint Szombathy and others. The phenomenon of the ‘boo��’ as todial practice �as offered by the Belgrade critic Biljana Tomić, an object and space of artistic interventions �as presented and Zagreb critic Zvon��o �a��ović and the conceptual artist �ir��o documented by this e�hibition. 576 Radojičić 572 in the early 70s, and Balint Szombathy 573 from the Bogdan��a �oznanović introduced a critical approach to 70s to the 90s. In the art program of the Young �eople’s Tribunal current art at the end of the 60s, based on cold and direct pre� in �ovi Sad the custodians �ere: Bogdan��a �oznanović, Biljana senting of the information concerning modern international Tomić and Zvon��o �a��ović (1970); Biljana Tomić and Zvon��o art. Her critical procedure 577 �as close to the acritic critic �a��ović (1971); Biljana Tomić, �ir��o Radojičic, and Atila of �ermano Celant. This is a method of criticism based on Cerni�� (1971–1972). During this period in the Art Lounge and organizational, documentary and impersonal representation of the Center for Art of the Young �eople’s Tribunal, e�hibits a �or�� of art. The term �as introduced in 1970 by Italian critic �ere held by various artists: David �ez, �oran Trbulja��, Zoran �ermano Celant, in order to sho� the demands that poor and �opović, Vladimir �opicl, �iša Živanović, Janez �ocijancic, conceptual art as��s from the critics, starting from a theses by Balint Szombathy, and Slav��o �at��ović; there �as a section of Susan Sontag that every subjective interpretation of art and the conceptual art from Seventh Young Artists’ Biennale in Paris, artistic �or�� is an act of violence. The basic tas�� of the critic is then the �or��s of �angelos, �aul �ignon, Vladan Radanović, An� to document the events from the �orld of art, not to analyze, draz Salamun, and Tugomir Susni��, and there �as also the ��rst interpret and value the artistic �or��. A critic, li��e the artist, is retrospective e�hibition of Zenit a��er WWII. �eo�Avant�garde not preoccupied �ith the aesthetic and the aesthetic character e�perimental, conceptual and postmodern practice in Vojvodina of his object, but �ith his o�n doing and acting in the concrete �as supported also by a custodian, critic, and later a professor of artistic and social conditions. A joint act is as��ed from criti� modern arts history, Dr. Ješa Denegri 574. cism and art, since the criticism �ants to cooperate, not to be The ��rst serious critique of mild modernist artistic critics a privileged interpretive discipline outside the contemporary �ere the �or��s of Bogdan��a and Dejan �oznanović (????�1996). �orld of art. Critical �or�� gets a ne� active dimension: instead Dejan �oznanović 575 �as the editor�in�chief of the literary maga� of judging or establishing, the critic becomes an accomplice in the articulation of a ne� movement or a concept of artis� tic e�ploration and e�pression. Criticism does not, ho�ever, 571 Miloš Arsić, ”Univerzalno i lokalno – Milan Konjović i vojvođanski pejzažisti”, Art, issue 51, Belgrade, 1977, pp. 47 become art, but establishes itself as a documentary practice 572 Mirko Radojičić (ed.), ”Konceptualna umetnost“, Polja, issue 156, Novi Sad, 1972 that collects data about the �or�� of an artist or a movement. It 573 Szombathy Bálint, Új idők, új művészet – Modernista tőrekvések Jugoszláviában szádunk második felében, Forum, Novi Sad, 1991 574 Ješa Denegri, Fragmenti / šezdesete – devedesete / umetnici iz Vojvodine, Prometej, 576 ”The Book�“, WoW, br. 3, Novi Sad, 1975, str. 4. Novi Sad, 1994 577 Miško Šuvaković, ”Kritika, metakritika, kritika kritike, dekonstrukcija kritike“, Projekta®t, 575 ”Legat Bogdanke i Dejana Poznanovića“, from: http://www.kuda.org/�q=sr/node/612 issue 7, Novi Sad, 1996, pp. 33 and 47 10 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina instigates art, challenges its speech, and rejects its o�n. It of� 8) A �or�� of art CO�TAI�S the possibility of an error. fers documented and informational activity that allo�s direct 9) Criticism ALLOWS for an error to be present. understanding of artistic activity. �e� means of criticism are 10) Criticism �OI�TS OUT the presence of an error. not just �ords, but ��lm, photography, boo��, tape recorder, 11) Criticism IS �OT ALLOWED to contain the possibility magazine, and e�hibition. In this conte�t of critical activities, of an error. for the scene in �ovi Sad, most of all, the �or�� of Bogdan��a 12) Criticism �UST be infallible. �oznanović �as important, constitutional and in��uential. 13) CRITICIS� contains a certain method. She published articles in the spirit of ‘acritical criticism’ in 14) THE �ETHOD of the criticism �UST CORRES�O�D the magazine Polja, under the title ‘Information About Visual TO THE FACTURE OF THE WOR� OF ART. Arts’. 578 Close to this criticism procedure �as �ir��o Radojičić 15) �oints of the ‘Ruleboo��’ 1�15 ARE CORRECT. in organizing e�hibitions (Zenithism, Mangelos, Goran 16) A consumer of the ‘Basic essay’ IS OBLI�ED TO AC� Trbuljak, OHO group) 579 at the Young �eople's Tribunal, and CE�T the points of the ‘Ruleboo��’ 1�15. Vladimir �opicl �ith the boo�� Body of an Artist as the Subject 17) ‘Basic essay’ SATISFIES points 1�15 of the ‘Ruleboo��’. and Object of Art 58�. 18) ‘Basic essay’ = CRITICIS�. With his te�t ‘A ruleboo�� for the consumer of a basic es� 19) Creator of the ‘Basic essay’ = A CRITIC. say' 581, Vladimir �opicl stepped a�ay from the formalist and 20) The square is open. then acritical criticism to�ards the meta�criticism and meta� The point of the described �or�� is the movement of the art by setting one �or�� of Slobodan Tišma, The Square (1970), artist through the hierarchy of the language about a language as the object of analysis done through another artistic – analyt� (metalanguage). In order to emphasize this hierarchy, the artist ically orientated conceptualistic – �or��. Basic essay is a breach ta��es a �or�� by another artist (Slobodan Tišma) as the object in the real sense of the �ord, a step from one into another her� of analysis, �hich is usually possible as the analysis of criticism menautics, a step out of literature (��rst degree discoursiveness) (the critic). Ho�ever, the analysis is done �ith the untypi� into conceptual art (second degree [meta]discoursiveness). cal apparatus of criticism by combining the discourse of the Basic essay came to be as a te�t or a study about a study (dra�� natural utilitarian language �ith logically�symbolic descriptive ing�te�t, dra�ing that is the second degree discourse or repre� �riting, �hich ta��es elements of Tišma’s dra�ing as proposi� sentation of �aljević’s square). The study consists of ��ve sheets tions. The inversion appears at the moment �hen hierarchy of of milimetric A4 paper and one page of ‘A ruleboo�� for the discourse about discourse (recognized in the span from critical consumer of a basic essay'. It begins �ith a quotation from Amy to philosophical [logical] discourse) inverts into a �or�� of con� �oldin: ‘...a critic tries, o��en at any cost, to interpret a �or�� ceptual art (language of the ��rst degree). Inverting from higher of art by itself, i.e. he tries to diagnose the degree to �hich an discoursive levels of criticism into ��rst degree emerging of a artist uses the possibilities of the medium’. It is follo�ed by �or�� of art, even if it is conceptualistic, is an opening or a step arti��cial logic (or as logic) second�degree �riting that analizes outside the hermeneutical circle. This discoursive analytically the aspects of Tišma’s �or��. ‘A ruleboo�� for the consumer of orientated change brought into question the status of canoni� the basic essay' says: cal gibberish and the apparent apolitical status of modernist 1) What the creator creates is a �or�� of art. criticism, but also the dumbness of acritical criticism. What 2) Slobodan Tišma = creator. metacriticism brought to the edge is the possibility for criti� 3) ‘Square’ = �or�� of art. cism to be aposteriori practice of interpreting art that is already 4) Wor�� of art demands CRITICIS�. created, i.e. �or��s of art. The critic had to join the scene and 5) A CRITIC provides criticism. become an intervening factor in production of art. In the 80s 6) Criticism sho�s WHAT the �or�� of art IS. and the 90s there �ill be a disappearance of ‘traditional mod� 7) Criticism sho�s HOW the �or�� of art IS. ernist’ critic that interprets the �or�� of art to the audience, and a ne� character – custodian, or, in jargon, a ‘curator’. The cus� 578 Bogdanka Poznanović, ”Informacije o vizuelnim umetnostima“, Polja, No. 140–141, todian ta��es on the roles of both the actor and the performer of Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 42–44; or ”Informacije o vizuelnim umetnostima – Festival the art scene by �ay of an art project that no� ta��es the place snega“, Polja, No. 143, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 40. Names and works of numerious interna- tional artists are also mentioned: Dufo, Cristo), Rubens Gerchman, Filippo Panseca)ž, or art�or�� about a created neo�liberal and transitional system Rafael Soto, Richard Long and others. of art and culture. The critical position is replaced �ith a cus� 579 OHO KATALOG Prapradedovi, Young People’s Tribunal, Novi Sad, 1969; Zenitizam (predlog za jednu izložbu), Young People’s Tribunal, Novi Sad, 1972; Mangelos, todial position that sits bet�een organizing artistic production, Fenomen Picasso, Young People’s Tribunal, Novi Sad, 1972 artistic and cultural politics. This paradigm has been set in the 580 Vladimir Kopicl, Telo umetnika kao subjekt i objekt umetnosti, Young People’s Tribunal, Novi Sad, 1972 most developed �ay by a group/platform ‘��uda.org’ in the late 581 Vladimir Kopicl, ”Pravilnik za konzumenta bazičnog eseja“, Index, issue 209, 90s and the beginning of 21st century. Novi Sad, 1970 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 107  From conceptual through fundamental to postmodern (II) The optical and conceptual reconstruction of generative art: the case of Gergej Urkom (Serbian edition, p.293) �ays of building (painting) and establishing the painting as a �or�� of art. Fundamental painting appears as the artists’ application of His painting is conceptual in the sense that he aims for a ‘analytical �or��’ from conceptual art to a ‘still autonomous’ linear relationship of concept as a pre�notion for the paint� medium of painting (�ergej Ur��om, Verbumprogram and ing generation, i.e. achievement of its material appearance. A Dragomir Ugren) in the 70s and early 80s 582. Fundamental art series of paintings connected �ith the problem of ‘inter�layer’, is, parado�ically, an e�pression of minimalist and conceptual� e�hibited in the �allery of S�C in Belgrade in ’77, is e�plicitly istic intentions, as �ell as anticipating, again, postmodernist connected �ith the problem of language games in painting. interest in painting. �roposition is a conceptual scheme from �hich structural �ergej Ur��om 583 (S��orenovac, 1940) �as born in a Hun� relations of colored layers of the painting are made. �roposi� garian community in Vojvodina. He studied in Belgrade. He tion is the project that determines the painting, discovering the �or��ed �ith Group of Six Artists (Abramović, �ilivojević, proposition in the painting at the same time. Translation from �aripović, �opović, Todosijević, Ur��om) 584 from S�C until discoursive to visual system (producing the painting) and from 1973. He lived in London from 1973, and occasionally stays in the visual to discoursive system (the reception of the painting) Belgrade, �ančevo and Budapest. His �or�� developed gradu� are language games in �hich t�o different activities, typically ally from academically�modernistic ��gurative painting of the �ith different ontological points of vie� are �ritten one into 60s to�ards processual and conceptual art of the early 70s, i.e. the other. Writing an ontological point of vie� of discoursive to�ards the fundamental, analytic and postmodern painting of e�pression of proposition into a visual e�pression of proposi� the late 70s, 80s and 90s. 585 tion confronts the logic of discoursive order and visual order. At the beginning of the 70s, Ur��om starts from a character� The ��nal instance (ideal range) of Ur��om’s �or�� is the ambi� istic conceptualistic critical attitude to�ards the high socialist tion to sho� that, as you can e�press one proposition by differ� modernism and its aesthetic based on a vision that art �or�� ent linguistic languages, so can one proposition be e�pressed precedes language and ��no�ledge of �hat art is by its original �ith different language games (speech, diagrammatic schema� creative step for�ard. Ur��om sho� that linguistic language, tism, painting): for e�ample, the triptych White Interlayer 586 . A as a representative of propositions represented by intentional return to painting, for e�ample, the series of paintings Indica� (and other higher cognitive) states, precedes the act of cre� tive Propositions or Images (Serpentine �allery, 1980) appears ation by setting an optical order in the painting. By forming a li��e a parado�ical penetration into the paradigm of ne� art cross�section of discoursive and visual, Ur��om pointed out the a��er conceptual art. At a certain moment of achieving the correlations of linguistic, mental and visual in the processes of ful��lment of optical completeness, i.e. self�sufficiency, to be perception and apperception of painting. Observing a painting an autonomous �or�� of art, a painting as a theoretical object is not just an immediate e�perience of visual order in front has separated itself from theoretical propositions and auto� of the eye, but also the gathering of ��no�ledge of the optical re��e�ive intentions, being a self�sufficient, complete, ful��lled order and the relationship brought about by this order bet�een and present HERE, in its physical appearance. The painting the intentions of the artist and the intentions of the observer. becomes an autonomous aesthetic object. The propositions no� The image e�ists just by representing one optical order for all appear as either that �hat precedes the �or�� of art, but is no other optical orders (subjects in the optical relationship). longer necessary for its reception, or as something e�tra that The painting of �ergej Ur��om is focused on t�o problems: over�determines the �or�� of art. In other �ords, Ur��om has (I) The optical and conceptual border of painting; and inde�ed those ontological moments of painting that sho� that painting is a discipline that possesses its o�n – inner – po�ers to produce itself as art and as history of art. 582 Suzana Vuksanović Soleša, ”Prostor (i) slike: mišljenje slikarstva (Gergej Urkom, Verbumprogram, Dragomir Ugren)“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 162–177. Anticipations of Postmodernism – towards postconcep- 583 ”Gergej Urkom: Predviđam red novog reda“ (interview with Gergej Urkom, by Ješa Denegri and Jovan Cekic), Moment, issues 23-24, Belgrade (1991) 1995; Miško tual and eclectic Postmodernism (Serbian edition, p.295) Šuvaković, ”Optička i konceptualna granica slikarstva – Gergej Urkom“, from: Asimetrični drugi, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1996, pp. 131–144; Ješa Denegri, ”Gergej Urkom“, from: Sedamdesete: teme srpske umetnosti – Nove prakse 1970–1980, Svetovi, With �eo�Avant�garde e�periments and conceptual art an es� Novi Sad, 1996, pp. 140–147. sential change in understanding art in Vojvodina came about. 584 Jasna Tijardović, ”Marina Abramović, Slobodan Milivojević, Neša Paripović, Zoran Popović, Raša Todosijević, Gergej Urkom“, from: Marijan Susovski (ed.), Nova umjetnička praksa 1966–1978, Gallery of contemporary art, Zagreb, 1978, pp. 55-59 585 Ješa Denegri, Monograf Gera Urkom, Macura Publication, Vienna, 2005 586 Gergej Urkom, Urkom, Gallery of SKC, Belgrade, 1977 10 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina This change led to hybrid atmospheres of manifold and unclear E�hibition and the Body of the artist �ill turn to stone. There �ill actuality. Hybrid, manifold and unclear actuality of art meant be dust alone, the complete and untouchable �ill remain. Colors �ill leave my body slo�ly. Colors �ill separate from the light and the transition from the position of international�local, i.e. �ill turn dar��. Body �ill become pure see through shape, and �ill margin�center, to the position of synchronisation and histori� have concentration of the light. The body �ill shine. cally stylish arbitrariness. 587 �ostmodernism is, therefore, Will anything change in these paintings? called art, a culture based on criticism and overcoming of historically organized values, meanings, meaning and �ay of Will this change be noticeable in the mirrors? life inside internationalized modern societies, cultures and Will the double body from the mirrors come close, join the arts. �ost�modernity is de��ned as a technical term of mar��� body of the artist in sleep? 592 ing different tendencies, occurrences and individual practices Tišma promised an uncertain future for the mirroring in art and culture in the last t�o decades of the 20th century. po�ers of art bet�een the body and the superior spirit. �ost�modernity �ants to overcome modern cultural and Slobodan Tišma anticipated through his �or�� another artistic hegemonies. In a more narro� sense, �ostmodernism characteristic postmodern ‘practice’, and that is his entrance or �ostmodernist art is the art that �as created from the late into the �orld of popular music (rock, punk and new wave). 70s based on the critique of the high �odernism cannon, that Tišma played in the ne� �ave groups La Strada (1979) and is the hegemonies and bureaucratically centerd dominations of Luna (1984). 593 From the conceptualist conte�t of KÔD group a moderate or socialist �odernism. It �as the source of practices ne� �ave pop�roc�� band appeared – Laboratorija zvuka (1978), li��e: bad painting, ne� image, pattern painting, Trans�Avant� formed by brothers �eđa and �laden Vranešević. The connec� garde, anachronism, neo�e�pressionism, the ne� �ild, Retro� tion bet�een conceptual art and the roc�� or ne� �ave scene Avant�garde, perestroi��a art, techno�art and modernism a��er mar��ed a signi��cant critical and intellectual character of the modernism, etc. 588 �ovi Sad music scene. On the other hand, conceptual artists In the speci��c Vojvodinian conte�t post�modernity had a ta��ing part in the roc�� and ne���ave scene meant that there is double ‘impact’: a signi��cant postmodernist action that relativised the borders (1) Starting to free from poetic, aesthetic, even cultural of high and popular culture. The Punk scene of �ovi Sad 594 has dependence of marginal cultures on the big culture; and been developing since 1978 as a characteristic alternative �orld (2) Creating ‘local’ eclectic solutions inside global maps. �ith anarchistic life style, cynical taste in fashion and eclectic We can also say that conceptual art had sho�n that social� character of graphic design (posters, ��yers, record and CD ist moderate �odernism is not untouchable, but it can be sleeves). If this line of rock, new age and punk in �ovi Sad is criticised, subverted and rejected. A step to�ards the �ost� follo�ed, one can get to the conceptual and ideological frame modernism �as done by some of the conceptual artists in the of the EXIT festival 595 (founded in 2000). The EXIT festival second half of the 70s or during the 90s: Slobodan Tišma has signi��ed a macro�cultural realisation of the alternative scene as published a grand neoclassical and neo�symbolist poem ‘The it is becoming mainstream. garden as it’ 589(1977), in �hich he made a turn from auto�re� Ho�ever, a resolute brea��through from post�conceptual� ��e�ive conceptualistic te�t ‘Li��e someone’ 590 (1970), and in the ism to�ards the postmodernist para�stylistic practices �as early te�ts ‘Sacral art of painting – sculpturing’ 591 and ‘Janus done by artists Laszlo �ere��es, Slav��o �at��ović and members �allery’ (1973) anticipated the atmosphere of neoclassical and of Verbumprogram group, Ratomir �ulić (1948) and Vladimir neo�romantic �ostmodernism: �ationi. Today �hen not even my Indian eye can discern its o�n ap� �ere��es entered the adventure of brutal neo�e�pressionism pearance (it meant so much once) on the surface of the la��e, I, so far from the Birth, am ready to fall asleep in the �allery. The in painting at the beginning of the 80s. He le�� conceptually orientated �or�� (art analysis, space interventions, behavior of the artist as art) in order to create some paintings, although 587 Hal Foster (ed.), Postmodern culture, Pluto Press, London, 1983; Ješa Denegri, Bojana Pejić, Tahir Lušić i Mileta Prodanović (eds.), ”Era postmodernizma – umetnost osam- �ith strong gestures, but other�ise faulty (No name, 1984). desetih“,, Polja, issue 289, Novi Sad, 1983; and �Postmodernizam’, Republika, issues 10-12, Zagreb, 1985 588 Achile Bonito Oliva, The Italian Transavangarde, Giancarlo Politi Editore, Milano, 1980; Achile Bonito Oliva, Transavantgarde International, Giancarlo Politi Editore, Milano, 1982; Achile Bonito Oliva, Avantguardia Transavanguardia, Electa, Milano, 1982; Aleš 592 Slobodan Tišma, ”Galerija Janus“, from: Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Grupa KÔD, grupa (∃, Erjavec (ed.), Postmodernism and the Postsocialist Condition. Politicised Art under Late grupa (∃-KÔD – Retrospektiva, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995, pp. 84 Socialism, California University Press, Berkeley, 2003 593 Vladimir Jovanović, ”Luna i La Strada – Intervju sa Slobodanom Tišmom“, 589 Slobodan Tišma, ”Vrt kao to“, Letopis Matice Srpske, issue ��, Novi Sad, 1977, p. �� XY Zabava, issue 21, 1998, see also: www.akordi.co.yu/arhiv/ostali/luna. 590 Slobodan Tišma, ”Kao neko“, Index, issue 207-8, Novi Sad, 1970, pp. 12 htm+Luna+La+strada&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2 591 Slobodan Tišma, ”Sakralna umetnost slikarstvo – kiparstvo“, from: Miško Šuvaković 594 Sava Savić, Igor Todorović, Novosadska punk verzija – Prilog istoriji novosadske punk- (ed.), Grupa KÔD, grupa (∃, grupa (∃-KÔD – Retrospektiva, Contemporary Visual Arts hardcore scene: 1978–2005, Novi Sad, 2006 Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995, pp. 84 595 Group of authors, Knjiga nepotrebnih informacija, Novi Sad, 2006 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 10  �at��ović’s paintings are real ‘outbursts’ of gesture �or�� The case of Laszlo Kerekes: brutal expressionism after through the color that transfers articulated basins (a series modernity (Serbian edition, p.299) of paintings I paint like that, 1989). �ere��es and �at��ović succeeded to reach that level of uncontrolled brutality and �eo�e�pressionisms 598 �ere radically mar��ed by the �or��s ‘spit�out’ subjectivity that connected them to �erman painting of Laszlo �ere��es and Slav��o �at��ović, and other noticeable of neo�e�pressionism, most of all the appearance of ‘the ne� �or��s are by József Ács, József �láti�� (1949), Ferenc �auric, �ild ones’. �ilen��o �rvac��i (1951), or Vesna Olujić (1961) from the 80s and early 90s. The (�eo) e�pressionist art of Laszlo �ere��es 599 is based A conceptual radicalization on the body of postmodern- on auto�criticism and inverting of thoughts and realizations ist productions: the case of Verbumprogram (p.298) of processual and conceptual art, as �ell as on recycling the mimesis of e�pressionism as a historical style. He �or��ed on Verbumprogram group set their post�modern project ‘ne� brutal deconstruction conceptually and physically, i.e. on paintings’ or ‘retro paintings’ through a slo� and pedant devel� decomposing the metaphysics of e�pression and style as the opment of post�geometric art that �as close to American neo� conte�t of e�pression of inner�necessity, an�iety, conscious� geo painting of the 80s. The painting and sculpture production ness, and spiritual energy. His relationship to�ards the ‘models of Verbumprogram, started in 1985 (and ��nished, in this phase, of art’ is speci��c, he fragments the le�is of allegoric, e�pressive in 1990), sets a sequence of characteristic aspects: and romantic historical painting to narrative colored traces (1) The po�er of reconstruction and development (correc� and then doubles them in a postmodernist 600 brutal, almost tion) of modernist geometrical abstraction; ine�pert and parodic �ay. The pictorial topologies created (2) Establishing an ontological approach to painting (and thusly seem to be almost phrases or te�ts of speeches in some sculptures); and alien language. Its images, metaphorically, spea�� �ith a sensual (3) �ointing out the border areas (and effects) of phenom� appearance for the language of the Other. Lac�� of understand� enology and semiology of paintings (and sculptures). 596 ing is a form of translation that eclectic post�modernity uses �ulić and �ationi, do not approach the ‘geometrical’ as lucidly, destroying stable criteria of vision. An important simple and formally indicative sample of ‘painting itself ’ as characteristic of �ere��es’ �or�� is in producing differences in �as done in �odernism, but as models, systems and effects of comparison �ith conceptual idealism of processual and con� painters’ practices that ‘design’ the visible �orld in the crevice ceptual art, as if the artist sho�s via his mind and body that bet�een the aesthetics or the ideology of the ‘ne�’ and the one paradigm – processual and conceptual art – e�periences a ‘retro’ ideology. The idea of ‘retroact’ or ‘retro�production’, set catastrophic end becoming its o�n contradiction. The intel� or just anticipated in painters’ and sculptors’ productions of lectually orientated post�Duchamp artist becomes a sensual Verbumprogram, becomes the basic and obsessive ‘object’ of creature, directed to�ards the appearance of the material of joy, simulation, derailment and provocation of the Autopsia 5�7 art, that is, a subversive participant becomes an ecstatic and project. Autopsia is an artistic project in music and visual erotic subject, a cynical anarchist becomes a funny parodist of productions. Various artists are ta��ing part in multimedia historical iconographies and themes of �odernism. �ere��es projects. The project started in London in the late 70s, to con� sho�s that e�pressionism, i.e. the e�pression of one’s inner tinue in e��Yugoslavia during the 80s, and from the early 90s, otherness, is nothing but mimesis (a re�presentation, copy, Autopsia, is active in �rague. �usical production is classi��ed quote, paraphrase, simulacrum) of archived historical e�pres� as e�perimental, Avant�garde, ambient or industrial. The role sionisms. �arado�ically, originality and authenticity inside the of graphic design is important and de��ning – they created practice of neo�e�pressionism sho�s up in the fact that there is various posters, ��yers, CD sleeves, e�perimental ��lms and no original ‘matri�’ e�pression, that there are only re�presenta� audio�installation. Their �or�� is connected to pop culture and tions of re�presentations (the signs of signs, mimeses of mi� the mar��et. That is �hy they ta��e performative modes of mysti� ��cation as the strategy of po�er. Their projects, i.e. Autopsia, 598 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Aktuelnosti u slikarstvu Vojvodine 1973–1993; Contemporary Visual therefore function as a ‘radical machine’ that leads to the basic Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1994 ‘problem’ of their �or��, and that is death and compassion. 599 Laszlo Kerekes, Koprivnica Gallery, Koprivnica, 1983; Laszlo Kerekes, Likovni susret Gallery, Subotica, 1985; Umjetnost – kritika usred osamdesetih, Collegium artisticum, Sarajevo, 1986; Laszlo Kerekes, catalogue, Center for the Young, Osijek, 1987; Yugosla- vian documents ‘87, Olympic Center �Skenderija’, Collegium artisticum, Sarajevo, 1987; Yugoslavian documents ‘89, Olympic Center �Skenderija’, City Galleries of Sarajevo, 596 Paintings Achromia (1985-89) and Forma Occidit, from the Verbumprogramkatalog 1989; Ješa Denegri, ”Laszlo Kerekes“, from: Fragmenti – šezdesete–devedesete umetnici catalogue, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995, il. XVII–XVIII and XIX–XX iz Vojvodine, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1994 597 Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopsia 600 ”Era postmodernizma – umetnost osamdesetih“, Polja, issue 289, Novi Sad, 1983 110 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina mesis). �ere��es’s art is post�semiological art in the sense that (Dragomir Ugren [1951], Verbumprogram, �etar Lolić [1950], he sho�s that historical signs of 20th century e�pressionism �iroslav �avlović [1952], Rastislav Š��ulec, Ratomir �ulić). The have doubles in the endless portraying of human drama. The parado� of second modernity is in that only through problem signs appearing in his paintings (iconic and non�iconic signs perspective of postmodernist deconstruction could highly of e�pressionism) are brutally deformed into empty matter and sophisticated and autonomous painting, sculpting and ambi� affective vibrations of color, �hich is a trace – in fact, an erased ent results be achieved, and �hich �ere not being achieved trace of painting is the mar��er of a painting. at the time of moderate socialist �odernism, high socialist �ere��es’s brutality is the brutality of ‘meaningless violence’ �odernism, and late socialist �ostmodernism from the end that �as brought about by urban and accelerated postmodern of the 50s to the early 80s. Critical and e�hibitional promo� arbitrariness. He sho�s his impotence and anger that comes tional appearance of Modernism after Postmodernism created a from historical ��niteness of painting, the utopia of modernism. turbulent discussion on the Serbian artistic scene in mid�90s. Out of the impotence of art to become the ne� history comes The discussion started over theoretical and custodial set�up the brutal cut through the colored body of a painting. Out of of the problem of the �odernism and �ostmodernism rela� impotence to ma��e this art alive, painting is ecstatically lived tionship at the First Young Artists’ Biennale 6��in Vršac, 1994. in its dramatic tendency to ‘devour’ its o�n histories – mo� The reason for the discussion �as Ješa Denegri’s te�t ‘�riority dernity, tradition. Cannibalism of the painter �ho devours of form and the ne� spirituality in the art of the 90s’. 605 The painting becomes a �ay for painting to survive, at least for the discussion started at the symposium ‘�odernism a��er �ost� moment, as an ecstatic ��ash. modernity’ 606, �ith the critical presentations of Lidija �ereni�� and Dejan Sretenovic. Later on the discussion spread to a large number of critics, historicists and theoreticians of art (Lidija Art in the age of opaqueness: from plurality of �ereni��, Sava Stepanov, the author of this te�t, Slav��o Timoti� Postmodernism to globalism (Serbian edition, p.301) jevic, Đorđe �adijevic, Andrej Tišma and others) during the second half of the 90s. The discussion polarized concerning In Vojvodinian art of the 80s and 90s appeared several differ� the stand points in relation �ith the autonomy of art and the ent strategies of artistic �or�� that �ere searching for a post� artistic engagement, i.e. the real or the apparent confrontation modernist expression, realizing the postmodernist demands of of formalism and anti�formalism in contemporary Serbian art post�historicism, eclecticism and starting the deconstruction of the 90s. On the other hand, it �as a question of distribution of postmodernist arbitration. In other �ords, a clear differ� of custodial, critical and theoretical po�ers in Belgrade and ence can be noticed in Vojvodinian art bet�een postmodernist Serbia bet�een various criticist�custodial groups. A number of phenomena and the phenomenon of art in the age of culture, artists �ere involved in the discussion: Dragomir Ugren, �ir� i.e. art in the epoch of globalism. jana Đorđevic, Ivan Ilić, �arija Vauda, �i��ola �ilipović, Zoran �e� decorativeness is the postmodern realization of art �as��ovs��i, Ale��sandar Dimitrijević, �eša �aripovic, Ratomir based on ornamentalization of the painting surface or doing �ulić and others. With his radical painting 607, custodial 608 patterns or other abstract or decorative schemes �hose goal is not the conceptualization of the painting face, but achieving the 604 Under the name of Yugoslavian Young Artists’ Biennale five exhibitions were held, organized by the Center for Contemporary Culture �Konkordija’ in Vršac from 1994 decorative aesthetics, �hich means visually sensual impression to 2002. Head of all five biennales was the painter Živko Grozdanić. Artistic directors (Vladimir Tomić [1948], Rada Čupić [1951], Dragan Jan��ov of the biennale were: Sava Stepanov (1994, 1995), Lidija Merenik (1998), Jovan Cekic (2000) and Slavko Timotijevic (2002) [1961], Lidija Srebotnja����rišić[1961], �al Dečov [1951] 601. 605 Catalogue of the First Yugoslavian Young Artists’ Biennale, Konkordija, Vršac, 1994 The occurrence of second modernity 6�2 or modernity after 606 Lidija Merenik, Dejan Sretenović, ”Simpozijum – moderna posle postmoderne“, Zlatno oko, issue 1, Novi Sad – Vršac, 1994, pp. 65-67 postmodernity 6�3 appears as hard and centered criticism, and 607 Ješa Denegri, Sava Stepanov and Miško Šuvaković, Dragomir Ugren – Slike posle deconstruction of soft postmodernist eclecticism, turning to� slikarstva, IKA Prometej, Novi Sad, 2001 �ards historical thematization of romanticism, e�pressionism, 608 He was the director of a Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Novi Sad from 1992 to 2002. In the period of his director work geometric abstraction, in the name of post�historical re�e�� many retrospective and authorial exhibitions have been done: Ješa Denegri, Miloš amination of the language and the borders of high modernity Arsić, Petar �uković (eds.), Rane devedesete – jugoslovenska umetnička scena, Contem- porary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1993; Miško Šuvaković (ed.), Retrospektiva: Grupa KÔD, (∃ i (∃ KÔD, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995; Verbumprogram- katalog, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995; Šuvaković, M., Denegri, J. (eds.), Prestupničke forme devedesetih. Postmoderna i avangarda na kraju XX veka, Mu- 601 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Aktuelnosti u slikarstvu Vojvodine 1973–1993; Contemporary Visual seum of Contemporary Art, Novi Sad, 1998; Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Fatalne devedesete: Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1994 strategije otpora i konfrontacija – Umetnost u Vojvodini krajem XX i početkom XXI veka, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novi Sad, 2001; Dragomir Ugren, Nebojša Milenković 602 Hajnrih Kloc, Umetnost u XX veku / moderna – postmoderna – druga moderna, Svetovi, (eds.), Neuporedivi identiteti – Kolekcija vojvođanske umetnosti za Muzej XXI veka, Novi Sad, 1995 Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2003; and the concept of the new 603 Tomaž Brejc, Iz modernizma v postmodernizem I & II – eseji, Artes Edition, Coastal Gal- Museum of Contemporary Art, see: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Muzej savremene likovne leries, Piran, 2000 umetnosti Novi Sad, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2001 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 111  and editorial engagement in boo��s about contemporary art 609, of art. 616 What stands out are the research and the �or��s of and the magazine Projekta®t 6�� (�ovi Sad), Dragomir Ugren Ratomir �ulić and Vladimir �ationi, Dragomir Ugren, Živ��o came out as the central ��gure of second modernity and the ne� �rozdanić, Zdrav��o Santrač (1954), Zvonimir Santrač, Raj��o painting and ambient abstraction. 611 �et��ović, �iroslav �avlović, Dušan Junac��ov, �ira Brt��a, The ne� sculpture mar��s, in principle, three sometimes Vesna �etrović, Rastislav Š��ulec, Ljubiša Bogosavljević, Rade connected occurrences: postmodern eclectic sculpture, sculp� Čupić, �oran Despotovs��i, Jozef �laci�� (1949), the group ture of the second modernity and the ‘ne� sculpture’ in the Emisao (B. �etrić, D. Stojanović), �i��ola Džafa, Dušan Stošić style of the British ne� sculpture. 612 The new sculpture is char� (1977) and others. acterized by performing the ‘narrative’ through plastic means, �ost�pop�art or the post�nova ��guration of the 80s and the opening the sculpture to the outside and the transforming of 90s are hybrid practices in painting 617, performance, pho� the sculpture as a piece into the installation of pieces – people tography and video, that �ere turned to�ards the presenting �ho �or��ed in this area: Igor Antić 613 (1962), �ira Brt��a, or e�pressing urban social atmosphere, discourse of popular Živ��o �rozdanić, Dragan Jelen��ović (1959), �iroslava �ojić culture and cultural otherness in the contemporary strati��ed (1949), Slobodan �ojić (1944), Ratomir �ulić / Verbumpro� life: �iodrag �ilj��ović (1956), Ljubiša Bogosavljević (1960), gram, Zoran �antelić, Dragan Ra��ić (1957), Rastislav Š��ulec 614, �ilan Blanuša (1943), Tibor Bada Dada, Dr. �arijaš, Stevan Zvonimir Santrač (1952), Branislav �etrić (1959), and Jelena �ar��uš 618(1962), and Slobodan Wiltsche�� Willy (1963). Char� Janev 615 (1972). Searching for ne� sculpture in the domain of acteristic are also the �or��s of Ljubiša Bogosavljević, Mija the spatial e�ploration (ambient and installations) are �anojlo bat (1984), �iodrag �ilj��ović, Alone (1985), Bada Dada, The �aravić (1977) and �oran Despotovs��i. monster of Palić retreats (second half of the 80s), Dr. �arijaš, The ne� abstraction in painting is connected to develop� The Chessplayer (1989), and �ilan Blanuša Schatten der engel ments, rene�als, simulations, researches and reinterpretations (�������) or Stevan �ar��uš Everybodykid (2001). Some produc� of artistic productions and postproductions during the 90s and tions in the ��rst decade of 21st century are also connected �ith the ��rst years of the 21st century. The question of ‘painting’ and the relations of public and private, e�hibitionistic or intimist, art has been treated from painters’ installations to statuses, media images (photographies, TV, computer screen) and functions and effects of painting in the conte�t of ne� media paintings. artistic and mass productions, that is, in searching for the �ilica �rđa �uzmanov 619 (1960) initiated the project limits of manually produced paintings inside the paradigms Dada Symposion (�atolič��a porta, �ovi Sad, 12th December, 1992). Dada Symposion �as a mass spectacle devoted to the 70th anniversary of Yugo�Dada Dragan Ale��sić. 620 In the area of �atolič��a porta, a cubo�futuristic stage �as set, over �hich there �as a de��le of mas��ed participants (Slav��o �at��ović, Vojislav Despotov and others). Around 400 Dadaist collages by students of primary schools in �ovi Sad �ere e�hibited and 609 Ješa Denegri, Fragmenti / šezdesete - devedesete / umetnici, iz Vojvodine, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1994; Kosta Bogdanović, Svest o obliku II, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1995; Lidija �ere given a�ay to visitors. All this happened ne�t to a large Merenik, Belgrade: osamdesete – nove pojave u slikarstvu i skulpturi 1979-1989 u Srbiji; Prometej, Novi Sad, 1995; Miško Šuvaković, Autoportreti. Eseji o Neši Paripoviću, crane, a ��re engine and a refrigerator truc�� of the �ovi Sad Prometej, Novi Sad, 1996; Miško Šuvaković, Asimetrični drugi. Eseji o umetnicima i abattoir. It �as a �ost�Avant�garde �or��, meaning a comple� konceptima, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1996; Miško Šuvaković, Politika tela. Eseji o Slavku Bogdanoviću, Prometej and K21K, Novi Sad, 1997; Ješa Denegri (ed.), Clement Green- event that re�actualizes, summons, quotes and trans��gures berg, Ogledi o posleratnoj američkoj umetnosti, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1997; Ješa Denegri (ed.), Harold Rosenberg, Ogledi o posleratnoj američkoj umetnosti, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1997; Miško Šuvaković, Pojmovnik moderne i postmoderne likovne umetnosti i teorije posle 1950, SANU and Prometej, Belgrade and Novi Sad, 1999; Miško Šuvaković, Luminokinetika. Eseji o Kolomanu Novaku, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1999. 616 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Stabilna konvencija slike – trenutak koji traje, Museum of Contem- porary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002; Miloš Arsić (ed.), Tradicija tautološkog – plastičke 610 First issue of Projekta®t – časopis za vizuelne umetnosti came out in May 1993, in norme ne-konačnog, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002; Ješa Novi Sad. Editorial board: Grozdana Šarčević, Ljiljana Ivanovic, Miloš Arsić, Balint Dneegri (ed), Slikarstvo, Konkordija, Vršac, 2003; Miloš Arsić (ed.), Između geometrije i Szombathy, Kosta Bogdanović and Ješa Denegri, editor-in-chief Dragomir Ugren. geometrijskog – Kontekst retrostanja, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, Publisher: Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery in Novi Sad. From the fourth issue the 2005. and Miško Šuvaković (ed), Hibridno imaginarno: slikarstvo i/ili ekran – O slici i editorial board are: Ješa Denegri, Kosta Bogdanović and Balint Szombathy. Publisher: slikarstvu u epohi medija, Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 2006; IK Prometej, Novi Sad. 15 issues were published. catalogues of the Vršac cplony Tragom Paje Jovanovića, Cultural Center Vršac and 611 Dragomir Ugren (ed.), ”Hijatusi modernizma i postmodernizma. Jedna teorijska Center for Visual Culture Zlatno oko Novi Sad, 2005, 2005, 2007. kontroverza“, Projekta®t, issue 11-15, Novi Sad, 2001 617 Miloš Arsić (ed.), Aktuelnosti u slikarstvu Vojvodine 1973–1993; Contemporary Visual 612 G. Beal, L. Cooke, C. Harrison, M. J. Jacob (eds.), A Quiet Revolution – British Sculpture Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1994; Szombathy Baling catalogue, drMáriás képzőművészete, Since 1965, Thames and Hudson, London, 1987 A38 Kulturállis Kht. – Magyar M�hely Kiadó, Budapest, 2007 613 Igor Antić 1994-1995, catalogue, Novi Sad, 1995 618 Zoran Eric, �Stevan Markuš’, Projekta®t, issue 3, Novi Sad, 1994, p. 89 614 Katalog Apsolutno Rastislav Škulec – Permanentna kriza, Contemporary Visual Arts 619 Ješa Denegri, ”Milica Mrđa Kuzmanov“, from: Devedesete: teme srpske umetnosti Gallery, Novi Sad, 1994 (1990–1999), Svetovi, Novi Sad, 1999, pp. 204-206 615 Suzana Vuksanović (ed.), Nova skulptura u Vojvodini 1980–2000, Museum of Contem- 620 Milica Mrđa Kuzmanov, ”EX NIHILO ili altruistički projekt duše“, Projekta®t, issue 6, porary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 2006 Novi Sad, 1995, p. 89 112 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina historical shapes of Avant�garde behavior and activities. �eople (Led Art, Art klinika, �i��ola Džafo) and the cra�� of artiv� contributing to the spectacle, especially students of primary ism that is brought to the artistic practice as the institution schools, �ere ‘recruited’ into the membership of a ne� artistic of performing cultural politics (groups Apsolutno, Kuda.org, performance group. Ideas and gestures of scandals, liberty and Zoran �antelić). Zvonimir Santrač created t�o monumental actionism �ere offered as a large interventionist city spectacle. allegoric �or��s – The Balkan Train of Destiny (1996) – made of A special phenomenon in the art of the 90s �as the politi� a composition of train carriages �ith dangerous contraptions cal and the activist 621 art in late socialist, post�socialist and attached, and an installation, The Wall (�on��ordija, Vršac, transitional society. �ost�socialism is a post�modern condition 1998), �hich is set as a bric�� corridor �ith pointed pieces of or state (condition of post�modernity) 622 of e��real�socialism glass protruding out of it. Both of this �or��s are an ‘allegoric states/countries, i.e. cultures. It is described as the transit provocation’ described by the time of the 90s. 626 On the other period bet�een the bureaucratic real�socialist society and a hand, it can be supposed that certain provocative and critical liberal mar��et�orientated late capitalism. �ost�socialism is Internet actions of a ��ctional screen ‘para�terrorist’ character characterized, above all, by the parado�ical connection of Leon di Zampe come from the scenes of Belgrade and �ovi various and confronting socio�political systems and �ays of Sad. It is a digital post�situational comic, i.e. �eb�site 627 and a production and consumption inside a culture. It is the matter fanzine: Zampa di Leone, In the Ass of the Balkans 2����2��5. of the relationship of a concrete social order (confrontation of This parodies comic and provo��es the transitional system of the material institutions of real�socialism and setting up of the art and artistic institutions in the area of e��Yugoslavia and mar��et relations of late capitalism) and ��ctional social order the Bal��ans. At the scenes of the transition of Bal��an art, a (confrontation of presentation forms of pre�modern sources of ‘ra�’ discourse of parody and grotesque ��no�n in politics is nation and society, s��ipped/censored phases of �odernism in introduced, i.e. a Performance of political or national hatred the period of real�socialism and unachieved forms of e�pen� through �hich the brutality of neo�liberalization and claustro� diture or hedonism of late capitalism). In the artistic sense, phobia of transitional actuality. 628 post�socialism is characterized by a system of art presentation A speci��c genre of photography, also ��no� as ‘photograph that is a symptom of real�socialist ideological po�ers (phan� of the artist’ �as set up in conceptual art and developed to tasms), �hich means some sort of subversive production of the post�conceptual and neo�conceptual art of today. The pho� wrong meaning, as in Russian perestroi��a art, or the Chinese tograph of the artist is characterized by institutional use of cynical realism, or Slovenian retro�garde. �olitically orientated photography as a medium by the visual artist �ho e�plores or art of the 90s in Vojvodina comes as a reaction to the dra� produces visual discourse on art and artist (conceptual art) matic brea��do�n of the second Yugoslavia 623, but also as the or culture and society (post�modern artist, artist in the age of ‘practice’ that �as supported by the transitional processes of globalism). The photograph of the artist becomes important in emancipation of a late socialist society into a ‘transitional’ lib� different ‘uses’ of the photographic medium: from performance eral capitalistic society. With that, Vojvodinian political art of documents, over narrative photography, to different photo� the 90s emerges in the frame bordered by ‘post�modern eclecti� graphical discourses in mass and popular culture. The photo� cism’ of connecting the incompatible promised by the Rus� graph of the artist �as used by conceptual and post�conceptual sian perestroi��a art (Živ��o �rozdanić, Zvonimir Santrač) and artists: �ir��o Radojičić, �iroslav �andić, Slobodan Tišma ‘death of the symbols’ (Autopsia), as �ell as media and bodily and Čeda Drča, Vladimir �opicl, Slav��o Bogdanović, Balint provocations of the horizon of constituting ne� national states Szombathy, Slav��o �at��ović, Laszlo �ere��es, Verbumpro� (Balint Szombathy) 624 or introducing artivistic 625 practices gram, Ratomir �ulić 629, Bogdan��a �oznanović, �atalin Ladi�� and others. In post�modern and art in the age of globalism, the medium of photography �as used by Balint Szombathy, 621 The general theory of political and activist art was developed by Marina Gržinić (Fiction Reconstructed – Eastern Europe, Post-Socialism & The – Retro-Avant-Garde, Springerin, Vienna, 2000) and Inke Arms (Avantgarda v vzvratnem ogledalu – Spre- memba paradigem recepcije avantgarde v (negdanji) Jugoslaviji in Rusiji od 80. let do 626 Ješa Denegri, ”Ogromni, dugački, preko normalne ljudske mere�“, from: Miško danes, Maska, Ljubljana, 2006) Šuvaković, Ješa Denegri (eds.), Prestupničke forme devedesetih. Postmoderna i avan- 622 Ales Erjavec (ed.), Postmodernism and the Post-socialist Condition. Politicised Art under garda na kraju XX veka, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 1998, pp. 42; Late Socialism, California University Press, Berkeley, 2003 Ješa Denegri, ”Vršačka umetnička scena devedesetih: Živko Grozdanić i Zvonimir 623 Dejan Sretenovic (ed.), Art in Yugoslavia 1992-1995, SCCA, Belgrade, 1996; Ješa Santrač“, from: Devedesete: teme srpske umetnosti (1990–1999), Svetovi, Novi Sad, 1999, Denegri, Opstanak umetnosti u vreme krize, Cicero, Belgrade, 2004; Branislava pp. 212-218 Anđelković, Branislav Dimitrijević, Dejan Sretenović, Borut Vild (eds.), O normalnosti: 627 http://www.various-euro.com/zampa/; umetnost u Srbiji, 1989–2001, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, 2005 http://seecult.org/v-web/gallery/ZampaDiLeone 624 NebojšaMilenković (ed.), Szombathy Art, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, 628 Sezgin Boynik, “Learning from underground” (2006): http://zeitgenoessischekun- Novi Sad, 2005 stserbien.blogspot.com/2006/07/sezgin-boynik-lernen-vom-underground-1.html; 625 The term �artivism’ is used according to the term from Croatian-Slovenian theoreti- Suzana Milevska, “Inscenirana (ne)vidljivost” (2005), cian Aldo Milohnic, from: �Performing Action, Performing Thinking’, Maska, issue 1-2 http://eipcp.net/transversal/1202/milevska/en . (90-91), Ljubljana, 2005, pp. 15-25 629 Ratomir Ratomir Kulić, Anamorfoze,, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2004 Kulić, 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 113  Jaroslav Supe�� 630, Živ��o �rozdanić, Zvonimir Santrač, �ilica tal technologies (computer art �ith its subforms: internet�art, �rđa �uzmanov, Led Art, Art klinika, �i��ola Džafo, Ivan cyber art, digital design). The pioneer of the ‘communicational �rubanov (1976), Stevan �ar��us, Ljubomir �a��simov (1972), e�periment’ is Balint Szombathy �ho researched differ� Apsolutno, Kuda.org, Zorica Čolić (1977), Biljana �larić (1973), ent shapes and ideologies of communication, from mail�art Jelena �ovačević Jureša (1974), Jelena �ovačević (1975), Lidija to teleprinter fa� art and digital graphics. Vesna Todorović Srebotnja��, �ar��o Stojanović (1982), and Zsolt �ovács (1975). �i��sić (1956, �ovi Sad) got her degree at the Academy of Arts �hotography, digital prints above all, became a dominant me� in �ovi Sad, her master’s degree in video and photography at dium in visual productions of contemporary art at the transi� Syracuse University, in �e� Yor�� state. She �or��ed �ith instal� tion bet�een the 20th and 21st centuries, and it appears from lations, digital photography, video and cable TV. She �or��ed ‘framed photograph’, to projected photograph, to photo objects as a lecturer of ‘ne� media’ and ‘interdisciplinary arts’ in and installations. various artistic schools in the USA during the 80s and 90s 633. Video art 631 appeared through a slo� process of e�plora� In the domain of e�ploration and interdisciplinary ideologies tion and use of the ‘ne� medium’ to setting up of the produc� �ere: group Apsolutno, Andrej Tišma (1952), �arolina �udrin� tion means in performing neo�conceptual and culturally orien� s��i 634(1973), �ataša Teo��lović, Vesna To��in, Srđan Jovanović tated e�ploration in contemporary culture and society. �ioneer Weiss, Biljana �larić, Lidija Srebotnja��, Đula Santa, Urtica �or�� on video �as started by Bogdan��a �oznanović, Balint (founded in 1999), Radišić/Tr��ulja �roduction (p.RT™), Vladan Szombathy, �redrag Siđanin (1953), and developed ne� media Joler (1977), and �ir��o Žar��ovic (19??). Some authors use practice �ere set up by Lidija Srebotnja��, Vesna To��in (1969), visual phenomenology and others use the semantics of the ne� �ataša Teo��lović, Ale��sandar Davić (1961), Dragan Jelen��ović, media in outlining a �or�� of art. They turn to procedures of Želj��a Jović(1973), �senija �ovačević (1974), �atarina Šević pictorial presentation and transferring mass media electronic (1979) and others. For promotion and development of video images into the ‘traditional medium of painting’ (Danijel Babić art, pedagogical activity of Bogdan��a �oznanović and Lidija [1967], Jelena Janev, Dejana �ešović [1976], Igor Vlaisavljević Srebotnja�� �as important, at the Academy of Arts in �ovi Sad, [1965] and others) 635. and also the opening of ‘Visual Studio’ and the Department Art in the age of culture is a comple� macro�phenomenon of Inter�medial Research, also at the Academy of Arts in �ovi of artistic productions that gets more active in the second Sad, then the ��O�festival VideoMedeja. It �as started by Vera half of the 90s, and the beginning of the 21st century. These �opicl at the end of 1996, �ithin Network of Female Initiatives phenomena and numerous artistic practices are short media Multimedia and Artistic Association Apostrophe, �hile the ini� circuits or corridors bet�een the ��eld of art and the ��eld of tiative to gather several initiatives on one project �as provided culture. There is movement �here art turns to culture – pro� by the Fund for Open Society. The ��rst VideoMedeja festival duction, multiplication, e�change, use, application, but also �as held in 1996, it �as an international video summit of au� the enjoying of ‘phenomenality’ or ‘sense’ of art as an artefact thors from Eastern Europe. The ne�t festival �as not regional, of every day life – by �hich culture is incorporated into art and in 1998 the festival becomes independent. The art director (quotations, collages, montages, paraphrases, simulation, of the festival �as Vera �opicl. Other people �ho �or��ed on memis of mimesis, use, ready�made, trans��guration, transfor� the festival as selection bodies and editors �ere: Biljana Tomić, mation, interte�tuality). Bet�een the theory of art and theory Lidija Srebotnja��, Balint Szombathy, �athy Rae Huffman, �ina of culture, today, there (seems to be) various transparent, so�� Czegledy, Dragana Žarevac and others. Video �or��s of the fol� (shaping) and porous (through or over) borders. This is about lo�ing artists �ere presented: �arina Abramović, Tanja Ostojić, artistic practices of research and testing of transparency, so��� Breda Beban, Sanja Ive��ović, Jasmila Zbanic, Yenin Higgins, ness and porousness of relationships bet�een contemporary �ari Bard, member of VHS �atri�, �arina �rzinić, Emma �u� mega�cultures and macro�ideological practices and art systems gler, �ilica Tomić, Alicija Zebrovs��a and others. VideoMedeja, (Western Europe, �orth America, countries of post�social� as an international festival, mar��ed the transitional and global ism, transitional societies, the Third World countries) to�ards processes on the artistic scene of �ovi Sad in the 90s. 632 the micro�cultures and activating local ��no�ledge, po�er, In the late 90s and the ��rst decade of the 21st century, a identity, etc. By �ay of a model of identi��cation and presenta� different ne� media practice becomes important. �e� media practices are artistic productions based on programmatic digi� 633 Grozdana Šarčević (ed.), Vesna Todorović Miksić : Ž – Ili duša koja putuje dok telo spava – Fotografije, video, unikatne knjige, instalacije, kseroks 1882-1990, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery of Novi Sad and the Hall of the Museum of modern art, Belgrade, 1990 630 Catalogue Jaroslav Supek – Suva planina – Zaplanje – Umetničko događanje 1995-2004, 634 Karolina Mudrinski, Konačna polja, Gallery of Youth Center, Belgrade, 2005 Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2004 635 Jasmina Čubrilo, Svetlana Mladenov, Irina Subotić, Dušan Todorović, Suzana 631 Dejan Sretenović (ed.), Video umetnost u Srbiji, CSU, Belgrade, 1999 Vuksanović (eds.), MAD E + IN NOV I + SAD – Savremena umetnička scena, Tableau 632 Vera Kopicl (ed.), VideoMedeja 1996–2000, JUZVU �VideoMedeja’, Novi Sad, 2000 gallery, Novi Sad, 2006 114 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina tion of ideology as a constitutional and orientating vector of presentation. Zoran �as��ovs��i (Izbiste, 1960) realized a �or�� establishing and performing culture, politics, and art, current based on inde�ing and transferring cultural mar��s and traces identities of ‘subjects’ of possible culture and art conte�ts are (documents on the murder of president �ennedy and singing being dra�n. Ideology as matter for art represents imaginary �ith the accompaniment of a gusle dedicated to that event) relationships of individuum to�ards the real conditions of from one conte�t (USA) to the other (Serbia) in Death in Dallas their e�istence. In other �ords, �hat is represented �ith ideol� (2003). �eople �ho �or��ed �ith different cultural aspects �ere ogy is not the system of real relations that rules the e�istence Ivan �rubanov (Have you ever seen your best friend bleed, 1999), of an individual, but the imaginary relations of the individuals Igor Antić (Humanitarian, 1999), Apsolutno (Azbuka Absolut in to�ards the real conditions in �hich they live. A��er the fall of Wienna, 1995), Biljana �larić (Renounce for better ones, 2003), the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the Jelena �ovačević Jureša (Tourists, 2003), �ovács Zsolt, 1975 second Yugoslavia, and de�structuring the dialectic division (e.g. Aesthetical experience develops supernatural abilities, 2001), of the �orld into bloc��s, ideology sho�s to be the e�pression activities of Vladan Jeremić (1975) and Renate Rädle (1970) of events of mar��ing effects in shaping and organizing life. In during their �or�� in �ovi Sad, e.g. Psycho�geographical Research contemporary life, ideology is represented as a fragmentary lo� (2003�2004). 639 Led Art and Art Clinic 6�� pointed their entire cal or individual or transgressive (delinquent) story that is the production to�ards the cultural practices (1993�2007), etc. erased, postponed or transposed of utopia (phantasm) or the A speci��c case of ‘cultural �or��’ in art is the �or�� of com� erased, postponed or transposed mar�� of identity (the penetra� poser Boris �ovač. 641 He is an instrumentalist composer and tion of ��rst�degree language of presentation into the legitimacy multimedia artist. His musical �or�� has to do �ith the theater. of the master meta�language, loss of borders of understand� He �or��s �ith orchestras and groups: the ensemble Ritual ing bet�een the language of thoughts, private language, the nova, orchestras LaDaABa and La Campanella, chamber unspo��en ��no�ledge of paradigm and the public language). 636 music theater ‘�irror’, the Academy of Fine Tools. He �or��ed In the moment �hen art is presented as the ‘instrument’ or the in Italy, Slovenia and Austria bet�een 1991 and 1995, and he ‘apparatus’ of culture, i.e. the structure of the ��eld of ideology, performed all across the �orld. �ovač’s music originates as the the role of art (function, presentation, e�pression, simulation) shape of new humanism, i.e. e�ploration of the human condi� became important in performing marking/markers’ practice in tion through music and theater. The research character of his the actuality of shaping the life in very speci��c and local situ� �or�� is done, roughly spea��ing, through e�perimental world ation in comparison �ith global referents. In the transitional music (World Fusion, World Jazz), �hich means performing period, this ��ind of problem �as set up by very various artists eclectic multicultural, e�istential, musical and theatrical situ� that �or��ed �ith actuality through the media. �umerous art� ations. The author himself once said that it is hard to tell from ists �or��ed in this frame, and some of the productions (instal� �hich fol��lore his music comes: lations, video��or��s, photographs) became the paradigmatic ‘�y musicians and I live an urban situation, �e are outside the samples of cultural interventionalism. One of the characteristic village, �e cannot reconstruct �here our music comes from. I don’t thin�� that is necessary. The essential point is that �e use dif� ‘art in the age of culture’ �or��s is the analytically�critical �or�� ferent sources to feed our creativity.’ 642 of �i��ola �ilipović (�i��inda, 1957), i.e. the group MANIK 637, named From China to Banat 638 (2000�2001). This �or�� inde�es That is �hy his �or�� can be identi��ed as the cultural and the controversial ideological construction of confronting ‘local multicultural situationism. European multiethnical space’ �ith the ne� race group, i.e. the Chinese immigrating to the countries of Eastern Europe, Banat, to be more precise. Banat �as an area of comple� na� Activism and the art of resistance: Led Art (Serbian edition, p.320) tional and ethnical processes in the 20th century, �ith Serbs, Hungarians, �ermans, Romanians, Slova��s, Croats, �ontene� Led Art 643 is a project of provocative artistic intervention in grins, Romany people, and at the intersection of the 20th and the ��eld of ideology and in the ��eld of contemporary soci� 21st centuries, Chinese came. The very cultural and socio� logical practice �ith all the parado�es of racial and national 639 Vladan Jeremić and Renata Rädle, Psychogeographical Research, http://raedle- identi��cation becomes the medium of artistic research and Jeremić.modukit.com/ 2007 640 Svetlana Subašić, Vladimir Mitrović, Vesna Grginčević (eds), Art klinika – Prva peto- letka, MMC Led Art and the Student Cultural Center, Novi Sad, 2007 641 Boris Kovač, Novi ritual, SKC, Nis, 1990; Boris Kovač, Mirror of the Voice/Music as the 636 Žan-Fransoa Liotar, Raskol, Zoran Stojanović Publishing House, Sremski Karlovci, Way, Katchara edition, 2000 1991; and Documenta 11_Platform 5: Exhibition – Catalogue, Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit, 642 See: http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/art- 2002. ist/content.artist/boris_Kovač_33543 637 Marija Vauda and Nikola Pilipović formed MANIK group in 1999 in Belgrade. 643 Vreme zamrzavanja, supplement to newpsaper Vreme, Belgrade, 17th May 1993; 638 Marija Vauda and Nikola Pilipović, Art gallery, Maribor, 2001 catalogue: Nikola Džafo (ed.), Ikonomanija, CZKD, Belgrade, December 25, 1998 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 115  ety and culture. To be more speci��c, Led Art is the modus (a The case of the �late works’ of Balint Szombathy: group, a movement, a phenomenon) 644 of artistic activities, the artist as a moving map (Serbian edition, p.322) done at the dramatic, cruel and rough borders of art, ideology, politics, and, of course, everyday late�socialistic and post�so� The artistic practice of Balint Szombathy 646 in the period cialistic e�istence. It is a dynamic inter�subjective confront� bet�een 1969 and 2005 �as set and developed by performing ing of intentional or accidental cooperators and collaborators nomadic and hybrid productions and tactical behavior in the inside a concrete artistic project. This confronting through epoch of late�socialist �odernism, late�socialist and post�so� art problematically mirrors the social situation. It is about the cialist post��odernity, and the current multi�cultural, before current dynamic system of inter�subjective relations, and not a all transitional, globalism. Szombathy is the artist �ho creates stable, ���ed and set group of artists or actionists. The concept in the spaces of confronting the borders of Serbian, multi� of Led Art is formulated as cynical and allegoric orientated ethnic Yugoslavian, and Hungarian culture, i.e. according to project of frozen art in a late totalitarian Serbian society. Con� political criteria, he �or��s on the borders of real�socialism cept and phenomenon of freezing �ere chosen as an accept� (Hungary as a part of the Warsa� pact or Eastern European able sign (symbol, metaphor, allegory – slogan, anti�slogan, a pro�Soviet real�socialism), self�ruled socialism (the interposi� cleared motto) of a critical and cynical state that a society goes tion of socialist Yugoslavia bet�een Warsa� and �ATO pact, through in totalitarianism, metastasis of legal institutions, i.e. Yugoslavia in the ‘non�aligned’ politics) and the West. This entropy of ideologies, civil and para�civil �ars, brutal violence, life and art border position allo�ed Szombathy to position political transformations and social transitions, etc. �rojects of himself as a nomadic subject that creates in the area of open Led Art �ere some sort of screens on �hich a society of terror Yugoslavian artistic space in communication bet�een East and is confronted �ith its o�n demonic characters, ghastly ��gures, West. Szombathy is a Yugoslavian, or Vojvodinian Hungarian, sho�n dar��ness, censured transparency, summoned illusions and this means a ‘subject’ that e�ists simultaneously in several and hidden constructions. Because, Led Art acted and acts languages and modi of cultural communicate possibilities. in comple� conditions of disintegration of Tito’s Yugoslavia During the iron 70s he brought East the concepts and infor� self�ruled socialism, in the conditions of nationalist�commu� mation on contemporary international art (conceptual art, nist dictatorship of Slobodan �ilošević, under the conditions mail�art, body�art, land�art, performance art) and too�� West of e�plosion of nationalist�racist mood inside post�communist the information of a completely un��no�n Eastern European society, under the conditions of emancipative civil protests and underground, conceptualism and �eo�Avant�garde. Szom� in the time of establishing a transparent, or, �hat is more o��en bathy creates in the area of dra�ings, graphic, design, comic, done, non�transparent pro�liberal transitional post�socialism. photography, performance art, artistic interventions, semio� For each of the mar��ed social situations, Led Art creates, i.e. art, conceptual art, mail�art, visual poetry, underground art, performs in a simulacrum �ay, localized tactics of confronting political art, digital and communicational art. the machines of social production, e�change, and consumption Szombathy’s �or�� �as not done in a straight line formal or of concrete reality. Their �or�� is sometimes mimetic, some� conceptual evolution, it �as in a constant anarchic movement, times metonymic, sometimes illusionist, sometimes sophisti� offence, defence, mas��ing, repeating or innovative e�cess. In cated, sometimes infantile, sometimes protesting, sometimes completely different periods, from the late 60s until today, he brutal, sometimes li��eable, sometimes erotic, sometimes self� le�� graphical mar��s (dra�ings, photo�copies, digitally pro� critical, sometimes anti��ar, sometimes post��ar, sometimes cessed photographs, collages) that had reference to current economic, sometimes entropic, etc. �o position of their �or�� political situations, happenings or phenomena. These artistic is stable and secure. Instability and insecurity are the reactive �or��s or anti��or��s did not have the character of a ‘��nished means of indication inside concrete social struggles. 645 piece’ (traditional artistic �or��), but more the character of uncertain meaningful derailment inside symbolic orders in culture. Those are the �or��s of different formats, shapes and presentation. The artist sho�ed through them ho� the subject is structured to�ards an individual political challenge. For e�� 644 The leader of the group/movement was Nikola Džafo (1950). The people who participated were: Dragan Zivancevic, Ratko Vucinic, Ljubiša Bogosavljević, Vesna ample, on a facsimile of a 10$ bill, he e�changed the phrase ‘In Grgincevic, Zeljko Piskoric, Slobodan Vilcek, Sasa Markovic, Dragan Krnajski, Mileta �od We Trust’ for a ne� one, ‘In Art We Trust’. �oney, �od Prodanovic, Mrđan Bajic, Rasa Todosijevic, Jovan Cekic, Dejan Andjelkovic and Jelica Radovanovic, Darija Kacic, Misko Lazovic, Zoran Pantelić, Pankov Dragan, and Art �ere brought into a potential and multi�dimensional Radovanovic Jelica, Savanovic brothers, Miodrag Smajic, Vera Stevanovic, Lidija Sre- botnjak, Zizi Stone, Talent, Slobodan Vilcek Willy, Jovanović Srdjan Weiss, Vladislav Seslija, Predrag Kocovac, Nebojis Milikic, Sasa Stojanović, RatSlobodan 645 Vesna Graničević (ed.), Led Art: Dokumenti vremena: 1933–2003, MMC Led Art and 646 NebojšaMilenković (ed.), Szombathy Art, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Samizdat B92, Belgrade, 2004 Sad, 2005 11 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina relationship. Dra�ings and collages from the Art Pen series not meant for the public, apart from an accidental public, but (1988�89) are visual commentaries of political happenings and are meant for photographical documentation of the events. The crisis in the second Yugoslavia, i.e. the changes of the political only document on the performance is a series of photographs system in Hungary. Collages from Balcanology series (1999) (sequences), �hich allo�s the reconstruction of events. Apart �ere made during the �ATO bombardment of FR Yugoslavia from the photo�performance Lenin in Budapest, there are also and are referring to the �or��s of soc�realist artists of Yugo� Bauhaus (1972), Resurrection (1973), With Ida Biard in Novi slavia. Szombathy ma��es a parabola of those �or��s, dra�s the Sad – With Balint Szombathy in Paris (1975), Signalization of iconography in a sarcastic, critical �ay. He unmas��s politics, the body (1973), Hammer and sickle (1973, Florence), Criminale as �ell as art itself, of an ever�present inhuman totalitarian attentate (1973, Florence), Go my way! (1976, Amsterdam) etc. system. At the same time he concentrates a large dose of irony In the 90s, Balint Szombathy starts a ne� and dramatic to the tragic events he observes, and even suffers (Vi��tim = cycle of politically orientated performances and installations the name of the main character in the novel Europe number through �hich he reacts to the disintegration of the second two by Vojislav Despotov). In this conte�t, other �or��s �ere Yugoslavia, emergence of national states and the beginnings of created too: Vojvodinian elegies, collaged dra�ings (1989), transition. His performance �or��, unli��e the ‘cynical indif� Flags, computer graphic (1989), Partito glorioso, collage (1996), ference’ of the 70s, starts to become e�pressive, dramatically Pages from the eternal calendar, collage (1997�98), Millennium isolated and shoc��ing. The artist starts to spea�� in the ��rst per� pictures: Reversible memory, digital print (2002), Overlapping son to present, through his direct e�perience, the ��ey questions I, II, III, processed prints (2004). For e�ample, in Millennium of the ne� age a��er the fall of Berlin Wall, disintegration of pictures: We were heroes, digital �or��s (2002�2004), he gath� the USSR and second Yugoslavia. In installations and produc� ered real�socialist documents in Hungary at the beginning of tions Balkan Dialogue (���5), Far�viewer (1995), Case (1997), the transition 647. Yugoslav Story (1996), Crossroads (1998) and Meeting Place Szombathy’s early performance called Lenin in Budapest 6�8 (1998), Szombathy �or��s �ith concrete and literal traces of (Budapest, 1972) is an e�ample of inserting disturbance in the real�socialist culture: the portrait of the Yugoslavian president ideological structure of real�socialist society. It is about an Josip Broz Tito, guns, bullets, corn, shoe�ma��ing tools, boards anonymous photo�performance. �osters of Vladimir Ilyich �ith names of ��nal train stations in former Yugoslavia, plastic Lenin, the leader of a Soviet Bolshevi�� revolution from 1917, soldiers, screens �here political programs of Serbian and �ere fetish�pictures or symbols of revolutionary tendency that Croatian national television emitted via satellite can be seen, �ere e�hibited at party congresses, state rallies and parades etc. These are not innocent ready�mades of post�Duchamp �ith the pictures of local party leaders as �ell as the classics of elitism in art a��er 1968, but ra� and brutal mar��s of civil/in� �ar�ism, �ar� and Engels. Szombathy too�� the poster �ith tervening �ar, a state in a shambles, creation of ethnically pure Lenin’s character through Budapest as an ad poster or a poster territories and cultural closing in of national cultures. Szom� �ith protest slogans. Through this it removed the function of bathy thematizes the moment �hen one history is brought to fetish from Lenin’s picture, setting it in the trivial everyday� its end in macro�political, artistic, cultural, national, ethical ness of real�socialist life, at the same time parodying the status and geographical sense. 649 The project Flags 65� (Ludosh la��e of commercials. He �as a citizen of a real�socialist society ne�t to Subotica, 1972) �as created by e�hibiting various ��ags that carried the image of a revolutionary leader �ithout being in outdoor spaces. It is about interventions in free space, �hich authorized for it, by �hich he pointed out to the derailment means e�hibiting samples of the Yugoslavian ��ag in natural form the ��eld of control. The symbol of revolution outside the (�lavica, Fruš��a �ora, 1972) or urban (Hajdu��ovo, 1972) e�te� ��eld of party control could have been a challenge for the bu� riors. This �or�� served as a starting point for the performances reaucratic system as �ell as a t�ist to �estern ne��le��ism or a �ith the same name from 1993 and 1995. Later, in 1993, the ludistic game that, humorously, ironically or cynically deterio� process �as developed in space into a performance. E�hibi� rated Lenin’s autocratic po�er. tion of a Yugoslavian ��ag points to a dramatic erasing of tracks. Balint Szombathy developed a �hole genre of performance �erformances done in the 90s are events through �hich an art that he called ‘photo�performance’. �hoto�performance is attempt of brea��ing up the mimetic and mimicric �or�� �ith the anonymous, private or public activities of an artist that are symbols (symbol, erased symbol, trace, symbol�brought�to� 647 According to the manuscript Szombathy Art – Umetnička dokumentacija 1 969-2004, p. 7 649 Miško Šuvaković, Balint Szombathy, in: �Art as a Political Machine’, from: Ales Erjavec 648 Bálint Szombathy, Lenin in Budapest (1972), from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Central- (ed.), Postmodernism and the Postsocialist Condition – Politicized Art under Late Social- noevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avangardi 1920–2000. Granični fenomeni, fenomeni ism, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003, pp. 116–120 granica, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002, pp.102-104 650 Catalogue Szombathy Art Zastave, Most Gallery, Novi Sad, 1993 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 117  life) is attempted. Szombathy’s performance Flags I&II 65�(�ost temporary Art in Vojvodina (�on��ordija, Vršac, June 1995). �allery, �ovi Sad, 1993, documented on video) �as provo��ed �ulić’s �or��s a��er Verbumprogram are not numerous, but are by then current social�political events through the metamor� very characteristically realized: Without title – Third excurse phosis of the ��ag of Titoistic self�rule second Yugoslavia 652. (1996), Rhetoric and demagogy, or demagogy and rhetoric, or This �or�� of Szombathy is, by all means, one of the most both demagogy and rhetoric (1998), a large dra�ing on a �all, important post�modern and post�socialist spectacular con� Excurse III (2003), and a series of photographs, Anamorphoses frontings �ith the terrors of disintegration of SFRY through (2004). �ulić organized a cycle of author�outlined e�hibitions provocative and directly presented e�perience from the artist Identity and difference: a double articulation in the Center for himself, �ho ta��es the responsibility to use his body and his Visual Culture ‘�olden Eye’ in 1997. With that cycle he entered empirics in order to recreate the ‘horrors of �ar’ for all of us a then current discussion about the relations of �odernism (�ho ever, or �herever �e �ere). and �ost�modernism. The installation Rhetoric and demagogy, or demagogy and rhetoric, or both demagogy and rhetoric �as done as a part of a A case of deconstruction – relative relations of cycle of e�hibitions Discreet Modernism, �hich �as prepared margin and center of Modernism: Ratomir Kulić by the custodian of the ‘�olden Eye’ �allery, Sava Stepanov, in after Verbumprogram (Serbian edition, p.326) 1998. The installation came to be by collecting and confronting various collected or made objects in the period from 1988 to Ratomir �ulić, a��er the end of Verbumprogram 653 in 1991, 1998. The e�hibition contained arranged �or��s of art from the did several post�Dadaistic or para�Dadaistic gestual �or��s in Verbumprogram period, as �ell as everyday objects. It seems a �hich, on one side, he provo��ed the claustrophobic and para� Duchampesque ready�made gesture, although it is not another noid culture of the third Yugoslavia in �hich he lived, and, on defence of the Duchamp tradition, on the contrary, it is an the other side, deconstructed his high�style, cold and ratio� artistic�productive polemic �ith Duchamp installations and nally controlled �or�� as a subject in Verbumprogram 65� . �ulić, political commentaries of another artist, Balint Szombathy. as a subject of Verbumprojekt developed �or��s of analytical The polemic character is, in fact, a deconstructive gesture that and neo�geo orientation, �hich meant a cold and conceptual opens up questions on status and conditions of autonomy of approach. Subject��ulić and subject��ationi �ere outside the artistic �or��, art and artist’s behavior. �or�� of art. The �or�� �as ‘there’ in its indicativeness and pres� A series of photographs, Anamorphoses, �as done �ith ence. A resistance to e�pressing, �riting do�n, presenting the large format photographs digitally printed onto canvas (16 sensual indicativeness of identity, selfness, subject, �as obvi� pieces, 168�120 cm). The artist sho�s his body as a case of ous in their neo�geo �or��s. Visual order, �hich precedes the study: language, resists shaping the ��gure that the vie�er �ill see as I am Oedipus. I am Ulysses. I am �arcissus. I am triple John. I am the �ound of Christ. …�y name is Ludism. �y name is Irratio� a certain visualized I of the artist. When the abstract painter, nalism. �y name is �obody. even a post�modern abstract neo�geo painter, starts to ques� tion, to develop his character in the mirror of art, the questions A visual autobiography – sequences of visible mas��ed ��g� �ho? �hen? and �here? become important. Autobiographical ures and artistic poses – is a procedurally orientated trace of a �or�� of an artist starts by avoiding, resisting the identi��cation visual te�t among other te�ts about culture, history, geography, of a consistent and �hole hypothesis about the place �here the �hich pose questions on the status and the phenomenon of e�istential ‘I’ could be. As opposed to the idealized abstract in� the artist. That is �hy autobiographically visual, i.e. ��gurative tellect – �ulić tries to adopt a ��gure for �hich he �ould say: ‘I, te�t, is not a truthful te�t, but a disturbance of classi��cation of it is I. Loo�� at me, and you �ill notice you are being �atched!” disciplines and genres – it is an individual hypothesis placed �ulić’s independent �or�� starts a��er the realization of inside other hypotheses and genre borders or �ith other hy� a retrospective e�hibition and catalogue of Verbumprogram potheses and genre borders instead of the truth. Autobiograph� group in the �allery of Contemporary Arts in �ovi Sad, in ically visual te�t produces ��gures of phenomenal language of 1995. His ��rst independent e�hibition �as on Energies: Con� images, and not of blood, meat, sperm, amino�acids, genes. Autobiographical te�t is plural, it almost al�ays contains at 651 Apart from Szombathy, the other participants were: Igor Bartolec, Kálmán Jódal, Sava least one ‘I’ more than the e�pected I (that is close to us). There Kuzmanov i Severin Trifunović. is an obscene e�tra of I. That is �hy the autobiography is the 652 ”Bálint Szombathy“, in: Majda Adlešić, ”Krv a ne boja: razgovor sa Balintom Szombat- hyjem“, from: Sava Stepanov (ed.), PerformaNS 95, Zlatno oko, Novi Sad, 1995, pp. 7 anomaly in the historically narrative chain of visual storytell� 653 See the retrospective catalogue of the group, Verbumprogramkatalog, Contempo- ing. It disturbs every meta�history: the great story of la�ful or rary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1995 contracted hero. Autobiography is a product of consumption, 654 Ratomir Kulić, Anamorfoze, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2004 11 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina it consumes meanings of the te�t at the e�pected places of the of Vršac and Vojvodina in the 90s and the beginning of 21st e�perienced. Autobiography is the economy of a visible desire: century. 659 languages circle, intert�ine, chain together and lose in the Allegoric sculptural, painting or mixed�media installations distance and the time of �hat �as read (given as a desire, the of Živ��o �rozdanić are realizations of critical phenomena of desire of Other). political life of contemporary post�socialist and transitional so� Ratomir �ulić, a��er Verbumprogram, enters the game ciety in Serbia. �ost�socialism is a postmodern state of e� real� of manifold traps of artistic e�pressions of art in a time of socialist states. It is described as a transitional period bet�een opaqueness. The artist �or��s �ith ‘bodies’ and ‘��gures’ of his a bureaucratic real�socialist society and a liberal, late capital� o�n phantasms and myths, turning them into a ��eld of desym� ism. �ost�socialism is characterized, above all, by a parado�ical bolization and uncontrolled e�changes bet�een the history of union of different and heterogeneous social systems or frag� art and everyday life. ments of social systems, and �ays of producing and consuming culture, for e�ample, there are institutions of real socialism, liberal capitalism and national bourgeois�Christian early Permanent excess – the unbearableness of art and the modern capitalism. �rozdanić uses very eclectically all these acceptability of politics: the case of Živko Grozdanić (p.329) tactics of ‘culture’, ‘politics’ and, of course, ‘art’ of post�social� ism to create a critical e�cess bet�een the visible and invisible, Živ��o �rozdanić 655 is an unusual, delinquent and dramatic politically articulable and politically non�transparent, bet�een ‘appearance’ on the Vojvodinian art scene of the 80s and 90s. singularities and universalities of shaping a transitional life in If there is an artist �ho, �ith his radically e�cessive �or��s, had the midst of a ��ght for po�er among different social institu� presented the happenings and atmosphere of a catastrophic tions. Allegoric e�ploration that he started �ith the picture brea��do�n of second Yugoslavia, then that artist is Živ��o installation Knifer�Kiefer 66� by �hich he confronted, in a �rozdanić. brutal/gentle �ay, painting strategies of Croatian anti�painter He �as born in Vršac in 1957. He ��nished the Academy of modernism, Julio �nifer, and �erman ecstatic neo�e�pres� of Arts in the class of �rofessor Ljubomir �erlinčić in Sara� sionist Anselmo �iefer, at the time �hen the �ars on the ter� jevo, 1983. He has group e�hibitions since 1982, and one�man ritory of the second Yugoslavia �ere starting. �rozdanić made e�hibitions since 1984. The beginnings of his artistic �or�� several versions of the installation Wire, �ith over 2,000 meters are connected to the alternative scene in Sarajevo. He �or��ed of barb��ire �ith glass. 661 With this �or�� �rozdanić is setting in the domain of fundamental painting, e.g. the project ��� up a basic principle of his ‘e�plorations’: the literal relationship hours of painting 656 , and then in post�arte�povera installations of materials or objects confronts potential allegoric meanings and performances in Sarajevo and on Hvar, in the period of and social symbolic possibilities. �rozdanić, a��er that, realized 1986�1989. In Vršac he starts to �or�� from 1991 on several dif� several installations in �hich he provo��ed phenomenology of ferent planes: as a painter, sculptor and performer of allegoric actuality and its allegoric consequence in social distribution of installations and performances, as organizer of Yugoslavian identity, po�er, control, supervision, punishment or pervert� Young Artists’ Biennale 657, founder of the Contemporary ing every form of enjoyment: Table (�on��ordija, Vršac, 1996), Culture Center ‘�on��ordija’ 658, contributor for the opposition A sample of view (�SU, �ančevo, 1997), Leader (�on��ordija, magazine Kosava for the Other/�e� Serbia (during the 90s), Vršac, 1998), Spade (�on��ordija, 2000), Yellow lemon for Jerko founder, editor�in�chief of ArtContext – a mazine for visual Denegri (Lounge of �CA, Belgrade, 2004), The great secret of arts (started on 1st April 2001), a politician in Vršac and a Marina Abramović (2006), etc. 662 member of city council, and a head of the �useum of Contem� Živ��o �rozdanić, �ith his installation Made in China porary Art of Vojvodina, �ovi Sad, from 2005. �rozdanić is (2007), �hich comes �ithin a broader artistic project ПОП Art, one of the leading ��gures in the re�articulation of the art scene has set up and made even more visible another contradiction of a modern, religious, social nad political shaping of every� 655 Grozdanić catalogue, Konkordija, Vršac, 1996 656 Živko Grozdanić, izložba Sto sati slikanja, Gallery of Young People’s Center �Skend- erija’ in Sarajevo, 1984 659 Ješa Denegri, ”Vršačka umetnička scena devedesetih: Živko Grozdanić i Zvonimir Santrač“, from: Devedesete: teme srpske umetnosti (1990–1999), Svetovi, Novi Sad, pp. 657 Under the name of Yugoslavian Young Artists’ Biennale five exhibitions were held, 212-218 organized by the Center for Contemporary Culture �Konkordija’ in Vršac from 1994 to 2002. Head of all five biennales was the painter Živko Grozdanić. Artistic directors 660 Živko Grozdanić, Kiefer-Knifer exhibition, National Museum, Vršac, 1991 of the biennale were: Sava Stepanov (1994, 1995), Lidija Merenik (1998), Jovan Cekic 661 Živko Grozdanić, instalacija Žica, Konkordija, Vršac, 1994 i 1998. See: Ješa Denegri, (2000) and Slavko Timotijevic (2002) ”Rad Žica�“, from: Miško Šuvaković, Ješa Denegri (eds.), Prestupničke forme devede- 658 Dragomir Ugren, Ješa Denegri, Živko Grozdanić (eds.), Deset godina Konkordije setih. Postmoderna i avangarda na kraju XX veka, Museum of Contemporary Visual – Izlagačka praksa kao kulturno-politička strategija, Contemporary Culture Center Arts, Novi Sad, 1998, pp. 40 �Konkordija’, Vršac, 2004 662 Živko Grozdanić, Allegoric of theory, Bezigrad gallery 1&2, Ljubljana, 2007 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 11  day life in transitional Serbia. �rozdanić started the ПОП Art The collective (�antelić, Dragan Ra��ić, Bojana �etrić, Dragan project as an artistic discussion or a discussion in the �orld of �iletić) �or��ed in the ��eld of interdisciplinary artistic projects art �ith current post�socialist and transitional performances and media pluralism during the 90s. 665 The �or�� of the as� of the traumatic role of the religious, church�institutional, sociation �as developed and internationally presented at the activity in Serbian, and almost any other Christian society. artistic festivals and galleries all around the �orld, in Berlin, With artistic �or��s – installations of sculptures: Meteor Rain �aris, Budapest, Wrocła�, Hiroshima, San Francisco, Vienna (2005) and Bishop Pahomije at the Sunset Boulevard 663 (2006) (Azbuka Absolut in Wien, 1995), Fran��furt, �e� Yor��, Sombor confronted us �ith that universalistically orientated ��eld of (La Quattro Stagioni, 1996�97�2002), �ovi Sad, but also on the symbolism that covers the essential confrontation of politi� �eb�pages of the internet (The Absolute Sale, 1997). cally�religious po�er, perverting desire and the super�ordinate Zoran �antelić founded The Center for New Media – kuda. position of institutions in today’s transitional societies. org , �hich develops creative possibilities in the ��eld of ne� 666 Živ��o �rozdanić, in his installations Meteor Rain and communication technologies and art in 2000. The center is an Bishop Pahomije at the Sunset Boulevard set up contradictory organization that gathers artists, theoreticians, media activists, ��gurative installations that provo��e the taboo themes of domi� e�plorers and a broad audience in the ��eld of information and nations of religious authorities in transitional Serbia. He used communication technologies. The activity of �or�� of kuda. the important elements of critical and realistic ��gurative and org is dedicated to questions of the in��uence of electronic media art to pose questions, through there allegoric ‘riddles’, media on the society, the creative use of ne� communication about political po�er, se�uality and cultural functions or con� technologies in the contemporary culture. Some of the main sequences of religion/church and church material practices of themes are the interpretation and analysis of history and the ‘desire’ in post�socialist and transitional society. importance of the information society, the potential of the information itself and its in��uence on the political, economic and cultural relations in contemporary society. Zoran �antelić, Art and culture: the case of a culture worker – today, �or��s as an artist, custodian, educator and media activ� Zoran Pantelić (Serbian edition, p.332) ist. �antelić’s �or�� is transferred into the model of an activist� artist, or artist�custodian, i.e. artist�producer, and enters the Zoran �antelić �as born in �ovi Sad in 1966. He graduated in area of post�production systems of art. �antelić is involved in 1991 and got his �A in 1995 from the Academy of Arts in �ovi the �or�� of several boards and advisory groups, international Sad. He started artistic research in the conte�t of painting and publishing houses that deal �ith media and contemporary ar� ne� sculpture 664 (Marriage, 1992; Tongue, 1992; Secret, 1993) tistic practice. He �or��ed as one of the selectors of the October in the late 80s and 90s. His production �as in the conte�t of Salon in Belgrade 2001. As the editor�custodian he produced e�ploring the material in objectivity of paintings and sculp� the international e�hibition World of Information – World� tures. �antelić’s move to�ards the ne� media and neo�concep� Information.org 667 that �as held in �ovi Sad and Belgrade in tual artistic strategies and tactics happened a��er the Prelom 2003. Outside the Center kuda.org he organised a Trans�Euro� e�hibition (Center for the Visual Culture ‘�olden Eye’, �ovi pean Picnic in co�production �ith V2 Institute from Roterdam Sad, 1996). in 2004. He is a member of the initiative for reconstruction of He �ent to school for media education at the Faculty of So� cultural and social life in the city – DIZALICA (CRA�E). 668 cial Sciences in Ljubljana in 2001. He is the founder and mem� The groups Apsolutno and Kuda.org and Zoran �antelić 669 ber of the artistic association ABSOLUTELY (A�SOLUT�O) have set up an artistic practice in the social and cultural ��eld, that started its �or�� in 1993. The �or��s of the association have inverting ‘the creative artistic act’ into the cultural strategic been signed by ABSOLUTELY (A�SOLUT�O) �ithout any and tactical practice of reacting and intervening in concrete personal names, since 1995. The development of ‘ABSOLUTE aesthetics’ from traditional painting to contemporary media �as done in the area of media activism, characterised by an in� terdisciplinary approach to e�ploring art, culture and society. 665 See www.apsolutno.org as well as �Apsolutno’ from: Jasmina Cubrilo, Svetlana Mladenov, Irina Subotic, Dušan Todorović, Suzana Vuksanovic (eds.), MAD E + IN NOV I + SAD – Modern Artistic Scene, Tableau Gallery, Novi Sad, 2006, pp.26-29 666 See: www.kuda.org 663 This installation brought about a court trial, but the charges of insult were with- drawn (Municipal court, Novi Sad, case number 6208/06). See, e.g the document 667 See: www.world-information.org March-May 2003 that the artist published on the back of the invitation for opening his exhibition 668 See: www.dizalica.org at the �Center for Cultural Decontamination – Veljkovic pavillion’, Belgrade, 24th 669 Miško Šuvaković, ”Umetnost postsocijalizma – Epoha entropije i brisani sablasni September 2007 tragovi“, from: Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Centralnoevropski aspekti vojvođanskih avan- 664 Catalogue Apsolutno Zoran Pantelić, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, gardi 1920–2000. … Granični fenomeni, fenomeni granica, Museum of Contemporary 1993; and Apsolutno Zoran Pantelić, PRElom, Apsolutno Association, Novi Sad, 1995 Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002, pp. 180–193. 120 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina conditions of realization of the transitional life. 670 In other materials, objects, media, etc. �ith the goal of achieving their �ords, there �as a metamorphosis of the ‘poetry of the artist’ e�pression and concept in a �orld of absurd, contradictory and into ‘cultural politics’ as artistic post�production practice. alienated possibilities. 677 Goran Despotovski – the case of neo-conceptual A case of digital identities or simulatory production: identification of erased traces of existence (Serbian edition, p.334) explorations of Nataša Teofilović (Serbian edition, p.336) �oran Despotovs��i (1972, Vršac) has set up a speci��c model of �ataša Teo��lović (1968) �or��s as an architect and visual artist neo�conceptual 671 research bet�een the poor art, performative in �ančevo, Belgrade and �ovi Sad. She �or��s in the area of feasibility of an event, ne� media and analytics of everyday� installations, performances, video �or��s, video installations, ness 672. �eo�conceptual art in his case is not a name for an digital animations and digital installations/ambients. Her �or�� artistic movement, but an uncertain and open terminological started by cooperating �ith artists �ima Orlović and Tanja mar��ing for naming different post�conceptual, plural, nomadic Ristovs��i in the Student Cultural Center in Belgrade in the mid tactics of media and conceptual relativization of the relations 90s. She has been e�hibiting on her o�n since 1995. Her ��rst bet�een elite and popular (high and low) lo�. research �as dedicated to the e�ploration of micro�narratives �oran Despotovs��i started his �or�� in the late 90s in the inside female mythologies and mythologization, and present� domain of locating the parado�ical border bet�een ��gurative ability of micro�phenomenology of space, body in articulation and primary painting 673 and in the area of comple� objec� of touch and vie�. tive and representational installations. 674 What Despotovs��i �ataša Teo��lović 678 has included architectonic e�periences focuses on is the relationship of haptic and visual in suggest� in her artistic researches. She dedicated herself to situations ing the presence or absence of human body in the painting and events �ith space in relation �ith ne� media performanc� (Scene – dejectedness, 1999), on the photograph (Coat repair, es and sensual potentiality of intensity and the interaction of 2007) or in space, among objects (Repeat 2002; Showroom, bodies in space. Her approaches are characterized by concep� 2003). 675 Despotovs��i �or��s �ith the concept of material trace tualizations and primary theorizations of manifestation and in the e�istential space (Ejaculate, 2002; Sperm, 2002). Instead demonstration of space and architecture (Islands, 1995; Void, of aesthetically�artistic, i.e. cultural or political values in his 1997). She �or��ed �ith platforms of individuum ritualizations �or�� there are only spent �orn notions, or in the sense of in local and micro�conditions (Through the eye, 1995; In my Jacques Derride: erased traces 676 in the moment of seduction or soul, 1998), as �ell as relations bet�een individual and col� satisfaction to the painter as the observer and the observer as lective identi��cation (Field of Happiness, 1996); Personal Seal, the consumer of visualization, tactility, movement, and by that (1996). Her ��rst period is characterized by anti�formalistic also bodiness. Installations �ith ‘empty clothes’ (Coat, 2002; con��ict confrontation of private and public, open and closed, Showroom 2004) are comple� audio�visual�and�objective scene inner and outer in comparison �ith the demonstrated human arrangements of consumption, discharge and absence. life, the life of a �oman in the space of contemporariness. 679 Despotovs��i belongs to that generation of ‘nomadic artists’ Later interests of �ataša Teo��lović lead, at the beginning that simultaneously use and perform their �or�� �ith different of the 21st century, to�ards ne� media practices. Her research points to�ards the comple� interrelations of physical and 670 See books: kuda.org (ed.), Tektonik – Nova društvena ontologija u vreme totalne komu- screen�virtual space, as �ell as the questions of the conditions nikacije, Futura Publication, Novi Sad, 2004; kuda.org (ed.), Bitomatik – Umetnička of presenting and performing the visible and the invisible, and praksa u vreme informacijske/medijske dominacije, Futura Publication, Novi Sad, 2004; kuda.org (ed.), Divanik – Razgovori o medijskoj umetnosti, kulturi i društvu, Daniel print, demonstrating individual and collective identity/identi��ca� Novi Sad, 2004; kuda.org (ed.), Izostavljena istorija, Revolver, Frankfurt am Main and Center for New Media_kuda.org, Novi Sad, 2006. etc. tions in video art (LLL���/Perfect Choice 2���) and digital 671 Germano Celant, Un-Expressionism - Art Beyond the Contemporary, Rizzoli, New York, practice (o.n.a. 2007). 1988; Ann Goldstein, M.J. Jacob, C. Gudis (eds), A Forest of Signs - Art in the Crisis of Representation, The MIT Press, Cambridge MA, London, 1989 The installation o.n.a. �as e�hibited at the ‘�oodbye 672 “Goran Despotovski”, iz Jasmina Čubrilo, Svetlana Mladenov, Irina Subotić, Dušan �rivacy’ festival – Festival Ars Electronica 2��7 in Linz in Todorović, Suzana Vuksanović (eds.), MAD E + IN NOV I + SAD – Savremena umetnička Austria. It is her most comple� and developed �or�� and �as scena, Tableau Gallery, Novi Sad, 2006, pp.50-53. 673 See: Živko Grozdanić, “Primarna stanja slike”, from www.despotovski.Vršac.com��txt�� Grozdanić2000_srp.htm 674 See: Sava Stepanov, “O umentosti ui apsurdnosti – povodom slika i instalacija Gorana Despotovskog”, from www.despotovski.Vršac.com��txt��sava2005_srp.htm 677 Goran Despotovski (ed.), Showroom&Folding, Contemporary Gallery, 675 See: www.despotovski.Vršac.com��works.htm Zrenjanin, 2005 676 Jacques Derrida, “Freud et la sc�ne de l’écriture”, iz L’écriture et la différence, Éditions 678 Nataša Teofilović: www.cyberrex.org/NT du Seuil, Paris, 1967, pp. 293-340 679 Sinisa Mitrovic, �O vs S’, see: www.cyberrex.org/NT/critic-srp.html 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 121  the result of her research studies of digital art. 680 �ataša structure of designing social reality. Art is not the mimesis of Teo��lović conducted a ‘character’ research of a ‘virtual actress’ the �orld, but it is the people �ho see and recognize the �orld by ma��ing the ‘character’ in 3D animation programs (anima� via the construction of the ‘screen’, i.e. via ideologically situ� tion so���are Maya). By realizing a 3D character she came to a ated pictures that appear through the �or�� of art as �ell. Art virtual dynamic body she presented via ��ve screens. With this, historian �riselda �olloc�� de��ned the �estern canon of ‘male the art�or�� �as set up as a multi�register presentation of the art’ as follo�ing: animated character and the relation of the animated or virtual I do not de��ne canon as a collection of valuable objects/ character �ith the spatial arrangement of presentational te�ts or a list of esteemed masters, but as a discoursive for� screens. By �ay of comple� visual�dynamic digital�ambiental mation �hich constitutes objects/te�ts by choosing them as setting a ne� space for perception and reception of virtual� products of art mastery and, due to that, as supplements �hich physical events �as initiated. �henomenology of the screen con��rm and identify the e�quisiteness of the �hite male as a and phenomenology of the physical space are provocatively bearer of creation and culture. To realize art through the ca� confronted in relations �ith the potential or the real body of nonical discourse means to understand manhood as po�er and the observer. meaning, and then to identify it �ith truth and beauty. 681 The canon appears in various forms as a platform and protocol of performing the horizon of e�pectation, creation, Studies of gender: on the feminist history of art reception, understanding and classifying art�or��, art and art� in Vojvodina (Serbian edition, p.338) ists. The canon appears in speci��c societies and it enables the local manifestation of every �or�� of art to be understood and A special case of ‘art in the age of culture’ is �or��ing �ith e�perienced as trans�historic and trans�geographic. The canon gender identities. There is a characteristic transformation from brings one ‘speci��c feature’ (of aesthetics, gender, race, class, the artist as the source of art, �hich is one of the base determi� ethnicity, politics) to the universality, �hich is an e�pression nants of the modern age, modernity and modernism, to�ards of related po�ers and domination in micro�social and macro� a female artist �ho, through the practice of performing art, social relationships. Thus, the feministic theory and history of deconstructively and decentrally questions its identity as a art, by problematizing the 'canon of universal creator’ mod� creator, performer, social actor, female artist, producer, enter� elled on the �hite�male�creator, points to the role of other� tainer, and �oman. In the process of facing the dramatic fact ness and therefore to the change of inherently understandable that the artist is not necessarily male, i.e. that the creation and values and the meaning of modern art. A female painter and performance of art cannot be unambiguously put �ithin the a female sculptor appear as an asymmetric challenge to the essentialist and universal code� or catechesis of the uninterest� hegemony of the universal creator. ed aesthetic of modernism, the issue of ‘gender identities’ �as There �ere only a small number of �omen in the Avant� raised. Certain theorists �rite about the transition from the garde artistic practice in Vojvodina; for a long time art �as an tactics of subject to tactics of identity. The transition is lin��ed e�clusively male job. The process of decentralizing of the ‘art� to the appearance of female artists and to their deconstructive ist’ status and constituting the role of the female artist began �or�� concerning great dogmas, canons, themes and systems of quite late, in the 1960s. That process is evident in the border creation and reception of �estern modern art. The transition areas of �odernism. A fe� characteristic decentralized ��gures from the idea of subject as a source (the transcendental or e�is� are prominent: Ana Bešlić in sculpture, �ira Brt��a in reduc� tential ‘place’ or ‘source’ of origin) to the identity as a transient tive painting, Bogdan��a �oznanović in informal painting, inde� position in the society, culture and art coincides �ith performance, mail�art, painting critique and video art, Judita the transition from the tactics of creation of art to the tactics of Salgo in multi�genre prose and poetry, �atalin Ladi�� in poetry performance. On the other hand, the issue of gender is posed and performance, Ana Ra��ović in conceptual art, �ilica �rđa as signi��cant because, in the line from the subject to�ards the �uzmanov 682 in performance (Fires, 1988. or Rituals of the object of art, it enables the question of relativity of the onto� Body and the Earth, 1990) and video art, and Lidija Srebot� logical constitution of the art and artist. �ender is recognized nja����risic in video art, digital art and installations. These as a social construction and that matri� of social construc� female authors �or��ed on the margins and �ere not inter� tion is in understanding and performance applied to art. Art preted as '�omen' in theory and history of art. �oreover, they is not an inherently given ‘phenomenon’, but an element or a 681 Griselda Pollock (1999), ”What is the Canon – Structurally�“, u: ”About Canons and 680 Nataša Teofilović, interface//character 0.5 (digital installation), master’s thesis, 2006. Cultural Wars“, p. 9. This paper was done at the Group for Digital Art in the Interdisciplinary post-gradu- 682 Branka Srdić-Živanović, ”Autorstvo samoće“, Projekta®t, issue 1, Novi Sad, 1993, ate studies at the University of Arts in Belgrade pp. 52-53 122 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina �ere �omen of different ethnical and artistic identities. They Brt��a 686) and artistic e�periment (Bogdan��a �oznanović, �ere faced �ith the boundaries of their o�n language and the Judita Salgo, �atalin Ladi��). language of the culture they operated in, �hether those �ere verbal, visual, or behavioral languages. Ho�ever, from the emersion of �ostmodernism in the early 1980s, through the Conclusion: the twentieth century – ge-stell (Serbian edition, p347) art in the age of opaqueness in the mid 1990s to�ards today, the role of female artists has become increasingly important What is a century? What is a one hundred years? 687 Are those and evident, and to�ards the end of the 20th and the begin� t�o different? When did the century begin and �hen did it ning of the 21st century, it has become almost dominant on the end? What is the color, smell, taste, tactility of this century local artistic scene: Višnja �etrović (1960), �ataša Teo��lović, behind us? Is it an assembly of ‘facts �ithin some hundred Vesna To��in, Biljana Ba��aluca (1971), Dejana �arisan (1971), years, more or less? Why is the t�entieth century so intriguing, Bosilj��a Zirojević (1971), Vanesy Wallet Hardi (1971), Jelena shoc��ing, dramatic, bloody, pleasurably beautiful and full of Janev, Ivana Ra��idzic (1973), Želj��a Jović, Biljana �larić, �aro� une�pected leaps to�ards human freedoms but also to�ards lina �udrins��i, Jelena �ovačević Juresa, Dubrav��a Ziramov political totalitarianisms? Why are the ne� discoveries both Lazić (1974), �senija �ovačević, Jelena �ovačević, Ale��sandra the e�pressions of the true human emanation and the forms of Resnja�� (1975), Olga Ungar, Dejana �ešović, Zorica Čolić, Zita the most vulgar e�ploitation, i.e. the challenges for the terrify� �ajoros (1977), �ia Stojanović (1977), �arija �ilj��ović (1978), ing returns to the impossible ‘old’, original or real? Ho� is it �ilica Benic (1978), Ana Vilenica (1978), Želj��a �jesivac (1979), that in the history of art ne�t to the great cities of the t�entieth �óni��a Szigeti (1979), �atarina Šević, Ljubica Cvorić (1980), century (Budapest, Belgrade, Vienna, �unich, Berlin, �aris) �arina Tomić (1982) and others. The discussion on the role as the triumphs of modernists �ho �ere the obsessive focus of �omen in the art of the second half of the 20th century no� of the modern and modernistic artist in Vojvodina, there are raises the issue of the role of the female artist throughout the also the names of concentration camps 688 as places of naked entire 20th century; actually, in the visibility and recognition of life; above all the alarming name of Ausch�itz? 689 Ho� do �e the female artist in the epoch of the ‘male modernistic canon’. e�plain the political, social, cultural and artistic revolutions Just one vie� over the catalogues points to a number of female and contra�revolutions that occurred on that small area �hich artists �ho should once again be subjected to e�planation is even today vaguely called Vojvodina? Ho� do �e e�plain and interpretation from the platform of cultural and above all the nations and their cultures coming and disappearing on gender studies: painter Jelena Covic, �eaver Sarolta �oval� the territory of Vojvodina during the last hundred years? Why sz��y (????), Danica Jovanović (1886–1914), Angela �ac��ović �as I unable to ��nd artists of the �erman minority �ithin the (1883–1951), Ilona Acsádi, (1887–????), Zuz��a �edvedjova e�isting historiography of the cultures in Vojvodina? What �as (1897–1985), �lára �eréb, Zora �etrović, Zlata �ar��ov Baranji the meaning of Hungarization at the beginning of the century (1906), Slav��a �etrović�Sredovic (1907–1978), �irjana Sipos and the Serbization at the end of the t�entieth century? (1916), An��ica Opresni��, Radmila �raovac (1920), �ajda The dynamics of ‘��u�es’ and ‘impulses’, �hich incites the �urni�� (1920–1967), �senija Ilijević (1923), Radoj��a Radojević� confrontation of cultures, societies and arts in Vojvodina, is Branica (1923–1954), Ivan��a Acin��etrović (1925), Ljubica e�tremely e�citing, problematic and contradictory. �everthe� Tapavič��i (1925–2006), E��atarina Ristivojev (1925), �ira Juris� less, being engaged in art is see��ing for ‘impulses’: �hat is it ic, Radmila Bobic Fijatovic (1943), Julijana �is (1944), Ljubin��a that attracts, sustains and provo��es sensory and intellectual Ivezić (1944), Ilon��a Vagner Tatić (1944), Rada Čupić, �irjana attention? Subotin �i��olić (1960), Vesna Olujić, Olivera �arić (1966) and If �e try to determine the 20th century in Vojvodina, �e �ill others. Some of these ��gures distinguish themselves by their be le�� in front of an almost insoluble question of the beginning early contributions to the establishment of the painting, and and ending of the century? Is there congruence bet�een the broader artistic culture (Jelena Covic, Danica Jovanović 683), t�entieth century and these last hundred years in the previous �hile other female painters and sculptors stand out as great century? It appears that one of the endings of the 19th century masters of �odernism (Zora �etrović 684, Ana Bešlić 685, �ira and beginning of the 20th century can be found in the Hungar� 686 Mira Brtka, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1971 687 Alain Badiou, 20. stoletje, Analecta, Ljubljana, 2005 683 Jasna Jovanov (ed.), Danica Jovanović (January 4, 1886 – September 12, 1914), Gallery of 688 Giorgio Agamben, Remnants of Auschwitz – The Witness and the Archive, Zone Books, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1986 New York, 2002 684 Olivera Janković (ed.), Zora Petrović – Umetnost kao život, SANU, Belgrade, 1995 689 Pavle Šosberger, ”Imenik žrtava holokausta iz Vojvodine“, from: Jevreji u Vojvodini: 685 Katarina Ambrozić (ed.), Ana Bešlić, City museum, Subotica, 1983 kratak pregled istorije vojvođanskih Jevreja, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1998, pp. 205-515 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 123  ian imperial�cultural project – The Millennium e�hibition from Bibliography: 1896, but also in the beginning of the end of Austro�Hungarian Imre Bori, Književnost vojvođanskih Mađara, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1979. Empire a��er 28 June 1914, or in the true disintegration of the Dimitrije Boarov, Politička istorija Vojvodine: u trideset i tri priloga, Europanon consulting, Novi Sad, 2001. empire in 1918. If �e focus on the art itself, then the 20th cen� Varga Katalin, Gergely András et al, 1896: a Millenniumi Országos Kiállítás és az ünnepségek tury certainly began �ith the coming of the artistic atmosphere krónikája, Atlasz, Budapest, 1996. of �agybanya (1896). The same year of 1896, �hen the Millen� Pavle Šosberger, Jevreji u Vojvodini: kratak pregled istorije vojvođanskih Jevreja, Prometej, Novi Sad, 1998. nium e�hibition �as held and �agybanya came into being, can Bela Duranci (ed.), Arpad Balaž – slike, grafike, crteži 1920–1970, Gallery of Matica srpska, be the beginning of the ne� century: yet, those t�o events do Novi Sad, 1970. not tell the same story about the cultural battles and e�peri� Bela Duranci (ed.), Likovno stvaralaštvo Mađara u Vojvodini 1830–1930, City Museum, ence of ‘the nature’ of art. One story is about the modern and Subotica, 1973. the other about modernism. Was the ne� century anticipated Bela Duranci, Bordás Gyõzõ (eds.), A két Pechán – Dva Pehana, Forum, Novi Sad, 1982. by the discovery of ‘mechanical picture reproduction’ – the Bela Duranci, A vajdasági építészeti szecesszió – Secesija u vojvođanskoj kulturi, Forum, Novi Sad, 1983. photograph – and the moving of the picture into a ne� media, Bela Duranci, Zoltan Kalapiš – Bečkerečki svetlopisac, Photo-cinematic association of �hich �as about to force its �ay into the �orld – the ��lm? Yes, Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 1986. the reception of the ne� media�artistic technologies promised Bela Duranci, Umetničke kolonije, Osvit, Subotica, 1989. that moment of ‘ne�’, and the ne� �as an important obsession Bela Duranci, Slikar Stipan Kopilović 1877–1924, NIO Subotičke novine, 1991. of the people �ho �ere creating that century, the passion and Bela Duranci, Duga nad akademijom, Contemporary Gallery of ”Olga Petrov“ Cultural the obsession �ith the ne�? The mar��et of the ne�? The bursts Center, Pančevo, 1991. of affectation of the ne�! Bela Duranci, Farkas Béla, Forum, Novi Sad, 1999. If �e try to determine the end of the century, do �e have Bela Duranci, Vojvodina – bogatstvo razlika, KI Association PČESA, Novi Sad, 2002. to stic�� to that fatal and cinematically mysti��ed 2000? The end Bela Duranci, Moj izbor, Center for Visual Culture ”Zlatno oko“, Novi Sad, 2004. of the century or the end of the �orld? Or did the end happen Bela Duranci, Arhitektura secesije u Vojvodini, Grafoprodukt, Subotica, 2005. earlier �ith the completion of the bloc�� division of the �orld in Đorđe Jović, Ka umetnosti – izbor tekstova, Center for Culture Olga Petrov, Pančevo, 1987. the epoch of perestroi��a that mar��ed the end of ‘the communist Imre Šafranj, Na tragu – Putopisi, eseji, kritike, Osvit, Subotica, 1971. concept’ and the victory of ‘liberal political system’? 690 Is then Tihomir Savić, Ečka / Umetnička kolonija, Forum, Novi Sad, 1965. the symbolical ‘year’ the one �hen the Berlin �all came do�n Imre Dević, Dvadeset godina Umetničke kolonije u Bačkoj Topoli 1953-1973, Forum, Novi Sad, 1962. in 1989, �hen the USSR fell apart, �hen the second Yugoslavia József Acs, Slikarska kolonija u Senti, Forum, Novi Sad, 1962. started to disintegrate for the second time, or �hen the great Miloš Arsić (ed), Likovna umetnost u Vojvodini 1944–1954, Contemporary Visual Arts European and African genocides occurred in the last decade of Gallery, Novi Sad, 1980. the 20th century? In other �ords, is the end of the 20th century Miloš Arsić, Ljiljana Ivanović, Slobodan S. Sanader, Grozdana Šarčević (eds.), Likovna umet- mar��ed by the ending of the economic, social, political, cultural, nostu u Vojvodini XX veka – Stalna izložba, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1984. and artistic internationalism and the establishment of global� Ljiljana Ivanović (ed.), Razvoj skulpture u Vojvodini 1895–1980, Contemporary Visual Arts ism? Has perhaps the end of 20th century never happened? Gallery, Novi Sad, 1984. �aybe one of the ans�ers to these critical questions is that Miloš Arsić (ed.), Grafika u Vojvodini 1900–1985, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery Novi Sad, 1985. the lesson is a lesson on comple�ity and ine�istence of one Miloš Arsić (ed.), Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1955–1972, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, ans�er – the ��ey to all rebuses. The lesson is that �e have to Novi Sad, 1989. search through individual singularities of the society, culture, Miloš Arsić (ed.), Slikarstvo u Vojvodini 1900–1944, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, and art, and through their immanence. Concerning art, there Novi Sad, 1991. is a contradiction in every modernistic oriented art that ‘some� Miloš Arsić (ed.), Aktuelnosti u slikarstvu Vojvodine 1973–1993, Contemporary Visual Arts Gallery, Novi Sad, 1994. thing’ is art only if it has �on the right to its formal, phenom� Miloš Arsić (ed.), Stabilna konvencija slike – trenutak koji traje, Museum of Contemporary enological, and e�istential autonomy in regard to the social, Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002. religious, and political; as �ell as that it is the status of artistic Miloš Arsić (ed.), Tradicija tautološkog – plastičke norme ne-konačnog, Museum of Contem- porary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2002. autonomy that is the social, cultural, and political problem that Miloš Arsić (ed.), Paradoksi eklektičkog – Realne vrednosti kontinuiteta obnavljanja, Museum leads us into the center of the human ‘story’ of the 20th cen� of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2003. tury. Ho�ever, every human story seems to be a performance Miloš Arsić (ed.), Između geometrije i geometrijskog – Kontekst retrostanja, Muzej savremene of a narrative about structures and their effects, �hich in turn likovne umetnosti, Novi Sad, 2005. concerns the ideologies of art, culture, and society. Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Hijatusi modernizma i postmodernizma. Jedna teorijska kontroverza, Projeka®t, br. 11–15, Novi Sad, 2001. Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Likovna umetnost u Vojvodini 1950–2000. – Izbor dela iz zbirki Muzeja, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts, Novi Sad, 2001. 690 Zagorka Golubović, Pouke i dileme minulog veka, Filip Višnjić Publishing, Dragomir Ugren (ed.), Fatalne devedesete – Strategije otpora i konfrontacija – Umetnost u Belgrade, 2006 124 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina Vojvodini na kraju XX i početku XXI veka, Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts and ”Zlatno Avant-Gardes, and Post-avant-gardes in Yugoslavia, 1918–1991, The MIT Press, Cambridge oko“, Novi Sad, 2001. MA, 2003. 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Miško Šuvaković, Dubravka Đurić (eds.), Impossible Histories – Historical Avant-gardes, Neo- 20 th Century Art In Vojvodina 125 EUROPEAN CONTExTS OF THE 20TH CENTURy ART IN VOJVODINA Publisher: The Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina in Novi Sad Jevrejska 21, 21000 Novi Sad • Tel: +381 21 6613 897, Fax: +381 21 6611 463 e-mail: info@msuv.org • website: msuv.org Executive Publisher: Živko Grozdanić, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina in Novi Sad Artists’ biographical data, catalogue data and documentation: Dragomir Ugren Architects’ biographical data: Vladimir Mitrović English translation: Jagoda Topalov Proofreading: Alex Papke Design: Dragomir Ugren and Mirjana Dušić-Lazić Book Cover: Kapitány László Photos: Pavle Jovanović, Goran Despotovski, Mikloš Hever, Augustin Juriga, Vladimir Červenka, Miško Šuvaković and artists’ photo documentation Printed by: Publikum, Belgrade, Serbia Print Run: 1000 copies