Damjan Kovačević

NARODNI MUZEJ CRNE GORE ATELJE DADO REALISTIČKI CRTEŽI DAMJANA KOVAČEVIĆA

Pišući o umetničkom bavljenju Damjana Kovačevića najpre je neophodno ustanoviti osnovne crte prepoznavanja i svedočenja irealističkog crteža u opoziciji prema fizionomi- ji realističkog crteža kao verodostojnog podražavanja prirode. Vratimo se stoga za časak u prošlost do Platona koji je dokazivao kako mimeza i mimetičke umetnosti nikada ne mogu biti vredne. Potrebno je, potom, odvojiti i situirati različite domene irealističkog crteža: got- ski irealistički crtež, barokni, arhaični, brutalni, ezoterični crtež. A zatim, ukazati na njegovo bogatstvo, mnogostranost i polifoničnost. To je, naravno, tema za jedno posebno i opsežno esejističko razobličavanje. Tek, irealistički crtež nije naravan, niti lako objašnjiv. Svi kodeksi stvarnosti ostaju ništavni naspram lavirintske prirode irealističkog crteža koji nas uvlači u ono što Moris Blanšo naziva “tajno središte sveta”. Irealistički crtež potpuno je uništio naš poznati svet. Realistički crtež je tek granica od koje započinju neki drugi svetovi. Realistički crtež intencionalno govori poput fotografije, opisuje stvari onakve kakve jesu, asimptotski se približavajući fenomenološkoj realnosti. Realistički crtež tako ostaje slep za vrelo pulsiranje stvarnosti, za uzavrelu lavu života. Vizuelni realizam nije u stanju da zahvati one konfliktne forme podzemnih, nevidljivih strujanja. Nasuprot na- turalizmu i verizmu kao njegovoj krajnosti, irealistički crtač predočava svet koji ne vidi pred sobom, već svet koji vidi u sebi. Irealistički crtež iniciran je u nas sa zlatnom epohom „Mediale“, koja je podrazumevala pobunu protiv jednog unisonog i pozitivističkog sveta, te temeljnu obnovu duha, integralne ličnosti i integralnog organona slike. Irealistički crtež jeste individualno i generičko ime za jednu posebnu vrstu crteža koji prati izvesne entitete fantastičnog, čudnovatog, čudesnog, ezoteričnog. Irealistički crtež je udaljen od realističkog crteža onoliko koliko je san udaljen od spoljašnjeg pojavnog sveta. Dakle, irealistički crtež je kompleksan crtež zaumnosti, nad- čulnog opažanja i fantazmatične infrastrukture. On ima svoju unutrašnju ezoterijsku logiku. Izlazeći iz okvira akademskog oportunizma i ikonografskih kalupa, irealistički crtež zapravo predočava stvarnost kao neizmernost nevidljivog sveta. On vidi nevidljivo iza vidljivog. A u nevidljivom se priprema ono što će se kasnije ispoljiti u vidljivom. Irealistički crtež egzisten- ciju tumači esencijom i tako obavlja misiju estetske transcendencije. Irealistički crtež prezire minimalizam kao puristički, emocionalno i konceptualno bespolni ćorsokak umetnosti bez kreativnog fluida čuda. Elementarna antropološka logika nalaže nam da pojam irealističkog crteža razumemo kao predstavu razuma koja je opovrgnuta duboko ličnom halucinacijom crtača. Pesnik i filozof, mističar islama Ibn al' Arabi smatrao je da stvarnost kao svet čula koji nas okružuje nije ništa drugo do san. Damjan Kovačević je nepredvidiv, eksplozivan crtač čiji crtački univerzum proishodi iz fantastičnih, simboličkih, ezoterijskih, mitoloških i biblijskih okvira. Pred nama je ekspanzi- van, dinamičan crtač sa izuzetno bogatim opsesivnim svetom i crtačkim repertoarom. Velika usredsređenost i crtački polet stoje iza opusa ovog mladog umetnika. Kompleksnim i ikono- grafski razvedenim svetom, te uzvitlanim vibrantnim urezima pera u papir otelovljen je onaj iskonski, primordijalni ljudski krik i do paroksizma ogoljeno demonsko lice stvarnosti. Medi- alnim spojem naturalističke ekspresije Severa i jednog mediteranskog crtačkog algoritma, Damjan Kovačević nas upućuje na čudovišne razmere stvarnog i tragičnog. Irealistički crtež životna iskustva kompenzuje snom, imaginacijom, unutrašnjim iskustvom i oniričkim opsesijama. On prevazilazi bukvalno značenje realnosti, sadržaja i ikonografije i zapućuje se na putovanje u nepoznatom pravcu arhetipske slikovnosti snova, potisnutih želja, erotskih fantazija, ljudskih lica kao simboličkih pejzaža. Kovačevićevi crteži nad kojima lebdi eshatološka neumitnost, predstavljaju košmarne dijaloge sa jednom civilizacijom na umoru. Surova stvarnost presnog životnog realiteta, istorijska šizofrenija koja se dogodila na podru- čju bivše Jugoslavije, konfliktne forme onih podzemnih, nevidljivih strujanja – sve je to prošlo kroz filter Kovačevićeve intuicije i otelovilo se na njegovom crtačkom polju. Stvarnost na Damjanovim crtežima pokazuje svoju demonsku nasmejanost. Spoljašnji impulsi kod ovog crtača pretvaraju se u forme duboko lične crtačke ekspresije. Otuda je Damjanovo crtačko polje preplavljeno apokaliptičnim slikama, dramatičnim prizorima i konvulzijama ljudskih tela, pri čemu je svaki brižljivo izveden detalj likovno proračunat i kompozicijski izbalansiran, kao deo jedne organske, likovno sugestivno organizovane celine. Na Damjanovom crtačkom polju svaki od elemenata zauzima posebno mesto, a opet svaki detalj uzakonjen je i magenetnim delovanjem crtačevog medijskog duha svepovezan u jedinstveni organizam crteža koji je nesaglediv, pa se njegove ekspresivne, barokne aglomeracije moraju otkrivati satima. Velika usredsređenost, konstruktivistički polet i cerebralna sklonost stoje iza crtačkog opusa ovog umetnika. Dijalektička korenspondencija duha i tehnike u Kovačevića, fasci- nantna je. Njegova linija, neprikosnovena, sablasno naoštrena, žustra i tačna, snažne ge- stičke ponesenosti, dramatskog nemira i linearnog zamaha, vođena je jednom sigurnom manuelnom navigacijom, instinktivnom vidovitošću i skoro egzaktnom arhitektonskom intuicijom koja je kadra da neumoljivo precizno organizuje crtačko polje. Zato Damjanova linija razotkriva duboke unutrašnje konflikte i nosi u sebi dimenziju košmara i potisnutog nemira. Oštrina Damjanove linije dolazi od duhovne pročišćenosti ovog umetnika. Damjanov crtež je probuđen, oštar, jasan i egzaltiran, on nikada ne zalazi u nesvesnost, dremež i puku fantazmagoriju radi fantazmagorije. Ovaj crtač belini papira prilazi s punom svetlošću ra- zuma, nemilosrdno trezveno. Crtež Damjana Kovačevića ima formalnu, klasičnu strukturu, ali irealistički sadržaj. Damjan je klasičan crtač koji čvrsto stoji na tlu svog medija. Ali, iz sigurnosti svog medija on se hrabro otiskuje u bestežinski, intermedijalni prostor irealnog. Otuda je formalan, klasični temelj, ili hladni zakon forme za ovog crtača tek odskočna daska za skok u ono nepoznato i zahuđeno koje se pred njim otvara. Te posete onostranom, paradoksalno, Kovačević preduzima sa izuzetnom crtačkom smotrenošću, posvećenošću i manuelnom veštinom, posvećujući podjedanku pažnju detalju koliko i ustrojstvu celine. Pritom, raskomadanost, rasredištenost i nagomilavanje detalja doprinose dinamici celine koja deluje sugestivno, a neretko i šokantno. Već pri prvom suočavanju sa mega-crtežima Damjana Kovačevića, posmatrača osetljivog duhovnog i duševnog sastava zapahne originalnost i enormnost njegove zaista prebogate imaginacije, retka sposobnost upravljanja metamorfozama arhetipskih znakova i prizora, daleko od usiljenosti svakog kombinatoričkog predumišljaja. Damjanov crtež predstavlja energetsko polje u kome sve vrvi od biomorfnih i zoomorfnih asocijacija, od erupcija čulnog, podsvesnog i instinktivnog. Od dijagrama oblika zaustavljenih i zamrznutih u pokretu. Is- preturani anatomski otpaci ljudskog i životnjskog sveta, grčevite i košmarne vizije i kovitlaci, dijabolička erotika koja dolazi iz zamračenih predela svesti, sve se to prepliće i meša na crtačkom polju, a opet, sve to barokno obilje podvrgnuto je redu i strogom kompozicijskom planu. Ljudsko telo, životinjske i biljne forme sreću se na istoj ravni ekspresionistički žestokog crtačkog gesta. Od svih tih elemenata kojima daje simboličku dimanziju, Damjan Kovačević gradi svoj poosobljeni crtački svet. Gramatika izobličenosti i metamorfoza svakako povezuje misterijalnim vezama Damja- na Kovačevića sa svetom Dada Đurića. Kao i Dado i Damjan zalazi u mitologiju tamnih slojeva sveta i radikalizuje čovekovu neutemeljnost u svetu. Međutim Damjanov opsesivni svet koji je potekao iz njegove duboko lične “intimne nemerljivosti”, njegove figurativne i apstraktne crtačke meditacije, posve se razlikuju od Dadovih. Damjan, naime, destruiše smisao kao apriornu vrednost i ponovo smisaono ulazi u istinu bitka, odnosno linijom proizvodi bitak u smislu. No, uprkos neobuzdanim, baroknim anglomeracijama, ništa na Damjanovom crtežu nije prepušteno neizvesnosti slučaja. Sve je tu u sprezi impulsivnosti i odmerenosti, egzaktnog crtačkog znanja i crtačke ekstaze. Damjanovi svetionici – srednjovekovni demonolozi i alhemičari, Hijeronimus Boš, Martin Šongauer, Žak Kalo, Ivan Olbrajt, Dado Đurić, Uroš Tošković… uče da je predmetnost svest o svetu. Jer svet nije bezlik, bezslikovan i bespredmetan. Sve što se događa dešava se između zemlje i neba. Damjan Kovačević ponovo na predmetnom putu pronalazi živ crtački jezik koji proističe iz čistog doživljaja konkretnog ovozemaljskog rekvizitarijuma, a ne iz bespredme- tnog prostora čistih egzaltacija. Ikonografski, Kovačevićev crtež obuhvata širok i visok evoka- tivni i morfološki registar. Za ovog umetnika ljudsko telo je svojevrsni hijeroglif, a svet nera- zmrsivi lavirint kroz koji se obznanjuje moć čuda. Međutim, svet iracionalnosti kod Damja- na Kovačevića je racionalno strukturisan, dosežući upućenost na smisao jednog višeg reda. Nasuprot prizemnom naturalizmu koji ne ide dalje od fenomenološke realnosti, Kovačevićev crtež jeste dubinska rasprava srca i tela, uranskih i htonskih sila, prostor koji je živ i u kome linija dolazi iz nutrine, iz neke pradrevne intuicije o kojoj se ne može znati gotovo ništa. Odvojivši se od žive forme koju je oblikovala, njegova linija se zapućuje u jedan neslućeni, zaumni prostor, vođena podzemnom užarenošću koja tu sve preosveštava. Kovačevićev crtež vidi ono nevidljivo. On ukida tesne okvire našeg i euklidovskog sveta, prenoseći nas u onostrano. Damjanovi crteži opstoje na putu od haosa do logosa, otelovljujući težnju ka razboritoj reorganizaciji predmetnog sveta. Ono neznano ozakonjeno je na Damjanovom irealističkom crtežu i zato takav crtež neretko mogu otključati tek ezoterični ključevi. „Neizmernost je u nama“ – pisao je Gaston Bašlar. Za Damjana Kovačevića crtačko polje je mesto na kome struje fantastični i ezoterični sadržaji, a sam čin crtanja faustovski poduhvat – da se stvaranjem paralenog sveta zaroni u neizmerne dubine onog tamnog bunara skrivenog duboko u nama. Izlazeći iz okvira akademskog oportunizma i ikonografskih kalupa, Kovačevićev irealistički crtež kroz spoj i izmirenja besprekorne zanatske, manuelne veštine i crtačke invencije zapravo nam predočava stvarnost kao neizmernost nevidljivog sveta. On opstoji kao antikonvencionalni fenomen, ali i kao sakrosantna vrednost koja poseduje karakter silovitog uprizorenja i snažne lične ispovesti.

Dragan Jovanović Danilov Bez naziva, 2014. | Untitled, 2014 tuš na papiru | ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm Bez naziva, 2014. | Untitled, 2014 tuš na papiru | ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm Irrealistic drawings of Damjan Kovačević

Any discourse about Damjan Kovačević’s artistic activity must primarily determine major characteristics of recognition and attestation of irrealistic drawing as opposed to the physi- ognomy of realistic drawing in terms of authentic mimesis of nature. Therefore, we should look into the past for a moment and consider Plato’s argumentation that mimesis and mi- metic art is worthless. Furthermore, we need to separate and inaugurate different domains of irrealistic drawing: gothic, baroque, archaic, brutal, esoteric. Then we should highlight its richness, versatility and polyphony. Naturally, that is a subject for specific and broad specu- lation suitable for an essay. However, irrealistic drawing is anything but familiar or easily ex- plainable. Nature principles are worthless in comparison to the maze-like nature of irrealistic drawing that absorbs us in what Maurice Blanchot defined as “secret centre of the world”. Irrealistic drawing completely devastates the world familiar to our senses. Realistic draw- ing is just a border, which leads us to many other worlds. Realistic drawing intentionally speaks language similar to photography, describes the things as they are, asymptotically get- ting closer to phenomenological reality. In that sense, realistic drawing is blind for intense vi- brations of reality, ebullient lava of life . Visual realism is not capable to overtake the conflict- ing forms of underground, invisible currents. In opposition to realism and verism, perceived as its extreme, irrealistic draftsman prefigures the world that the artist cannot see in front of her or him, but inside. Presuming an insurgency against a uniform and positivistic world, along with a thorough restoration of spirit, integral personality and the organon of picture, the golden period of the Mediala initiated irrealistic drawing in this region. Irrealistic drawing stands as an individ- ual and generic name for a specific kind of drawing which follows certain fantastic, strange, uncanny, esoteric entities. Irrealistic drawing is apart form realistic in the same way that a dream is apart from the external world. Hence, irrealistic drawing is a complex visualization of trans-reason, pre-sensual reception and fantastic infrastructure. It has esoteric logic of its own kind. Emerging from the framework of academic opportunism and iconographic pat- tern s , irrealistic drawing actually prefigures the reality as immensity of the invisible world. It sees the invisible behind the visible. In fact, what evinced in the visible was originally pre- pared inside the invisible. Irrealistic drawing reads existence as essence and thus accomplish- es the mission of aesthetic transcendence. Irrealistic drawing despises minimalism as a purist, emotionally and conceptually asexual dead-end of art without the creative fluid of miracle. Elementary anthropological logic prompts us to understand the concept as a spectacle of the mind, disclaimed by deeply personal hallucination of an draftsman. Poet and philosopher, Islamic mystic Ibn al Arabi thought that reality as the world of senses that surrounds us is no more than a dream. Damjan Kovačević is an unpredictable, explosive draftsman with a drawing universe that emerges from fantastic, symbolic, esoteric, mythological and biblical frameworks. Before us stands an expansive, dynamic draftsman whose world and motives are exception- ally rich and obsessive. An e normous focus and drawing momentum stands behind this young artist’s opus. Personification of that primary, primordial human scream and a demonic face of reality is accomplished within a intricate, iconographic and vast world, alongside with whirl-winded, vibrant incises on paper made with a fountain pen. Kovačević’s medial assem- blage of northern natural expression and unique Mediterranean algorithms prefigures the prodigious dimensions of real and tragic.

Irrealistic drawing substitutes everyday experience with dream, imagination, inner expe- rience and oneiric obsessions. He exceeds literal meaning of reality, content and ico- nography and embarks on a trip in the unknown direction of archetypal imaginary of dreams, suppressed wishes, erotic fantasies, human faces as symbolic landscapes. With eschatological necessity that looms large over them, Kovačević’s drawings represent nightmarish dialogues with the civilization in decline. Brutal reality of raw life’s existence and historic schizophrenia that occur in the region of former Yugoslavia, conflicting forms of those underground, invisible wafts – all these things went through the filter of Kovačević’s intuition and embodied itself on the drawing field. Reality on Damjan’s drawings shows its demonic smile. Artist’s external impulses are transformed in form of deeply drawing expres- sion. Hence, his drawing field overflows with apocalyptic images, dramatic scenes and con- vulsions of the human body, whereby every scrupulously accomplished detail is visually cal- culated and balanced in terms of composition, as a part of a suggestively organized visual whole. On his artistic field each and every element has a specific place, and again, every detail is established and, by magnetic activity of the artist’s media spirit, interconnected into unique organism of drawings, so immense that one must spend hours to explore their expressive, baroque agglomerations. Fascinating concentration, constructivist enthusiasm and cerebral affection stands be- hind the drawing opus of the artist. Dialectical correspondence of Kovačević’s spirit and technique is fascinating. His line, faultless, eerily acrid, spry and precise, with a powerful sweeping inspiration, his dramatic disturbance and linear uplift i s led by a reliable manual navigation, instinctive clairvoyance and almost exact architectural intuition that can orga- nize the drawing field with inexorable precision. Therefore, Damjan’s line discloses deep- er inner conflicts and bears inside itself a dimension of nightmare and depressed anxiety. The sharpness of Damjan’s line emanates from his spiritual purity. Damjan’s drawing is awo- ken, sharp, neat and exalted. The artist approaches blankness of paper with full brightness of mind, relentlessly sober. Damjan Kovačević’s drawing has formal structure, as well as irrealistic content. He is a classically trained draftsman, who firmly stands on the grounds of media he works in . However, he bravely leaves the certainty of that position in favour of a weightless, inter- medial space of the non-real., In this way he sees the formal, classical background, in other words, the rigid law of form, just as the a leap into that dark and foreboding opening in front of him. Paradoxically, he undertakes these visits to the great beyond with splendid artistic prudence, commitment and manual ability, turning attention to both detail and the arrange- ment of the whole. Therefore, disjointedness, de-centeredness and the cumulation of details contribute to the dynamics of the whole that produce suggestive and often shocking effects. Right from the first contact with Kovačević’s mega-drawings, an observer with a sensible spiritual and mental constitution is overwhelmed by the originality and vastness of his plen- tiful imagination, his specific capability to guide the metamorphosis of archetypical signs and sights far from rigidness of any calculated thought. Damjan’s drawing presents an en- ergetic field bustling with biomorphic and zoomorphic associations, with eruptions of the sensual, subconscious and instinctive; diagrams of shapes suspended and frozen in motion. Intertwined anatomical remains of the human and animal world; convulsive and nightmar- ish visions and swirls, diabolic erotica from the darkest parts of consciousness – all of these intertwine and blend on the drawing field, but again, all this baroque abundance is subju- gated to order and a strict compositional plan. Theh uman body, animal and vegetation forms meet on the same level of explosive expressionistic drawing gestures. Kovačević builds his exceptional drawing world by way of all these elements, which have a symbolic dimen- sion assigned by him. The grammar of deformity and metamorphoses undoubtedly establishes a mysteri- ous affiliation between Damjan Kovačević and Dado Đurić. Similarly to Dado, Damjan enters the mythology of dark layers of the world and radicalizes man’s groundlessness. However, Damjan’s obsessive world originated from his deep personal „intimate immeasur- able”, his figurative and abstract drawing meditations are exceedingly different from Dado’s. Namely, Damjan destructs the meaning as a given value and again enters the truth of being in terms of meaning. However, despite outrage, baroque agglomerations, one cannot find anything random in his drawing. Everything here is constituted by conjunction of impulsive- ness and sobriety, exactness of drawing proficiency and artistic exaltation. Damjan’s guiding lights – medieval demonologists and alchemists, Hieronymus Bosch, Martin Schongauer, Jacques Callot, Ivan Olbrajt, Dado Đurić, Uroš Tošković etc. teach us that the figural is the consciousness of the world. It is because the world is not faceless, non- pictorial and non-figural. Every single act is happening between the sky and the ground. While walking on the path of the figural, Damjan Kovačević again discovers a vivid language of drawing that emanates not from non-figural spaces of pure blissfulness, but from the pure experience of the concrete, worldly treasure box. Iconographically, Kovačević’s drawing cov- ers a vast and highly evocative and morphological register. The a rtist sees the human body as a specific hieroglyph and the world as a unsolvable labyrinth that proclaims the power of miracle. However, Kovačević’s world of irrationality is rationally structured, reaching the direction of the higher order of meaning. Unlike superficial naturalism, which strictly operates in the realm of phenomenological reality, Kovačević represents the complex struggle between heart and body, uranian and ch- thonic powers, the live space in which line comes from within, a primeval intuition that we barely know anything about. His line, separated from the live form it shaped, is moving to- wards the unfamiliar space, led by underground candescence that reawakens all in that area. Kovačević’s drawing sees the invisible. It abolishes tight chains that bind us and transfers us to the otherworldly. Damjan’s drawings persist during the journey from chaos to logos, they represent the aim at discerning reorganization of the figural world. Kovačević’s irrealis- tic drawing codifies the unknown and that’s the reason why esoteric keys are often the only ones suitable for unlocking its meaning. “Immensity is within us”, Gaston Bachelard wrote. For Damjan Kovačević, the drawing field is a space where phantastic and estotheric content floats, whereby the act of drawing is a Faustian endeavour – by creating a parallel world we plunge into immense depths of a deep well hidden within us. By leaving the framework of academic opportunism and iconographic patterns, Kovačević’s irrealistic drawing actually presents reality as immensity of the invisible world, through the blend and reconciliation between flawless craft, manual skill and drafts- man’s invention. He stands as an anti-conventional phenomenon, as well as a sacrosanct value that contains the features of a forceful performance and a powerful personal testimony.

Dragan Jovanović Danilov Bez naziva, 2013. | Untitled, 2013 tuš na papiru | ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm Bez naziva, 2014. | Untitled, 2014 tuš na papiru | ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm Bez naziva, 2014. | Untitled, 2014 tuš na papiru | ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm Damjan Kovačević rođen je 10. februara 1983. u Bihaću, Bosna i Hercegovina. Diplomirao je na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu 2008. Dobitnik je mnogobrojnih nagrada za inovativan pristup slikarstvu i izvanredan crtež. Prva nagrada Niš Art Fondacija, Niš, Srbija 2015. Nagrada 48. Hercegnovski zimski likovni salon, Herceg Novi, Crna Gora 2015. Prva Nagrada za crtež iz Fonda Vladimir Veličković, Beograd, Srbija 2010. Rezidencijalni boravak u Dizeldorfu, Fondacija Kulturraum, Dizeldorf, Nemačka 2009. Nagrada za osobenu kreativnu inovaciju iz fonda Miloš Bajić, Fakultet likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu, Srbija 2008. Učestvovao je na rezidencijalnim programima: Glo’Art u Lanakenu, Belgija 2014, Cité internationale des Arts u Parizu, Francuska 2012, Artist in residence u Dizeldorfu, Nemačka 2009. Njegovi radovi se nalaze u Muzeju savremene umetnosti u Beogradu i mnogobrojnim privatnim kolekcijama. Samostalno izlaže u Beogradu od 2008.

Selektovane samostalne i grupne izložbe: Grupna izložba Le Futur de l’Art Serbe, Galerija Evropa, Pariz, Francuska 2016. Grupna izložba Niš Art Fondacija, Galerija Srbija, Niš i Kuća legata, Beograd, Srbija 2015. Grupna izložba 48. Hercegnovski zimski likovni salon, Herceg Novi, Crna Gora 2015. Samostalna izložba Fantastičan san iz 1884, Galerija ULUS, Beograd, Srbija 2014. Samostalna izložba Spiegel der Welt, Savremena galerija Smederevo, Srbija 2013. Grupna izložba 18. Međunarodna izložba crteža / 18. DC, MMSU, Rijeka, Hrvatska 2013. Samostalna izložba Dolina kod Kalrojta, Galerija 73, Beograd, Srbija 2012. Samostalna izložba Surogat, Galerija Dom Kulture Studentski grad, Beograd, Srbija 2012. Samostalna izložba nagrađenih Laureata iz Fonda Vladimir Veličković, Galerija Haos, Beograd, Srbija 2011. Samostalna izložba Der Achtetag, Fondacija Kulturraum, Dizeldorf, Nemačka 2009.

Damjan Kovačević was born on February 10, 1983, in Bihać (Bosnia and Hercegovina, former Yugoslavia). He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Belgrade University (2008). Damjan received a number of awards for his innovative approach and outstanding drawings. First Prize of the Niš Art Foundation, Niš, Serbia (2015) Award of the 48th Winter Salon, Herceg Novi, Montenegro (2015) First Prize for Drawing Vladimir Veličković’s Fundation, Belgrade, Serbia (2010) Residence in Düsseldorf , Foundation Kulturraum, Düsseldorf, Germany (2009) Award for Creative Innovation Miloš Bajić’s fund, Faculty of Fine Arts Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia (2008 He also took part in a residence program in Glo’Art Lanaken, Belgium (2014), Cité internationale des Arts Paris, France (2012) and Artist in residence Düsseldorf, Germany (2009). His works were acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Serbia (2013). Damjan has had solo exhibitions in Belgrade since 2008.

Selected solo and group exhibitions: Group exhibition ‘Le Futur de l’Art Serbe’, Gallery Europe, Paris, France (2016) Group exhibition ‘Niš Art Foundation’, Gallery Sebria, Niš and Gallery Heritage House, Belgrade, Serbia (2015) Group exhibition ‘48th Winter Salon’, Gallery Herceg Novi, Montenegro (2015) Solo exhibition ‘Fantastic Dream from 1884’, Gallery ULUS, Belgrade, Serbia (2014) Solo exhibition ‘Spiegel der Welt’, Contemporary gallery Smederevo, Smederevo, Serbia (2013) Group exhibition ‘18th International Exhibition of Drawings / 18 DC’, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia (2013) Solo exhibition ‘Valley Kalchreuth’, Gallery ‘73, Belgrade, Serbia (2012) Solo exhibition ‘Surrogate’, Gallery House of Culture Hall of Residence, Belgrade, Serbia (2012) Solo exhibition ‘Exhibition of the 2010 Awarded Laureate of the Vladimir Veličković’ s Fund’, Gallery Haos, Belgrade, Sebria (2011) Solo exhibition ‘Der Achetag’, Foundation Kulturraum Düsseldorf, Germany (2009)

Kontakt | Contact: [email protected] Bez naziva, 2014. | Untitled, 2014 tuš na papiru | ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm

Naslovna strana | Cover page: Bez naziva, 2013. | Untitled, 2013 tuš na papiru | ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm

Izdavač: Narodni muzej Crne Gore | Za izdavača: Pavle Pejović Kustos izložbe: Ljiljana Karadžić | Tekst: Dragan Jovanović Danilov | Prevod: Nebojša Marić Fotografija: Damjan Kovačević | Grafičko oblikovanje: Branka Radunović | Štampa: DPC – Podgorica Tiraž: 300

Cetinje, avgust 2016.