Dream Seekers
Only art can breathe the semblance of real life into the world of dreams, and imaginatively transform real life into a wondrous dreamlike form. — Jonathan Richardson
maštovito preobraziti u čudesan oblik snova.
Džonatan Ričardson

The informal art group, consisting of three artists of similar ages, poetic styles, and visual expressions, begins its collaborative effort with the exhibition "Dream Seekers." Chosen primarily for their outstanding drawing skills and mastery of line, Marko Kusmuk, Damjan Kovačević, and Vladimir Lalić reveal to us a world that exists behind the visible and everyday. Each of the three artists will present works for which they are known, all of which are being showcased together for the first time. The unique dialogue established within the space "occupied" by intense personal visions opens up countless possibilities for re-reading and identifying with the aesthetic and poetic visual expressions of Kusmuk, Kovačević, and Lalić. In this type of exhibition, it is particularly challenging and inspiring to consider the context in which internal visions materialize into art. Each artist, working independently from the other two, builds and develops their microcosm, based on the contrasts of the real and surreal, construction and deconstruction, physical and metaphysical, disturbing and cosmic. In the pursuit of artistic gardens of seduction and pleasure, and searching for the common thread that "holds" Kusmuk, Kovačević, and Lalić in the same plane, one arrives at a point where their closeness to the aesthetics of the "ugly" is detected, revealing a need to create a fictive world of suggestive character, heightened sensuality, and expressiveness. Prone to multiple meanings, they construct their scenes through layered and precise (de)discoveries of subsystems that make up a unique system—humanity. The results of referring to universal and eternal themes (fear, death, pain, suffering, happiness...), which are at the core of all conscious and unconscious processes, are represented by depictions of deformed bodies, with exaggerated or missing parts, oversized insects that transform into almost real creatures ready for attack, and the use of familiar symbols—skulls—in the manner of medieval artists... Through disintegration, they succeed in depicting and approaching metamorphoses of different degrees, merging into one another while simultaneously being born from each other. This skillfully composed discord is a path to truth, which is the ultimate goal. The art before us, with its dynamism and openness, helps us to understand what we are seeking, for as Joseph Beuys said, "Without art, it is impossible to understand the psychological structure of man."
Svojevrsni dijalog koji se uspostavlja unutra prostora koji su „zaposele” napete lične vizije, otvara nemerljive mogućnosti ponovnog iščitavanja i identifikovanja sa estetsko-poetskim likovnim iskazima Kusmuka, Kovačevića i Lalića. U ovoj vrsti postavke posebno je izazovno i inspirativno sagledati kontekst u kojem se unutrašnje predstave materijalizuju u umetničko delo. Svaki od autora, radeći nezavisno od preostale dvojice, samostalno gradi i nadograđuje svoj mikroekosistem, čiji temelji leže na kontrapunktovima realnog i nadrealnog, konstrukcije i dekonstrukcije, fizičkog i metafizičkog, uznemirujuće i svesmirujućeg.
Na tragu kretanja kroz umetničke vrtove zavodljivosti i zadovoljstva, a u potrazi za zajedničkom niti koja „drži” Kusmka, Kovačevića i Lalića u istoj ravni, stiže se do tačke u kojoj se detektuje njihova bliskost estetici „ružnog”, potreba za stvaranjem fiktivnog sveta sugestivnog karaktera, naglašene čulnosti i ekspresivnost. Skloni višeznačnostima, oni svoje prizore grade slojevitim i preciznim (raz)otkrivanjem podsistema koji čine jedinstven sistem – čoveka. Rezultati referiranja na univerzalne i večite teme (strah, smrt, bol, patnja, sreća…), koje su u biti svih svesnih i nesvesnih procesa, determinisani su prikazima deformisanih tela, sa prenaglašenim ili nedostajućim delovima, predimenzioniranim bubama koje se transformišu u, gotovo, realne insekte spremne za napad, upotrebom poznatih simbola – lobanja – u maniru srednjovekovnih umetnika… Dezintegracijom, oni uspevaju da prikažu i približe metamorfoze različitih stupnjeva, koje se utapaju jedna u drugi, a istovremno se jedna iz druge rađaju. Taj vešto komponovani nesklad, put je ka istinitosti koja je krajnji cilj. Umetnosti koja je pred nama, svojim dinamizmom i otvorenošću, pomaže nam da spoznamo ono za čim tragamo, jer kako je rekao Jozef Bojs Bez umetnosti nemoguće je shvatiti psihičku strukturu čoveka.

Selena Andrić

Photographers: Nolens Volens, Vladimir Popović, Damjan Kovačević