The Inner Eye of Veljko Valjarević
Through a kinship with literature and an affinity for the fantastic, I feel a closeness to the poetics of the young painter Valjarević, with his nightmarish visions, where lonely, helpless human figures emerge, seemingly falling through worlds filled with diluvial depths of abyss, gripped by a primordial fear of the unknown, vainly trying to reach salvation, and perhaps redemption—symbolized in some paintings by the crucifixion of Christ—while monstrous eyes watch the entire human and universal chaos from the darkness. To enter the world of dreams, the realm of the otherworldly and mystical, which eludes the criteria of the realistic, requires not only courage but a special gift. It requires the imagination to reveal what is hidden beyond simple reality, seen through the artist’s "inner eye"—scenes, creatures, and worlds that exist in our nightmares but also in daylight, in the occult, macabre, and surreal reality that, I am convinced, is closer to the secret and essence of our existence than what is visible and everyday. I do not wish to succumb to the temptation of detailed interpretation or explanation of the motifs in Veljko Valjarević’s paintings. The pleasure of discovering diverse meanings is left to each viewer individually.
Filip David (excerpt from the catalog text)
Photographs: Srđan Janković
Video: Milan Petrović