Isaiah 63:15
photographs, giclée printing on photographic paper 300 gr / lined on aluminium composite panel, framed
50 cm x 75 cm (4 pcs)
special edition
2016
Marija Ćalić’s photographs capture scenes of the material world – and the motives are chosen primarily due to their borderline situation – they indicate the potential of the unreal and illusory. In building the image, she is directed towards the symbolic character, which transforms the photographic experience into the mysteriousness of the temptation of universal existence and memory.
The photographic polyptych Isaiah 63:15, created in 2016, consists of four sequenced figurative interior scenes with allusive meanings. The figure of the girl in the costume of Napoleon – the most widely reproduced European figure in the 19th century – is confronted with classified specimens: insects and butterflies from an entomological collection and a taxidermied eagle with spread wings. The photographs follow a scientific observation through phantasmagoric play, evoking the culture of memory and material destruction in contemporary global society. The biblical title of the polyptych referring to verses of the Prophet Isaiah raises the threats of cataclysmic consequences with the strong influence of the subconscious.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the artist
Purchase Contract: III-5-379/30.10.2019.
Inventory No. 1661
Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Selected Bibliography:
48th October Salon, Micro-Narratives. Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 2007
57th October Salon, The Marvellous Cacophony. Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 2018
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Marija Ćalić (1964, Bačka Topola, Serbia) graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade in 1991. She attended photography courses at the St Martin’s School of Art, London, 1997-1998, and participated in the artist-in-residence programme at Kultur-Referat of the City of Munich, Germany, Villa Waldberta, 2010.
Her photographs have been published in daily newspapers and weekly and monthly magazines in Belgrade and Serbia and her photographic contributions present in books, exhibition catalogues, films and other media. She was the photo-editor at the Europapress Holding Belgrade Weekly (2003-2011). She has been a guest lecturer at the Department of Digital Media of the Faculty of Media and Communications (FMK), Singidunum University in Belgrade since 2017.
A member of the Association of Applied Arts Artists and Designers of Serbia (ULUPUDS – Photography Section)
Her works have been presented at 20 solo and group exhibitions in the country and abroad.
She participated in the 48th October Salon: Micro-Narratives (2007), selected by Art Director Lorand Hegyu and the 57th October Salon: The Marvellous Cacophony, selected by Art Directors Gunnar Kvaran and Danielle Kvaran. More information at http://mariacalic.com