MIRRJANA MIRA MAODUS

MIRJANA MIRA MAODUS RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION THE LIGHT OF MONPARNASSE OVER NISHAV

Officers' Dormitory, Tuesday, May 12, 7 p.m.

The SLU Niš Gallery invites you to the grand opening of the retrospective exhibition by Mirjana Mira Maoduš entitled The Light of Montparnasse over Nišava, which will be held on Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. at the Officers' Dormitory.

Mirjana Mira Maoduš belongs to a group of artists who began their artistic journey by acquiring their first academic knowledge and skills outside the borders of our country, presenting their works mainly abroad, and after five decades of work confirmed by awards and recognitions, she continued to create in her studio in Belgrade, in the area to which she is linked by memories from her childhood and early youth. The author's rich oeuvre is part of numerous domestic and international gallery, museum and private collections. The retrospective exhibition in Niš, organized by the SLU Gallery and the Cultural Institution Gallery 73 Belgrade, is an opportunity to present the painter's works created from the late 1960s to the present day to the wider and professional public of this region.

Mira Maoduš was born during World War II in an Italian military camp in the Serbian town of Medak. She completed primary and secondary school in Belgrade, and acquired her first painting skills while studying at the School of Applied Arts in Frankfurt. Acquaintance with the German scene influenced the author's poetics, which expressed her emotions, inner unrest and socially engaged attitudes through the contrasts of bright colors. Training at the Academy in Venice (Accademia di belle arti) and contact with the Italian school of expressionism gave rise to the works she presented at her first solo exhibition in Verona in 1973. After completing her master's degree in art history in Milan, Mira Maoduš moved to Paris in search of new experiences, where she continued her studies of painting at the Academy (Ecole National Superieur des Beaux-arts), approaching the Fauvist understanding of art.

Mira Maoduš's developing artistic path was undoubtedly contributed by the cosmopolitan spirit and life circumstances, which, after studying and working in Italy and France, took her to Moscow, New York and Tokyo. Details from nature, landscapes, faces devoid of individuality and the atmosphere on the streets were the motifs that, as in the very beginning, occupied her attention, until her stay in Japan, a country that cherishes calligraphy as a traditional form of artistic expression, had a decisive influence on her further creativity. By creating her own calligraphy, encouraged by the correspondence between Van Gogh and Gauguin, she began to express her nature, spirit and emotions. At first, she transferred parts of verses by Rimbaud, Cocteau and other French poets to the canvas, and by conceptualizing a layered colored field, based on the experiences of the art of Lettrism, she built abstract compositions rich in visual and meaningful content, giving the picture a relief structure and plastic content.

In the nineties, the world began to look at her people differently. Driven by a patriotic need to right injustice, she began her struggle by sending a message through her art and her works. Without wanting to give her work a political context, she began to express her national pride and love for her country by painting canvases with the words and verses of Jovan Dučić, Đuro Jakšić, Vladislav Petković Dis, Pushkin and Yesenin. Over time, using red, blue and yellow along with black and white, she introduced letters into her works that lead to a sign, syllables that refer to a concept or idea, words from the Serbian or Russian languages, names that direct her to what moves her and what she strives for. Thus was born the Cyrillic cycle, which the artist, in her constant search for the answer to the question Who am I, continues to explore and refine, intending to follow contemporary tendencies and modern influences and express her devotion to her roots and heritage.

The exhibition at the Officers' House will be open to the public until May 31st.

by Nebojsa

ZORAN PAVLOVIĆ: RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION

ZORAN PAVLOVIĆ: RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION, OFFICERS' HOME

On Tuesday, April 7, a retrospective exhibition of Zoran Pavlović (Skopje, 1931-Belgrade, 2006), an artist, historian and art theorist, art critic, essayist, author of television shows and series about art, and university professor, opened at the Officers' Home.

Zoran Pavlović's artistic development had several phases stemming from his preoccupation with certain spiritual content and ethical issues, reactions to certain historical events and life situations, and a consistency with abstract artistic expression. By organizing his first solo exhibition in Belgrade in 1959, immediately after graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in the class of Professor Nedeljko Gvozdenović, Pavlović entered the art scene by presenting himself with works in the spirit of geometric abstraction, placing composition at the center of events and exploring the role of light, which would also be present in his later works. The author's self-examination and search for his own expression gradually brought him closer to Art Informel, in which he painted a series of works – collages, which were presented at a joint exhibition with Branislav Protić and Vladislav Todorović at the Museum of Applied Arts in 1961, and a year later, an apologetic exhibition entitled Art Informel – Young Belgrade Painters was organized by Professor Lazar Trifunović Trifunović at the Gallery of the Cultural Center Belgrade, where Zoran Pavlović, Branislav Protić, Vladislav Todorović and Živojin Turinski presented their work in the spirit of the new direction, attracting the attention and criticism of the wider and professional public.

The turning point in Zoran Pavlović's work, according to art critics, is the painting In Praise of Julián Grimo from 1963, dedicated to the executed revolutionary during the Spanish Civil War. Highlighting the subject matter on the black background, which he used in those years, the motif of the crucifixion appeared, to which the artist later often returned. Introducing narrative, symbolic content and figure into a balanced composition, the author entered the post-informal phase of new figuration. With this composition, the artist performed as part of the Yugoslav selection at the Biennale of Youth in Paris in 1963.

The seventies and eighties were marked by large-format works, expressiveness in color, more recognizable forms and more clearly defined figures on a dark background, from which light radiates. In the 1980s and 1990s, Pavlović painted a series of still lifes, only to be later brought back to the theme of the crucifixion by wars, mass suffering, the collapse of the country, anxiety and hopelessness. During this period, inspired by the prevailing atmosphere in society and the artist's personal feelings, a series of expressionist depictions of chairs resembling barber's, dentist's or torture chairs, but recognizable and placed in a realistic space, was created, which would foreshadow a later cycle of Procustica.

The 2000s brought innovations in visual expression. The works of a new character, gradually becoming more intense in color, with a background in a single, pure color resembling a poster, with expressive drawings with elements of pop art, were actually a picture of ironic reality and a mocking understanding of the moment, supported by the use of lettrism and depictions of birds of prey, beasts and kaleidoscopes.

The retrospective exhibition in Niš is an opportunity, two decades after he was no longer with us, to present the half-century development path of this prolific creator, who, with his artistic work and social engagement, significantly contributed to the formation of the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts Niš in 1970 and to the improvement of its work. The exhibition presents a selection of works from the private property of the Pavlović family, created in the period from the sixties to the two thousandths.

Of particular value are the paintings from Zoran Pavlović's early, youthful phase, which have not been presented in retrospective exhibitions until now. They testify to his initial interest in the figure and geometric form, which later, by actively entering the art scene and freeing himself from the influence of educational dogmas, pushed the author into the world of abstraction and informel, only to continue his creative path by researching the field of new figuration, and finally, by allegorically presenting historical events and themes from the history of art, applying non-painting materials in the creation of paintings and objects, completing the cycle of continuous painting work.

During his fruitful and rich career, Zoran Pavlović organized a large number of solo and group exhibitions in the country and abroad. The rich opus of the creator, the subject of study by numerous curators and critics, includes thousands of paintings and drawings, which are part of gallery collections and museum collections throughout the country. His works of applied art adorn public spaces in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kraljevo and Pirot. Pavlović is a winner of prestigious awards for his work. During his life in Niš, he presented himself three times (1968, 1981, 1988), was a participant in collective exhibitions and two convocations of the Art Colony Sićevo (1964, 1971). The collection of the Gallery of Contemporary Art Niš contains four of his works.

The exhibition will be open to the public until May 5th.

https://youtu.be/7xqJsWTNJNY?si=V5Z8rak0MZQhi6cQ

by Nebojsa

Selection of works of the International Printmaking Biennale Čacak

We invite you to the opening of the exhibition

Selection of works of the International Printmaking Biennale Čacak
The opening of the exhibition is on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 7 p.m., Oficirski dom gallery

The collection of graphics from the collection of the International Biennale of Graphics in Čačak represents a dynamically constituted social space where artistic practices, institutional strategies and cultural policies meet. In accordance with Bourdieu’s analysis of cultural production, it can be understood as a place of struggle for symbolic capital, where values ​​are not found, but produced and legitimized through a network of relationships between artists, curators, audiences and organizational structures (Bourdieu, 1993). This collection, therefore, is not just a collection of objects but a materially grounded system of symbolic values ​​that redefines the notion of graphic art as an institutional and aesthetic resource.

The Biennial of Graphic Arts in Čačak, as a self-initiative and independent, project-funded organization, stands for the Collection holder. Even though the project finance may seem unpredictable regarding the activities of this organization, it also encourages its innovation, mobility and international connectivity. Considering the contemporary cultural economy, this model of functioning points to the local context and the tendency of the institutional framework of art to transform from stable, state-supported structures to flexible, networked and temporarily constituted forms. As Howard Becker points out, art is created within “art worlds”, i.e. cooperative systems that enable the production and circulation of works (Becker, 1982). In this respect, the Biennial of Graphic Arts in Čačak is an example of a self-organized art world that, despite limited resources, produces a high level of symbolic significance.

Within the Biennial collection, graphics function as a medium of mediation of both images and relations. They become a platform for the encounter of different cultural experiences, thereby confirming the thesis that contemporary art does not create objects isolated in a field of aesthetic autonomy, but situations of dialogue and exchange – a kind of (inter)space of social interaction within the “interstitial” zones of contemporary society (Bourriaud, 2002).

Namely, this Collection is more than a representative cross-section of contemporary practices; it is an infrastructure of cultural recollection and a laboratory of social relations. As an independent initiative, it questions the limits of institutional power and shows that symbolic capital can be accumulated outside customary hubs. At the same time, its international dimension testifies the involvement in global flows of artistic exchange. In this sense, this Collection acts as an open system – a space of continuous reinterpretation, where each new selection does not diminish its meaning and significance but articulates it anew.  The sociological and cultural value of the Collection lies in its actual dynamic, i.e. not only it conserves graphics, but also keeps alive the field in which graphics act as a medium of critical thought and cultural exchange.

Through exhibitions like these, the collection of graphics from the Collection of the International Biennale of Graphics in Čačak continues to function as a living system of artistic knowledge and practice. It constantly and anew initiates a dialogue between tradition and innovation, local and global, artists and audiences, thus confirming the notion that collections are crucial to understanding of cultural and social transformations in the contemporary era.

by Nebojsa

Niš drawing – Reflections

"Niš Drawing - Reflections"

23.12. 2025. - 27.2.2026.

The Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts Niš faithfully cherishes its tradition of annually organizing a specialized exhibition called "Niš Drawing". For more than thirty years, the exhibition has been the focus of the organizers' dedication, the exhibitors' loyalty, and the support of the viewers.

For this year's "Niš Drawing" exhibition, a three-member selection committee selected works by 64 artists from many cities in Serbia from 102 submitted works, who responded in different ways, i.e. transparently, metaphorically, or symbolically, to the given theme - REFLECTIONS.

A number of artists (Jelena Šalinić Terzić, Branko Nikolov, Jelena Kitić, Đuro Radonjić, Katarina Đorđević, Nataša Stanojević, Bojan Živić, Boris Kandolf, Anita Jovanović Radosavljević, Milica Anđelković) with their artistic observations paradigmatically rely on the natural-physical domain of the concept of reflection. Their works, whether they record the moment that stands between movement and stillness, or rely on optical illusions of waves and reflections, exude a meditative atmosphere, a feeling of calm and silence, and are the product of the interaction of thoughtfulness and introversion of immediate artistic reaction. Most authors (including Sanja Solunac, Bratislav Bašić, Nikola Marković, Bojan Otašević, Anđela Mujčić, Zoran Krulj, Marko Stajić, Natalija Banjac, Stevan Kitić, Mia Arsenijević...) opted for the philosophical connotation of the term reflection, concentrating on the reflection of complicated and confusing circumstances of existing reality on the existential states of modern man, where the angles of their observations of the interdependence of the world and the world-cosmos are completely polyphonically intoned with sources in the domains of economics, psychology, ideology, ethics...

By using various motifs, textual messages, symbols, quotes, artists artistically define the concept of reflection in the context of social circumstances through some of the current issues of our time such as: the position of women, consumer society, petty-bourgeois mentality, worrying alienation, drug addiction, personality fragmentation, identity crisis... The exhibition includes a wide generational range of represented artists, so it provides the opportunity for dialogue and comparison between the works of established artists well-known to the wider and professional public and the works of very young authors who have just completed their art education. The exhibition also testifies to the different understanding of drawing. Some artists approach it in a traditional way and use common means (pencil, charcoal, ink and pen, pastel, watercolor) to build their linear or colored structures lyrically, expressionistically or geometrically cultivated, while others define their relationship to drawing through the expanded field of its activity in other media (painting, digital print, photography, video), aware that drawing is the original beginning, although perhaps slightly noticeable in the final product.

by Nebojsa

10. Niš salon: 12/2

10. Niš Salon: 12/2

Officers' Home 20 November – 17 December 2025

For the tenth time, the public will be able to visit Niš Salon: 12/2, an annual exhibition that includes works by twelve artists chosen by two selectors. The selectors of this year's anniversary exhibition are Ivona Fregl, an independent curator from Belgrade, and Professor Slobodan Radojković from the Faculty of Arts in Niš. Ivona Fregl's selection includes works by Dragoslav Krnajski, Dušan Stipić Dudwarszky, Sanja Latinović, Nina Todorović, Nina Marić and Danja Tekić, while Slobodan Radojković's selection includes works by Lidija Antanasijević, Vladimir Veljašević, Elizabeta Matorkić Bisenić, Vladimir Milanović, Ivana Milev and Mina Rakidžić Dostanić.

The selection of works by Ivona Fregl includes both classical and so-called new media: sculpture, painting, collage, assemblage, video, photography, performance and installation. Interpreting them, Ivona Fregl states, among other things: Dragoslav Krnajski’s works problematize the socio-political situation, inflammatory rhetoric and the present tension that affects us all. Dušan Stipić Dudvarski’s monumental installation exposes the subordinate position of modern man and the meaninglessness of such an existence. Sanja Latinović’s performances point to the precarious work of artists, but also to the importance of unity and collective actions through empathy. Nina Todorović’s video works and collages establish nature’s constant resistance to unprofessional, brutalist attempts to tame it. Nina Marić’s visually receptive polyptych Herbarium – New Life represents the dual nature (medicine and poison) of plants. Danja Tekić's works take us back to ourselves, to a place, a peaceful world in which all options are not only possible but also present in parallel.

Slobodan Radojković's selection consists of works from the domains of graphics, drawings, collages, paintings, sculptures and objects. Lidija Antanasijević observes socio-political movements with the selected works. Vladimir Veljašević's reduced landscapes are characterized by the proportionality of surfaces and the flow of lines, while Elizabeta Matorkić Bisenić's collages carry a personalized thought about humanity and renunciation. As a paraphrase of her own work, Vladimir Milanović's colored drawings carry transparency and lightness. In non-standard sculptural materials, Ivana Milev's interweavings constitute a monumental object. Mina Rakidžić Dostanić's work is executed with unconventional graphic procedures, conceptually indicated by reflections on the nature of space and surroundings.

Ivona Fregl (Belgrade, 1969) graduated in 2005 from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Department of Art History, Department of History of Architecture. In the period 2016-2018, she was a curator and member of the artistic council of the Lucida Gallery in Belgrade. She is one of the founders and director of the citizens' association for the development and advancement of visual and fine arts ART-ZUM. Since 2018, she has been working as an independent curator. She has organized, realized and was the author of the text in the catalogs of more than fifty solo and group exhibitions. She is a member of ULUPUDS in the status of an independent artist (cultural expert).

Slobodan Radojković (Niš, 1967) graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje in 1992. He completed his postgraduate studies in graphics (1996) and his doctoral studies in art (2016) at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. He works at the Faculty of Arts, University of Niš, as a full professor for the subjects of Graphics and Graphics with Technology. He was employed as a curator and graphic designer at the Gallery of the SLU Niš from 1994 to 2015. He initiated the establishment of the Graphic Workshop Sićevo in 2006.

He has been a member of ULUS since 1993, since when he has exhibited at more than 350 collective exhibitions in the country and abroad (Macedonia, Bulgaria, Argentina, Japan, Greece, USA, Canada, Egypt, France, Romania, China, Montenegro, Mexico, Italy, Hungary, Belgium...). He has held 32 solo exhibitions in many cities in Serbia (Niš, Belgrade, Pirot, Novi Sad, Kikinda, Prokuplje, Smederevska Palanka, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Raška, Leskovac) and abroad (Bulgaria, USA, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia).

At the opening of the 10th Niš Salon: 12/2, the performance Čoveče, ne žruti se by Sanja Latinović will be performed. The Niš Salon Award for the most successful work will be awarded later, during the duration of the exhibition. The public will be able to visit it until November 17.

by Nebojsa

diSTRUCTURE "Unequal Geographies / Possibility of the Sublime"

On Thursday, October 9th at 7 p.m., the exhibition "Unequal Geographies / Possibility of the Sublime" by the artistic duo diSTRUKTURA will open in the exhibition hall of the former Officers' Home.

Milica Milićević and Milan Bosnić (diSTRUKTURA) graduated and received their master's degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Department of Painting. Since 2005, they have been working together as the artistic duo diSTRUKTURA and under that name have participated in over 30 solo and more than 70 group exhibitions in Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Romania, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Japan, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, Finland and Egypt. diSTRUKTURA has participated in artist-in-residence programs and workshops in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Italy, Finland, Egypt and Serbia. They are the recipients of several awards and scholarships, including the Pollock-Krasner grant for 2015. Their works are in over 15 public and private collections.

diSTRUKTURA continuously engages with landscape, examining the role of this genre and its formal modalities, starting from romantic painting, all the way to digital and artificially generated images. By addressing the essential connection of this artistic genre and its historical conditioning with ideas of identity, belonging, power and hegemony, they raise a number of questions concerning individual and collective awareness of biodiversity and the universal importance of its preservation, on the one hand, and unilateral economic interest, on the other. Through the artistic work of diSTRUKTURA, neglected differences between natural places, landscapes subordinated to human needs and virtual nature are mediated, that is, they point to the historical deprivation of the direct experience of nature.

This artistic couple is continuously present on the international contemporary art scene, and their work features landscapes of different meridians and vedutes of different cities around the world. The exhibition “Unequal Geographies” belongs to the project “Possibility of the Sublime” and, based on scenes from the mines of the former Zlatara Majdanpek, now managed by the Chinese company Zijin Mining, it speaks about the geopolitical aspect of a space and points to the worrying possibility of recognizing something that could perhaps be called the image of a colonial landscape, which is present in economically underdeveloped areas.

The dominant part of the exhibition in Niš is represented by paintings, which treat the category of the sublime in two ways. In a smaller number of works, through sequentiality and filtering, similar to digital manipulation of images, a certain landscape is presented as more delicate or exciting than the initial occasion itself. However, the primary principle in a larger number of works is the successive annulment of the landscape until its complete abolition, thus approaching “sublime destruction” no longer as an aesthetic category, but as a paradigm of human existence.

The exhibition in the Officers’ Home will include works of art in the fields of painting, photography and video. This is the first solo exhibition of diSTRUKTURA in Niš. They were participants in the art colony "Sićevo" in 2011, and their works were exhibited as part of numerous exhibitions from the Contemporary Painting Collection of the SLU Gallery, as well as in the 5th Niš Salol: 12/2. The exhibition in Niš is organized by the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts, after which it will be held in Kruševac and Čačak. A rich unified catalog will be published at the end of this year in co-publishing by the Art Gallery "Nadežda Petrović" Čačak, the Art Gallery Kruševac, the SLU Gallery Niš and the non-governmental organization ProArtOrg from Belgrade. In addition to diSTRUKTURA, the opening of the exhibition "Unequal Geographies / Possibility of the Sublime" will also be addressed by art historian Sanja Kojić Mladenov, the curator of the exhibition and the author of the text accompanying this exhibition. On behalf of the SLU Gallery, the curator is Milan Ristić.

by Nebojsa

Seven decades of dedication - Gallery of the Serbian Army Home 1953–2023

Seven Decades of Commitment - Gallery of the Serbian Armed Forces

1953–2023, organized in cooperation with the Defense Media Center of the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia.

The exhibition premiered in December 2023 at the Gallery of the Serbian Armed Forces in Belgrade, and is dedicated to marking 70 years of its existence and work. The exhibition consisted of 70 of the most representative works of fine and applied art from the rich collection, which includes about 1,500 works of national art. After the Belgrade premiere, the exhibition also visited the Kikinda National Museum in 2024.

The Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts Niš, in the Officers' Hall, will exhibit several works created in the first half of the last century, such as paintings by Vlaho Bukovac, Ljubo Ivanovic, Marin Tartalja, Milo Milunovic, Kosta Hakman, Jovan Bijelic. The majority of the exhibition will consist of works by Serbian and Yugoslav artists from the second half of the 20th century, such as Petar Lubarda, Zora Petrovic, Milan Konjovic, Mica Popovic and many others. Visitors will also be able to see sculptures by prominent sculptors Nandor Glid, Tomo Rosandic, Angelina Gatalica, as well as works by applied artists Velimir Vukicevic, Borivoj Dedic, Aranka Mojak (ceramics) and Vanja Zanko (tapestry).

The author of the exhibition is Jelena Knežević, museum advisor and head of the Gallery of the Serbian Army House, Belgrade. The visual identity was taken care of by Maja Vučković from the Media Center Odbrana, and the reviews are signed by Dr. Marijana Mraović from the Military Archives and Dr. Katarina Živanović from the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

The exhibition will be open to the public until October 5, 2025.

by Nebojsa

STRUCTURES – NIŠ DRAWING 2024

STRUCTURES – DRAWING FROM NISH 2024 STRUCTURES – DRAWING FROM NISH 2024

December 17, 2024 - February 15, 2025

The first exhibition dedicated to drawing as an independent art discipline was organized back in 1991 in the Pavilion of the Niš Fortress and for the next six years it gathered only Niš artists. At the beginning of the new millennium, after a short break, this exhibition grew into a large, significant annual event with a competitive character with a given theme, to which artists from all over Serbia applied. As it gained popularity and an increasing response, each subsequent one was juried.

A total of 94 authors from Niš and other cities in Serbia participated in this year's thirtieth edition, and according to the jury's selection, the exhibition will feature works by 51 authors.

The theme of the Niš Drawing is: STRUCTURES (lat-struete - to arrange, to create)

The figurative approach in fine art has been understood and built from nameless and abstract elements since ancient times. Many contemporary artists have built their aesthetics on the structure of a painting, sculpture, graphic sheet, contemporary drawing or even an installation. We can view structure in the true sense but also comprehensively. Life and social structures, structural orientations, biological structures, sexual structures, political structures, structures of the written word, structures of natural phenomena, structures in music, art, painting, can be terms for visualizing this at first glance simple expression.

The broad understanding of Structure has inspired a large number of Niš Drawing artists, so the works created on the aforementioned theme have been viewed from multiple angles. Most of them stuck to their already recognizable and authentic artistic, intellectual and visual identity, so the exhibition represented a multitude of different techniques and styles. Certainly, the diversity in the understanding of drawing requires a complex reading, drawing attention to the evolution of drawing as a media in the contemporary world of new technologies, which is why, in addition to classic drawing (on charcoal paper or pencil), digital drawing is also represented. While for some artists, the drawing is completely materialized, building a structure of form, color, line, surface. On this occasion, the artists, with their thematic determinants, draw the public's attention to modern man surrounded by globalization, increasing stratification, wars, drastic differences in material status and the struggle for existence. We must mention the influence of social networks on the everyday life of the younger population. The layering of digital media as well as their diverse content can be of great benefit but also harm to society in general. All of the above also affects the contemporary artist, providing him with greater perspectives and information. Therefore, with the abundance of technical possibilities and the creativity of our artists, the exhibition represents a true review of drawing disciplines, which can be divided into several artistic units.

The tradition of classical drawing made in the technique of charcoal, watercolor, graphite pencil and combined techniques in figurative representation is noticeable in Milica Antonijević, Jelena Aranđelović, Miljana Dimitrijević, Ana Cvejić, Anđela Micić, Bojan Otašević, Jovan Spasić, Ivan Perak, Vladimir Randjelović, Sofija Milovanović. With a multi-layered figurative composition performed in pencil and clear ink, Jelena Trajković Popivoda puts drawing on a higher level so that drawing, like life, becomes a game. Expression through nature and natural phenomena is present in the drawings of Biljana Vuković, Jelena Malikov, Slobodan Radojković, Đura Radonjić, Daniela Fulgosi, Tatjana Marticki, while, for example, Jelena Šalinić Terzić, with her monumental depiction of a rocky scene in a relief layered spread of color and line, emphasizes the dominance of nature over man.

The games of geometric shapes and forms, intertwined lines, and circles are dealt with by Vesna Zarev, Stevan Kitić, Danilo Paunović, Jasna Gulan Ruzić, Vladica Ristić, Radovan Stanojev, Milica Rajković, while Dejan Ristić, Tijana Miljković, Marta Pejčić, and Nataša Stanojev use the new possibilities of modern computer drawing and photography techniques.

Nikola Milanov, Anđela Mujčić, Teodora Nikolić, Nikola Marković, Ivana Savić Dragana Kuprešanin, each in their own individual expression, deal with the emotions of modern man caused by personal lived memories or global problems and society.

We observe segments from nature transposed through photography with the rusticity of natural stone in Boris Kandolf. Bratislav Bašić emphasizes the connection with the past of centuries-old culture, art and religion through the remains of our cultural heritage. Many other works realized in abstract representation through drawing, collage, embroidery on paper, canvas generate a broader perspective of understanding structure (Jovana Đorđević, Anica Radošević, Teodora Nikolić, Dominika Morariu). Stylized ornaments from folk handicrafts such as carpets, Nikola Radosavljević, by perforating white paper, wants to point out the equality of everyone in the world and call for truce and harmony. The drawing woven into the stone sculpture of Julija Dubavac takes us back to the ancient past of our ancestors and the drawings in the caves of Altamira, emphasizing the layered intellectual structure of man, that same modern being, the only evolutionary of all mammals on the planet.

Tamara Pešić renames the drawing a warning sign and an anxiety zone of modern society.

The Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts Niš has been nurturing an exhibition named after its venue for more than three decades and is grateful to the authors who have responded positively to the given topic over the past years and whose works, each in their own unique way, have left their mark on the art of their time.

by Nebojsa