Nikola Marković solo exhibition “The Scene”, The Salon of the MoCAB

Nikola Marković solo exhibition “The Scene”
The Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art

October 4, 2019- November 11, 2019
Curator: Una Popović, curator of the Salon of the MoCAB

Author of the exhibition text: Ana Ereš

At the Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art Nikola Marković is presenting a new series of paintings and drawings that is grouped together under the title “The Scene”. With this new series of works Nikola Marković is taking a significant turn in his painting practice, which is characterized by an interest in figuration and references to examples from art history.

His previous research has mainly dealt with the visual language of abstract painting, without any direct reference to the complex tradition of painting and without citing any of his influences.This time Marković turns to the practice of Florentine artist Giotto di Bondone and his masterpiece, the frescoes from the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, which depict scenes from the life of Christ and the Virgin (created in 1303-1305). A minute study of Giotto’s painting methodology was carried out by Nikola Marković as a starting point for the realization of his large-format paintings, and is characterized by this atemporal approach. Marković is not interested in the cultural-historical or stylistic specificity of Giotto’s painting.Through careful analysis of Giotto’s approach of the construction of pictorial space, he strives to discover a specific way of thinking about painting that is both modern and classic.

Nikola Marković was born in Koper, Slovenia, in 1979. He studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. Since 2003, he has regularly exhibited in galleries and cultural institutions in the country and abroad, such as the Belgrade City Museum, 55th October Salon, Gallery of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Gallery of the Student City Cultural Center, Gallery of the Belgrade Youth Center, Cultural City Network in Graz, Centro Experimental de Arte y Pensamiento in Madrid. Nikola Markovic' works can be found in numerous museum and private collections.