KULTURA / CULTURE
What is the meaning in the use of wood as the material that will dominate the exhibi- tion? “I think that the material has a role to play, rather than that it has an inherent meaning; that it’s pres- ence as matter (stuff used to be the word I used) was a kind of bridge between the spectator, the work and the world. I have, over the course of my life, made a great deal of work from wood – my very earliest sculp- tures were wood carvings – I think a part of what re- ally interests me in the material is that I can process it myself from quite a ‘raw’ state, whilst at the same time it is available as a totally anonymous industri- ally produced product in standardised dimensions.” You’ve made a significant mark on the visual identity of Belgrade city centre, near Kale- megdan Park, with the sculpture From There to Here. How do you see that work to- day? “The collaboration with Mrđan on the Kalemeg- dan Bridge project is probably the richest and most rewarding artistic project of my life. Think about it, two artists, invited by the wonderful and much missed
RICHARD DEACON, SCULPTOR People are the reason I’m returning to Belgrade His sculpture is located on the footbridge connecting Kalemegdan and the Sava riverbank, but this September will see the Serbian capital become much better acquainted with him, as one of the most important contemporary sculptors R ichard Deacon’s first solo exhibition in Ser- bia will be opened from 19 th September at the DOTS Gallery in Donji Dorćol, de- spite Belgrade already being familiar with his work to a certain extent. One of the most inventive and influential contemporary sculp- tors and a winner of numerous prestigious awards, he is mostly recognised in Serbia for his collabora-
tion with Mrđan Bajić on the sculpture “Odande-dovde" (From There to Here), a pedestrian footbridge connecting the Sa- va promenade alongside Beton Hala with Kalemegdan. You have visited Belgrade on nu- merous occasions and for vari- ous reasons, yet this is your in- augural solo exhibition in Serbia. What inspired this new series? Could you elaborate on the the- matic motifs and ideas? “There are five groups of works; all of them made in the last couple of years and none of them shown before. I think there are some impacts of the pandemic and be- ing thrown back on my own resources in the way that my work is evolving”. Your artworks bring a new di- mension to what is visual. Do you continue to view the relationship between the abstract and the ver- bal, i.e. what is being "suggested" to the viewer in a similar man- ner? “Since I was a student, I have been in- trigued by the relationship between words and their meanings and have thought that
Marina Andrić, begin to make a project to- gether, initially thought of as perhaps a standalone sculpture, that becomes a pro- posal for a piece of infrastructure linking Kalemegdan Fortress to the Sava River. This is like no other commissioned infra- structure project I know of and is quite exceptional.” As someone who is well acquainted with Belgrade, and has certainly trav- elled the world, what do you think distinguishes Belgrade as a city? “I first came to Belgrade in 2006 as an exchange Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts from the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, where I was then a professor. Whether or not it was an exceptional year, I don’t know, but the students I encountered there, in Mrđan’s class, were among the most talent- ed, interesting and informed groups that I’ve ever come across in my many years of teaching. They didn’t have many resources, but made incredible use of what was avail- able and gathered information from across the world through the internet. In my tu- torials with them, they almost invariably knew what context or reference I was us- ing to interpret their work. It was this dy-
what we see is not completely disconnected from what we say. Equally, I think that language itself is a kind of material out of which structures are made. At a simple level, I think it’s a lot easier to remember things that have names, but more profoundly – since meaning is never a simple matter – a name can help or mislead you, and both prospects are enriching”.
namic and rich human resource that made me want to keep coming back and is why I was so positive in response to Marina Andrić’s idea that I might be able to make a commissioned work for Kalemegdan Park. Belgrade is wonderfully located at the confluence of two mighty rivers, as a city it can be chaotic, but it is this human richness that has kept drawing me back.”
54 | Izložba » Exhibition
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