Angel
charcoal and Indian ink wash on handmade paper
170 cm x 125 cm
2012
The drawing Angel is a variation of sketches for his hybrids, as Bajić’s sculptures are often described. Drawings – models, designs and sketches, lost, started and forgotten works make a large part of the artist’s oeuvre and they are the basis for realizing sculptures. The work belongs to the series Projects, which was being created between 2010 and 2012. This series is characterized by agitated, though clear and thoughtful drawing strokes, combined with various materials, which the author applies on paper.
The term sculptotecture (derived from the words sculpture and architecture), as “two in one”, is one of the important characteristics of Mrđan Bajić’s work. Since 2006, the artist has been making maquettes of Angels, i.e., small and large sculptures that serve as sketches for large sculptotectures. These maquettes-assemblages also function as testing models for experiments on relationships among materials, traditional approaches, and incompatible elements and motifs.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the artist
Gift Contract: III-15-132/25.7.2012.
Inventory No. 002
Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Selected Bibliography:
Ana Bogdanović, Mrđan Bajić: Sculptotecture, Belgrade: Vujičić Collection Foundation, 2013
Leonida Kovač, Mrđan Bajić: rasprizorujuće transverzale, Belgrade: Supervizuelna, 2017
Nevena Martinović, Mrđan Bajić, 6 – 24.06. 2015, Kragujevac: Rima Gallery, 2015
Marija Stanković, Mrđan Bajić, Nov. 14. – Dec. 20, 2019, Kragujevac: Rima Gallery, 2019
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mrđan Bajić (1957, Belgrade, Serbia) is one of the most prominent Serbian sculptors. From the very beginning, his art practice has been based on experimenting with materials, form and the method of constructing sculptures. In his artworks, he takes an engaging, critical approach to the experiences from the immediate past and the turbulent present. A special and complex years-lasting project in the artist’s oeuvre is Yugomuzej, also presented at the 2002 Sao Paulo Biennial. He represented Serbia at the Venice Biennale in 2006. At the 48th October Salon in 2007, the installation of drawings titled 11 Stupid Projects was exhibited. He is a professor at the Sculpture Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. Based in Belgrade. More information at www.mrdjanbajic.net