Instrument of Activity

Braverman Gallery cordially invites you to the opening of the solo exhibition for artist Biljana Djurdjevic. The exhibition features Djurdjevic’s recent project titled ‘Instrument of Activity’, in which she continues her earlier artistic practice – that began with the project titled ‘The Dark Forest’ – incorporating paintings with video animation. This project includes a five-panel painting, works on paper and a video animation based on her work, which is on display in the Bakery space.

Though different in practice from earlier works, Djurdjevic is consistent in researching and interpreting an array of issues relating to the contemporary. Starting from the late nineties, Djurdjevic engages in different observations on collectiveness, alienation, social anxiety and aggression. As subject matters, originating in either nature or present – time dynamics, Djurdjevic interprets them as sterile and cold environments; either a claustrophobic interiors or an dense exteriors such as forests and moors, metaphors the social space of the everyday or the socio-political and economic spheres in which we engage, willingly or not,  and attempt to comprehend.

Similarly, the project ‘Instrument of Activity’ depicts an interior-bound situation, contextually relating to issues Djurdjevic observed. The emblematic image is that of a sweatshop, echoing a reflection on a radically changed social circumstance. Djurdjevic detects in this paradigmatic space the key premises of contemporary social environment; they are embodied in continuous production processes, a routine – like existence, the efficiency and effectiveness dominating the valuing process in society.

The large scale painting along with the video installation intensely introduces the viewer with the ability to identify with the narrative. This accrues in at opening scene in the projected animation. Here, the viewer physically immerses herself upon entry. In creating an ambient situation referring to the atmosphere of the sweatshop, Djurdjevic embodies complexities of current social context, regarding political and economic developments, technological progress and their implications on a global community. Each segment of the story portrays this discussion – starting at the iconic performative regimentation workers and mechanization of their actions during the production process, through a full metamorphosis of people and interiors into nature.

In the Bakery, the final video image suggesting an outcome strongly indicates the existence of a human nature as the ambition to control, instrumentalise, manipulate and commodify any surrounding. Through this alteration in artistic approach, Djurdjevic distinctively focuses on an active reflection of order and tensions of our everyday spaces of existence.

Text by Miroslav Karic, art historian

Curated by Yaffa Braverman

Photos credited to Biljana Djurdjevic

Biljana Djurdjevic (b. 1973, Belgrade, living and working in Serbia) is an artist practicing mainly in painting and animation. Received an MFA, Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, and PhD in Fine Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. Recipient of Beijing Biennale Prize, Beijing, China (second place), ‘Politika’ award for the finest exhibition, Serbia. Featured solo exhibitions in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade (2013); Gallery KIBLA, Slovenia (2010); Haifa Museum of Art, Israel (2009); Museet Moderna, Stockholm (2006); Galerie Davide Gallo, Berlin, Germany (2006) and more.