Vukašin Stanković
BENEATH THE SURFACE
Vukašin Stanković’s artistic practice has been developing for a decade as a continuous and consistent exploration of the psychological state of the symbol, using the expressive potential of the medium of classical painting. Starting from modeling as a key artistic and conceptual pillar, the artist builds complex visual narratives in which personal, internal states gradually intertwine with broader social, political and cultural frameworks. Therefore, his paintings do not try to illustrate reality, but to critically reflect
on a world in which tensions, fears, forms of control, manipulation and violence have become an integral part of everyday life. During his formative years, Stanković was shaping his paintings on a clearly defined poetics of the body, initially through the subject matter primarily conditioned by personal experiences, only to be expanded and supported by broader social contexts later. Consequently, the theme of his previous body of work “Shadows and Depths”, exhibited in 2016 at the ULUS Gallery in Belgrade, is marked by the artist’s long-term water polo playing. Through depictions of bodies in motion/at rest, the author wanted to present the spiritual effort that accompanies the physical effort of athletes in achieving new levels of endurance of the human body, in order to enter the demanding world of water polo, and to present the experienced beauties and dangers of the sport itself.
The development of his further expression is characterized by a gradual transformation, in which ideas, formal procedures and conceptual interests are naturally transferred from one phase to another. Namely, as the artist himself emphasizes, the symbol of his work remains “the foundation and creator of everything”, while its evolution follows the changes of the author and the world he lives in. It is through this variability that the artist opens up space for reflection on human nature, primarily in the context
of psychological relationships that an individual, consciously or unconsciously, establishes with the systems that surround him. The new body of work “Beneath the Surface” represents a continuation of these analyses, with a clear focus on reflecting on contemporary social phenomena: alienation, social anxiety, aggression, violence, as well as institutionalized mechanisms of control and media manipulation. These phenomena are not depicted directly, but are visually summarized in allegorical scenes of strong dramatic intensity. Although deeply rooted in subjective experience, they deal with the ways in which personal states, behavioral patterns and relationships formed in intimate settings, such as family, are transmitted, multiplied and mirrored within social structures and systems of power.
The range of themes that Stanković depicts is based on elements of everyday life, with the man at the center. However, the forms in the paintings are not portraits of specific people, but rather carriers of certain states. Their identity remains unspoken, and their faces often appear personified or masked, which emphasizes the distance between the individual and the group. They take on the roles assigned to them, participating in repetitive patterns of behavior. In certain works, recognizable political actors,
national flags, as well as symbolic elements such as arches, balloons, etc., appear, whereas particular place is assigned to cartoon characters, which are introduced as part of the collective memory of childhood, but placed in an altered, often disturbing context, where they lose their innocence and become carriers of learned identities and values. Consequently, the spaces in which the figures are placed are most often closed, shallow, or vaguely defined. They also do not function as realistic depictions of specific places, but rather as psychological and social frameworks that reinforce feelings of pressure, tension, and confinement. The colossal dimensions of these planes and the dominance of black, on the one hand, and the intense color palette, on the other, further enhance the tension of the scene. Fragments of bodies and shapes emerge from the dark, almost abstract space, whose form is simultaneously shaped and dissolved by light. The physical is decomposed into masses, lines, and colors, and the distinct tension on the canvas is the result of the continuous process of transition from form to abstraction and abstraction to formation. However, the expressiveness of Stanković’s paintings does not stem only from the dynamics of the movements of the depicted bodies, sudden gestures, and sharp foreshortenings, but from the painter ′s stroke itself, as well. In addition to the brush, the artist uses his hands and fingers, thus making the painting a direct hint of bodily action. Gestural imprints become a sign of the presence of the painter’s body, shifting the focus from representation to the act of painting itself as a physical and dramatic experience.
Finally, the absence of a single narrative is one of the key features of Vukašin Stanković’s work; he does not offer ready-made answers, but leaves possibility for different interpretations. The connotation is formed within the spectator’s encounter with the painting, through the recognition of his own experiences and positions within the depicted structures. As the artist himself states, at the moment when inner conflict and inner peace ”reconcile”, the painting ceases to be a place of struggle and becomes
a place of understanding, not the end of the process, but its temporary equilibrium and the basis for further exploration.
Katarina Kuč, art historian