On the opening of the exhibition lecture by Jovan Čekić Beyond the Sublime / Lars von Trier’s Melancholia took place.

Malešević’s photographs represent a unique and intimate visual diary. On the associative level the artist connects what he observes and what he (sometimes apocalyptically) imagines, while the gap between these, between the seen and the idealised, constitutes as pace for the artist’s pleasure. The photograph thus becomes the stage where, at any moment, something might happen – unexpectedly. When taking a photograph, what matters to Malešević is the cinematographic quality of the scene/seen. Rather than depicting objective reality, the selected frames often appear as an imaginative space apart from the fabric of reality, or perhaps part of a film sequence. Or, more accurately, he creates a poetic narrative out of what changes and does not stop changing, a testimony to the elusive that is within reach. Malešević obviously shares the same conviction, attempting to preserve and perpetuate the present moment in order to turn it into duration, as if by magic. The exhibition showcases works from A Time of Renewal, For Goethe’s Eyes, Donau and Die Pflanzen series of photographs.

“What the photographs document in the first place are fragments of personal memories, pictures of places that are significant to me, perhaps even places where I can imagine the action of a film taking place; in short, these are sequences that surround memory with pleasure. Thus, these fragments are not documentary stories about the state of society or political and economic problems. On the whole, I do not tend to use art to impose any kind of critical, which is to say, emancipatory and calculated practice, relevant for civil society and the establishment. I am interested in documenting and archiving that which is not meaningfully defined and concluded in its manifested structure, ordinariness or exceptionality.” (Nenad Malešević)

Nenad Malešević, born in 1981 in Sarajevo, is a graduated of the graphic department of the Academy of Arts, University of Banja Luka, and later finished his MA in theory and media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade. He is co-founder and member of Protok, Centre for Visual Studies and author of numerous theoretical texts on art and media. Currently he works as a professor of graphic design at the Slobomir P University and as an independent visual artist. He lives and works in Belgrade.

The exhibition is organised in cooperation with Museum of Contemporary Art of Republic of Srpska from Banja Luka