Ogledalo vizuelne umetnosti - Izložbe - Milan Stašević, retrospektivna izložba crteža

Naizmenični crtački ciklusi Milana Staševića

Što više gledate crteže, grafike ili slike, svejedno (jer i slike se doimaju kao crteži na platnu) Milana Staševića, sve više ste ubeđeni da vas ovaj likovni stvaralac tera ili pre obavezuje da, sa uobičajenog, pređete na jedan kodirani jezik u komunikaciji sa njegovim delom, na metajezički govor u kome dominiraju znakovnost i forme koje su negde između jezičkog i likovnog, pa u jednom trenutku čisto likovne. Onda opet slede formalne promene i krug se nikad ne zatvara već ostavlja prostor možda opet novim i drugačijim ciklusina.

Zapravo radi se o posebnom konceptu, pristupu u građenju crteža ili slike. Najpre uočite odabir formata. Izbor specifične podloge, bila to belina papira, novinska hartija lepljena na platno, nakon toga kamenosiva podloga platna ili, u skorije vreme, povratak belinama platna i papira. Potom uočite odabir planova koje umetnik pedantno razrađuje, te izbor tema, smenu svetlo-tamnih površina, upotrebu citata i dovođenje u odnos, u višesmerni dijalog, u izvestan harmonični i zaokruženi tok. Kroz posve novu interpretaciju, novo čitanje svega odabranog. Zatim ste svedok propuštanja svih tih saznanja, utisaka, otkrivenih svetova kroz umetnikovu sopstvenu dioptriju i ugao gledanja. Kroz ličnu proživljenost, emociju, raspoloženje, tumačenje. Sve to je Staševiću pružalo neslućene mogućnosti u procesu stvaranja i sopstvenog likovnog izražavanja, ali je u stilskom određivanju pojačavalo i ambiciju da uspostavi autentičnost i iz lokalne banatske scene, na primer, izvuče univerzalnu likovnu interpretaciju.

Svoje likovne teme sam Milan Stašević u početku deli na one vremenskog (dan ili noć, godišnja doba) i prostornog tipa (poljski pejsaž, život dvorišta, ambari, kolibe, poetika krova ili uopšteno banatskog sela). On bi da odgonetne misteriju življenja i kada pravi crteže kao što su Groblje ili Ponoćni svatovi, Jarebice ili Koliba, kada slika Legendu o rađanju i smrti, o propasti sveta, ili o nastanku pisma. Uvek je prisutna izvesna upitanost i začudnost pred brojnim tajnama. A promene raspoloženja, kako sam svedoči, utiču na spoj neba i zemlje unutar jedne predstave i unutar formalnog plana slike. Utiču na ton i smisao likovne priče. Evidentna je namera da sve bude ukomponovano po njegovim sopstvenim kartografskim pravilima.

Svakako je reč o zanimljivom i svojevrsnom likovnom govoru, jeziku, gestu, o iskazu znacima. Mnogobrojnim i iz najrazličitijih epoha. Promišljeno odabranim. Od onih praoblika i praznakova sa arheoloških artefakata ili pećinskih zidova (Zaboravljeno poreklo crteža ili Vinčanski ovan) preko klinastog pisma i hijeroglifa (Priča o nastanku pisma), figura sa egipatskih frizova, kineske ortografije i japanskih estampi, renesansnih amblematskih scena ili likova, zatim upotrebe slova, ređe brojeva, do citata velikih majstora moderne umetnosti, poput Mondriana, Pikasa, Miroa, Klea, Matisa i drugih. Pored toga, tu i tamo je vidljiv, na radovima iz devedesetih, i po neki naslov koji probija sa listova dnevne štampe, listova inkorporiranih u podlogu s posebnom preparaturom. Prisutnost jednog drugog medija koji, kao i upotreba nekih kompjuterskih znakova, simboliše savremenost i haotični heterogeni duh vremena u kome živimo, a uz to i upotpunjuje i zaokružuje vešto komponovanu civilizacijsku putanju. Pomislite, na momenat, da se radi o mapama ili „diskovima“ koje umetnik upućuje nekim drugim civilizacijama. Kao da je Stašević stavio pred sebe obavezu da prenese iz ogromnog fundusa celokupne istorije umetnosti, kroz njen mentalni i imaginarni prostor, nešto od izabranih oblika, predstava, likova, detalja, rukopisa, različitih likovnih govora. Jednom rečju, probrani zagonetni sadržaj božanskih kreacija, ako bismo pod tim pojmom podrazumevali snagu talenta i imaginacije značajnih stvaralaca. Uzeo je sebi za pravo da ima svoje afinitete. Fasciniran Đotovim freskama iz Asizija, sivoplavičastim kamenim tonovima i umbrom Pjera dela Frančeske, crtežima Leonarda, Direra, kao i radovima drugih velikih majstora po svetskim muzejima, odlučuje se da tu fasciniranost pretoči u nove moguće i nemoguće spojeve, na prizore iz različitih svetova i epoha, da „gleda kroz drugo“, da traga za zanimljivim rešenjima i osobenim crtačkim tehnikama, da sanja i stvara istovremene imaginarne svetove. Svojevrsne igre sećanja. Svojevrsne likovne savremne ikone. A onda slede dalja pročišćavanja likovnih postavki. Isključena je sadašnjost, nema više novina, podloga je siva, pojednostavljuje se komozicija, uvodi plošnost, fragmentarnost. Znak je redukovan na otisak, detalj, zagreban potez, skoro apstraktan, zapravo razložen na zapis, novo značenje, na TRAG. I tu se ciklus ne završava...Sloboda, koju samo invencija nameće i podrazumeva, vraća ga na likovnu priču sa svojih početaka. Dokle i do kakvih rešenja, tek sledi da vidimo?

Uradio je Milan Stašević cikluse crteža i slika malog i velikog formata, crpeo građu iz svog nepreglednog ličnog arhiva, ukrštao mnoštvo priča i svetova, piktograma i ideograma, a onda se zapitao nad svrhom tog pripovedanja i suštinom likovnosti i likovnog znaka. Prizivao je različite sne i mitove, poznate legende i priče, navlačio Miroove naočare, naslućivao novi Vavilonski nesporazum, prelamao kroz svoju optiku heterogene znake i različite arheologije oblika, činio ponavljanja uvek sa razlikama, izbegavao banalnosti, sledio svoju specifičnu proceduru u stvaranju, svoj senzibilitet i moderan gest, zapravo jedan postmodernistički manir.

Retrospektiva crtačkih ciklusa Milana Staševića, odnosno crteži koje smo odabrali za izložbu u Galeriji Haos, predstavljaju ovog umetnika kao majstora ove esencijalne likovne discipline. On kreće od klasičnog pristupa crtežu gde postoji linija, šrafure, tretman svetla, kompozicija s više planova. Crtež se najpre utapao u pozadinu, uvek dominirao ili ostajao nezaobilazna podloga. U njegovom crtežu je kasnije vidljivo odsustvo kontinuiranih linija, ali veoma su prisutne igre znakova kao kakve notne partiture muzičkih dela ili semiološke mape, rađene tušem na platnu. Kroz različite periode svoga likovnog stvaranja pokazao je poseban smisao za svoje crtačke intervencije. Menjao je svoju crtačku ortografiju shodno trenutku kako je sebi postavljao likovne, dakle plastičke, ali i idejne zadatke, ostavljajući uvek nove mogućnosti unutar svoga rukopisa i ostajući zagledan u ono što vreme donosi. Zapravo, Stašević je crtež gradio strpljivo, gotovo s kujundžijskom preciznošću, pomoću tačaka, zareza, mrlja i njemu svojstvenih interpunkcija. Jedno je sigurno: crtež je negovao i uvek tretirao kao samostalan i samosvojan likovni izraz.

Stalno preispitujući smisao umetnosti i utabanost svojih umetničkih staza, bio je sklon neprekidnom redefinisanju likovnih problema. Prezasićenost informacijama je učinila da se savremena umetnost vidi i doživi kao polje estetskih nepreglednosti, što je u suštini i bila. A zamor brojnih pseudoavangardi je samo potvrdila potrebu ka orijentaciji i otvaranju prostora svežim figurativnim i apstraktnim likovnjim idejama. Jedina mogućnost koju je dopuštala individualna intervencija umetnika, bila je da napravi sopstvenu strategiju i vrati se počecima, belini platna (Užitak u nedostatku), da pokuša da odgonetne suštinu likovnosti i umetnosti uopšte, da ponovo reinterpretira banaćanske kolibe svojim stečenim iskustvom i gotovo rutinskim likovnim zapisom, ovoga puta na nov i poseban način, s umetanjem drugačijih i različitih sadržaja, što danas čini.

Tragovi koje sada zapisuje na svojim likovnim mapama ili narezuje na svojim likovnim „diskovima“, crteži uopšte, iz svih ciklusa, na neki način su personifikacija suštine Staševićevog umetničkog zapisa, iskaza, rekli bismo jednog zrelog, ozbiljnog likovnog izraza na našoj dosta heterogenoj likovnoj sceni.

Borka Božović

ENGLISH VERSION

The Alternating Drawing Cycles of Milan Stasevic

The more you look at the drawings, graphics or even pictures of Milan Stasevic, because pictures too look like drawings on canvas, the more you are convinced that this painter pushes you or better say obliges you to shift from the usual to a coded language in the communication with his work, to a met lingual speech dominated by signs and forms which are somewhere between language and painting and then suddenly a pure painting. Then there again follow formal changes and the cycle never closes but perhaps leaves a free space to new and different cycles again.

The point is in a special concept and approach to the creation of a drawing or picture. You first catch the choice of format, specific base like the whiteness of paper or a newspaper stuck on canvas and then a canvas as grey as a stone or as has happened recently, return to the whiteness of paper or canvas. And then you recognize a choice of plans which the artist works out precisely, the choice of themes, change of light and dark surfaces, the usage of citations and harmonization, diversified dialogue, certain harmonic and full current through quite new interpretation and reading of the all selected. Then you yourself let all your understanding, impression and discovered worlds pass through the artist’s personal diopter and his own comprehension, intimate experience, emotions, feelings and interpretation. All this also gave Stasevic undreamed-of possibilities in creating his personal painting expression and also further strengthened his stylistic ambition to establish authenticity and get a universal painting interpretation from local Banat scenery for example.

Originally, Milan Stasevic himself divides his themes up into those of time type such as day and night and season and those of space type like fields, yards, granaries, cottages and poetics of roofs and Banat villages in general. He wants to solve the mystery of life when also drawing the Cemetery or the Midnight Wedding Guests, the Partridges or the Cottage, when drawing the Legend of birth and death, the end of the world or the origin of writing. You always feel certain questions and the mystery of numerous secrets. And as he himself says, changeable moods effect unity of sky and earth within an image and within a formal plan of a painting. They effect the tone and sense of a painting story. His intention to incorporate everything in accordance with his own cartographic rules is quite evident.

It is certainly a question of an interesting and special painting vocabulary, language, gesture and expression of signs from many and most different epochs. Those are signs chosen carefully from those prehistoric forms and signs from archaeological artifacts or cave walls (the Forgotten Origin of Drawing or the Vinca Ram) to the cuneiform and hieroglyphic writings (the Story of the Origin of Writing), figures taken from the Egyptian friezes, Chinese orthography and Japanese estampes, renaissance emblematic scenes or figures, then from the usage of letters and numbers rarely to the citations of great maestros of modern art like Mondriani, Picasso, Miro, Klee, Matisse and others. Besides, on his works from the nineties we can here and there find a headline from daily newspapers, papers incorporated into the base prepared in a special way. We feel the presence of another medium, which like the usage of some computer signs, also is a symbol of modern and chaotic heterogeneous spirit of times we live in and also compliments and finalizes skillfully composed civilization orbit. You think for a moment of maps or “disks” which the artist sends to some other civilization. As if Stasevic feels obligated to transfer through the mental and imaginary space some of chosen forms, ideas, figures, details, manuscripts and different painting languages from the enormous fund of the all art history. In brief, selected mysterious meaning of divine creations if we take it as strength of talent and imagination of remarkable creators. He took for granted to have his own affinities. Fascinated by Giotto’s frescoes from Assisi, grey and bluish stone tones and umbra of Piero della Francesca, drawings of Leonardo and Dürer, as well as the works of other great maestros in the world museums, he decides to transform his fascination into new possible and impossible unities, scenes from different worlds and epochs, to “watch through something different”, to search for interesting solutions and special techniques of painting, to dream and at the same time build up new imaginary worlds, special games of memories and special painting icons of nowadays. And then, there follows further purging of painting exhibits. There are no more present times, no more innovations, the base is grey, the composition getting more simple, the surface more even and the fragmentation visible. The sign is reduced to a print, detail, scratched stroke, almost abstract, actually driven to a record, new meaning, a TRACE. This is not yet the end of the cycle. Freedom, which only invention can impose and imply, returns him back to the beginning of his painting story. We shall see to which point and what solutions.

Milan Stasevic made cycles of drawings and pictures of both small and big formats. He gathered his themes from his immense personal archives, he mingled together many worlds and stories, pictograms and ideograms and then he wondered about the purpose of his narration and the essence of painting and painting symbols. He was evoking different dreams and myths, known legends and tales, taking Miro’s eyeglasses, anticipating new Babylon Misunderstanding, refracting heterogeneous signs and different archaeologies of forms through his own optics, repeating with some differences always, avoiding banalities and following his specific creation procedure, his sensibility and modern gesture, a postmodern manner in fact.

The retrospection of Milan Stasevic’s painting cycles, that is to say the drawings chosen for the exhibition in Chaos Gallery, represent this artist as an authentic maestro of this essential painting discipline. He starts from the classic approach to a drawing, with a line, shadows, treatment of light and composition of more plans. First, his drawing figured on the background, always dominating or remaining as an unavoidable base. In his later drawings, we see no continuous lines but strong and intense games of signs as some musical scores or semiotic maps done with ink on canvas. He has through different periods of his painting creativity demonstrated a special sense for his painting interventions. He used to change his drawing orthography in accordance with his own painting, meaning plastic, but also ideological tasks, always retaining new possibilities within his manuscript and staring into what times bring us. As a matter of fact, Stasevic was building his drawing patiently, with almost silversmith’s preciseness, with a help of full stops, commas, spots and other punctuation marks so characteristic of him.

Constantly questioning the true sense of art and the clearance of his artistic ways, he had a constant tendency to redefine painting problems. The saturation with information made us see and experience modern art as a field of aesthetic immensity, which it actually was. The fatigue of numerous pseudo avant-gardes only confirmed the need for introducing fresh figurative and abstract ideas of painting. The only possible individual intervention of an artist was to make his own strategy and return to the beginnings and the whiteness of canvas (Enjoying the Lack), to try to solve the essence of painting and art in general, to again reinterpret Banat cottages with his own experience and almost routine painting observations, this time in a new and special way, inserting different and various subjects which he also does today.

Traces he leaves now on his painting maps or records on his painting “disks” and drawings in general from all his cycles are in a sense the personification of the essence of Stasevic’s artistic writing and expression. We would say, a mature, distinguishing and serious painting expression on our rather heterogeneous scene of fine arts.

Translated by Maja Zauner

Borka Božovic