The Future Brings Us Nothing!
indian ink, pen, acrylic on canvas
38 cm x 71 cm
2010
The drawing/painting The Future Brings Us Nothing! deals with the problem of Memento Vivere, as a counterpoint to the often used theological phrase Memento Mori. It belongs to the group of works related to the series Systematic Examination and Synchronised Swimming. Her works were exhibited at the 50th October Salon in 2009 and the 56th October Salon in 2016.
In the drawing The Future Brings Us Nothing! the space where the young girls are is part of the school bathrooms. A sort of allusion to a more sinister environment is deliberately left. The frozenness of the scene creates a sense of “before” and “after”, thus increasing the tension and bringing dramatic charge into the work. Violence is not explicit but occurs in the viewer’s imagination. The focus is on the condition of young people in development, who do not sublimate their fear but suppress it, creating frustrations that often mark their lives.
With a realistic approach and an abundance of symbols, the artist examines the phenomena of alienation, social anxiety, aggression, and criticizes contemporary society and its ideals with her specific poetics. Her paintings are full of emotional tension; the portrayed people often gaze hypnotically at the viewer, thus “drawing” them into the painting, while the bodies of the figures are most often in a dramatic relationship with other bodies or the space that surrounds them. This space is often embellished with decorative elements, which only at first glance mitigate the associative elements of brutality.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the artist
Purchase Contract: III-5-157/25.5.2016.
Inventory No. 1478
Photo: Courtesy of the artist, Milan Kralj
Selected Bibliography:
Aesthetics of Violence – Three Solo Exhibitions: AES+F Group – Norbert Bisky – Biljana Đurđević. January 24 – June 6, 2009. Curator Tami Katz-Freiman, Catalogue of the Exhibition Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, 2009. Available at: http://www.katzfreiman.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/VIOLENCE.pdf (accessed on Mar. 18, 2020.)
50th October Salon, Circumstance. Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 2009
Biljana Đurđević, text Miroslav Karić, Catalogue of the Solo Exhibition, Oct. 6 – 19, 2015, Rima Gallery, Kragujevac, 2015
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Biljana Đurđević (1973, Belgrade, Serbia) graduated and received her PhD degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts (Painting Department) in Belgrade. Since 2009 she has been working at the Painting Department of that faculty, and in 2012 was elected Assistant Professor. In 2010 and 2011, she was a guest lecturer at the Parsons New School for Design in New York. She is a recipient of the Politika Award (Vladislav Ribnikar Fund) for the best exhibition in 2012. Her works are part of public and private collections in the country and abroad such as: Moderna Museet, Sweden; Podesta Collection, USA; C-Collection, Switzerland; Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade; Frissiras Museum, Greece; Essl Collection, Austria; Askona Museum of Modern Art, Switzerland, etc. More information at http://biljanadjurdjevic.com/