Gabrijel Savic Ra

“An eclectic artist, Gabrijel Savic Ra, expresses himself through a variety of media: performance art, video, painting, installations, and music. Heir to the famous Balkan tradition, characterized by a relationship with visceral, at times extreme, bodily themes, Savic Ra's performances are often focused on the human body – on the pressures placed upon it by society, by pain, by suffering – and not infrequently innervated by political or existential motivations.
Balkan Opera - Final Act is a site-specific performance divided into different acts, during which the artist, step by step, enacts the massacre of the war in the Balkans through metaphor.“

Eugenio Viola

Curator of Museo Madre - Museo d'Arte
Contemporanea Donnaregina

Everything around this kind and congenial person is a mystery! Starting with his birth date (is it 31. December 1977. or 01. January 1978.), which is uncertain! But hi is not!
Everyone thought that after Marina Abramovic, Belgrade will never have performance artist of that caliber, but Mr. Savic Ra proved the opposite. In only 3 years of work he developed a variety of concepts that echoed not only in Serbia and region, but (and maybe even much more!) around the world, as well.
Gabriel Savic Ra uses the esthetics of minimalism, conceptualism and signals from other visual arts and philosophy, incorporated in performance art, nowadays essentially streaming to body art performance.
Unlike other current body artists, such as Ron Athey or Franko B, he excludes any kind of shocking aggression from of his work. Almost purely esthetical and highly methodical, the concepts of this artist may be considered much more as a storytelling or painting, using body as a pencil, as a brush… Closed, almost locked up into concepts, he communicates with audience not thru a shock, but thru great distances, by sings his body emits. He does not have the intention to infiltrate the observer into his world, primarily because it is the same world they are sharing, but to envisage some of the facts in a way that is drastic and naked. To demonstrate it to the audience as they are, from artist’s specific point of view. Lack of his personal involvement in his working points, makes it generic and overall. Even blood of Mr. Savic Ra is not just his blood, but blood of every human being that coexists in time. It is a blood that colors this moment of humanity!

The calmness that comes over Gabrijel Savic Ra while he is performing, gives his pieces an aura of trust. He opens himself up to the pain and to the audience. In “Consumed by Rose” Gabrijel literally opens himself up by slowly drawing lines in his feet, hands, arms and chest, with a razor. The blood stands in contrast to the white cloth he sits on and his blood sticks to. It spreads across his skin, coloring him bloody. He then replaces his lost blood with the petals of red roses. Eating them slowly, petal by petal. He looks at the audience deeply, creating intimacy through eye contact. In “Algorithms of Nihil” Gabrijel lies his hand, palm down, on a print in a Gaugain monograph. He then drips wax from a candle onto the back of his hand. He melds himself with the image, punishing himself and the book, and simultatneously creating unity.

Occult science and magic symbols are the part of the human civilization for centuries and in the present time of empirical science ruling, they are less present in public life and they are more part of hidden mystics life’s and the esotery students. One of contemporary artists who makes this ideas alive and affirmative’s them through his art projects is Belgrade’s multimedia artist, painter, performer, video artist and editor in Belgrade’s Students cultural center, Gabrijel Savic Ra. He presented the cycle of paintings in the Gallery of the Center for visual culture “Golden eye” called “Les Symboles” (The Symbols) where he presented symbols taken from Middle Ages mystical scriptures. This symbols represents certain spiritual entities, good and bad, that concerns humans or their surroundings and they are illustrated on five paintings in black and white scale of color tones.
As a basis for painted symbols it was used an informel play of splashing and spilling of black pigment of the canvas surface whit what it created an accidental spots that look like as an unpredictable reality and interaction of life phenomena’s and energies. On this kind of symbolical basis Savic writes big symbols that were he took from Middle Ages occult scriptures. Following his explanation in the catalogue those are the symbols that have influence by associative principle initializing human imagination, because they are already implanted in our sub consciousness as determent archetypes. They are connected with fears, desires, inter human relationships and relations with nature; manifesting themselves through morality, desire for eternity, urge for ancient, love etc.
So, the paintings, which Savic has exhibited in “Golden eye”, have strong and historically and civilization founded context and the author has allowed himself artistic freedom that this five already mentioned symbols express in visual and gallery space, where they are getting the meaning and the field of coming to life. With artistic values that are influenced by extremely informel basis, these paintings have ontological and magical dimension and this map’s them on our contemporary art scene as extraordinary and makes them particularly interesting.

Solo exhibitions:

-2013, "Freedom: Godot Has Finally Arrived", White Place Gallery, Portland, OR, US
-2007, “Les Symboles”, Golden eye Gallery, Novi Sad, Serbia
-2006, “Under The Reason”, Atelier Momas Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
-2006, “Introspective reprogramming of perception”, Museum of Contemporary Art,Novi Sad, Serbia
-2005, “ Neubauten Der Natur” (with Andjela Stevanovic) Artget Gallery , Belgrade Cultural Center, Serbia
-2004, “ Fortuna impact”, IZBA Gallery, Novi Sad, Serbia
-2003, “ Retro futurum”, Gallery of SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2003, “ Aoristos dias”, Gallery Circus, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia

Group exhibitions:

-2018, Immigration 101: Artists Speak Out, Avenue 50 Studio, Los Angeles, California
-2017, Annual #7 Pop-Up Gallery, Keller Williams Larchmont, Los Angeles, California
-2017, Dia De Los Muertos, Pacific Northwest College Of Art, Portland, Oregon
-2016, International Triennial Of Extended Media, Belgrade, Serbia
-2016, IIPE 7th Annual Conference in Political Economy (Activist Session), Lisbon, Portugal
-2016, Festival x-24, X-Church, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, UK
-2016, Wybor prace wideo (guest artist at Vojislav Radovanovic’s exhibition), Galeria Nad Wista, Torun, Poland
-2016, IVHM Festival, Avant-Garde Arts Center of Madrid La Neomudejar, Madrid, Spain
-2016, “Signature”, RAW Portland, Roseland Theater, Portland, Oregon
-2016, ” I Don’t Get it”, AB Gallery Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA
-2015, “The Other “I” In Art,” (Av)+(Ga) project, Action/Adventure Theater, Portland, Oregon, USA
-2015, Fifth Annual Exposure Award, Louvre Museum, Paris, France
-2015, “Peripheral Vision” (project by Alexa Wilson and Samin Son), Month Of Performance Art, Berlin, Germany
-2015, ArtVenice Biennale 3, Venice, Italy
-2014, “Hunger”, Jugoslovenska Kinoteka – Yugoslav Film Archive, Belgrade, Serbia
-2014, Art Takes Miami, SCOPE Art Show, Miami, Florida, USA
-2014, “What’s Funny”, Procvetaj Festival, Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzoric, Association of Fine Artists Of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
-2014, Monthly screening #1, Replants.com, Fremantle, Western Australia
-2014, Mimart Theater 30th Anniversary SPOT festival of autoperformance, Belgrade, Serbia
-2013, “Facing Belgrade - Contemporary Art From Serbia”, Luis Leu – Karlsruher Kunstplattform, Karsruhe, Germany
-2013, “SOS – Culture In Protest”, Belgrade Cultural Center, Serbia
-2013, “Open Mind – Open World”, International Mix Media Art Triennal, Belgrade, Serbia
-2013, “Inventia Inclusiva”, International Triennal Of Extended Media, Belgrade, Serbia
-2012, Art Takes Times Square, New York
-2012, “Open Walls”, Talisman Gallery, Oregon, USA
-2010, Draft Title: Shoah v1.0, A Virtual Memorial Foundation, NewMediaFest’2010, Cologne, Germany
-2009, “Body/Identity Politics and the Representation of Power”, Art Video Exchange and Rauland kunstforening exhibition,
Rauland, Norway
-2009, “Ars Nocturna”, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Continental Shells”, Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “DEEVEEDEE No. 4”, AVE Art Video Exchange Festival, Landmark Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway
-2007, “CremArtorium”, SCC, Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “Till Death Us Do Art”, ACT ART 5, London, UK
-2007, “Structure Design Modify”, Design Week, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “DEEVEEDEE No.3 part two”, Pasadena Museum of California Art, California, USA
-2007, “DEEVEEDEE No.3”, Artists' Television Access, San Francisco, USA
-2007, “We’re # 1”, Smoke Gallery, Niagara Falls, Canada
-2006, ''Performance Art in Serbia – The Choice Of Ten'' (Nenada Bogdanovic project), Rencontre Internationale D’Art
Performance De Quebec, Quebec, Canada
-2006, Terminal00, Ljubljana, Slovenia
-2006, “Displaced people”, Independent Museum of Contemporary Art, Cyprus
-2006, “Identity Redesigned” (inside of the project USOD), Design Week, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, 2nd Athens Video Festival, Athens, Greece
-2006, “Art Of Sin”, Altered Aesthetics Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
-2006, Presentation of the awarded films and videos on the 2005 Belgrade festival Alternative film/video, Multimedia Center,
Mala Stanica, Macedonia
-2005, Alternative film and video festival, Home of Cultural Center “Student Town”, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Performatiques”, Videopak, MX ESPAI, Barcelona, Spain
-2005,”Loop”, The Video Art Festival, Barcelona, Spain
-2005, “The Audio Speaker Art”, Smoke Gallery, Niagara Falls, Canada
-2005, MOBILeye, Revial GSM film festival, Museum of Applied Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Visions Of Utopia”, Changing Room Gallery, London, UK
-2005, Zemos98 Audio-visual festival, Seville, Spain
-2004, Alternative film and video festival, Home of Cultural Center “Student Town”, Belgrade, Serbia
-2004, “The life in Color”, Artget Gallery, Belgrade Cultural Center, Serbia
-2003, “Media, Art and Gender”, H.Arta, Temisoara, Romania
-2002, “Time Codes”, 5th International Biennial of young artists, Vrsac, Serbia

Award for one of the best video achievements in 2005 by Academic Film Center at Alternative film and video festival, Belgrade, SCG

Gabrijel Savić Ra ( 1978 )

Education:
2018, studies philosophy ay Portaldn State University
2006, studies of Management of mass media, Academy of Fine Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
2005, Marketing, management and PR of the cultural institutions at the Center for
professional development & consulting-University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
1997-2003, studies of philosophy at Philosophical faculty, Belgrade, Serbia


Since 2010 director and main coordinator for Corpus Artisticum Network

2010, art director of April Meetings Festival, Belgrade, Serbia

2009, art director of April Meetings Festival, Belgrade, Serbia

From 2007 contributive editor for web site Creative Europe

From 2007 to 2009, founder and curator of “Art@Art Gallery”, Students Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia

2005, founder of art group “Corpus Artisticum”

2005 - 2006, one of editors in “Pop Cult”, Alter pop magazine for art and culture

2005, producer of visual arts at Belgrade Summer Festival, Serbia

From 2005 to 2010, curator of specialized gallery for photography, “Circus” gallery, Students Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia

From 2004 to 2010, founder and art director of international “In-Difference“ Festival, Belgrade, Serbia

From 2003 to 2005, Editor of “Speak out” art forums (with Paula Muhr), Students Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia

From 2003 to 2010, founder and curator of specialized gallery for video, installations and performance, “V.I.P.Art Gallery”, Students Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia

Curator projects:

-2015, “The Other “I” In Art,” (Av)+(Ga) project, Action/Adventure Theater, Portland, Oregon
-2014, USA Video Selection (with Insa Evans), April Meetings, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2010, April Meetings, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2009, “Trauma”, Belgrade-Naples, Naples-Belgrade, Serbia and Italy
-2009, Eco Echo, Circus Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, PerformTimeLine, Zorica Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, RetroSpect – Retrospective Exhibition Of Corpus Artisticum group, Art@Art
Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, Free Gallery, Circus Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, Body To Body – Void In Between Movement, April Meetings concept, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, Subcultures: Gothic, Art@Art Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, Art Next To You, mix media group exhibition, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “Introspect Infect”, Kibla, Maribor, Slovenia
-2007, “inter-art-city”, Brussels – Belgrade, Belgrade – Brussels, Belgium and Serbia
-2007, “Modify Video Experience”, April meetings festival, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “INTERMEDIA”, mix media group exhibition, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “World Video – New Form Of Beauty”, MKC, Skoplje, Macedonia
-2006, “Frame’s”, exhibition of video still’s, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Ars Mystique II”, group exhibition and lectures, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Ars Mystique”, group exhibition and lectures, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “IN-DIFFERENCE III”, International video festival, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Video Mode’s”, April meetings festival, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Focus” – Photography and Theory, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Video Integrations”, BELEF 05, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “IN-DIFFERENCE II end again”, SCC, Beograd, Serbia
-2005, “Terrorism – work in progress”, group exibition, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Video Web”, April meetings festival, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2004, “System”, September salon, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2004, “IN-DIFFERENCE”, festival of mix medias, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2004, “V.I.P. Art for All”, April meetings festival, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia


Published books of poetry:

-2002, “The Power of Fallen Angel”
-2002, “The Last Lovers”

Published in yearbooks and magazines:

-2012, Roll - A Collection of Personal Narratives
-2011, Crossed Genres Quarterly 1
-2010, The Strand Book Of International Poets for 2010
-2010, First Breath – 2010 Anthology Of Poems
-2010, REM Magazine, Vol. 1
-2010, SKIVE Magazine
-2009, Alma's collection of the Short stories for the year of 2009
-2008, The Word in Space, Anthology of short stories and poetry
-2006, Remont Art Magazine no. 14 (article “Body Art – Painful Body Of Art”)
-2006, Alma's collection of the Short stories for the year of 2005
-2005, Remont Art Magazine no.12 (“Frames Lost In Time”, article about Serbian video scene)
-2004, “ Writings27”, Yearbook for Poetry and short Novels of young writers from
former Yugoslavia
-2003, “ Writings26”, Yearbook for Poetry and short Novels of young writers from
former Yugoslavia

N/A for now

--2017, “Instinctual Resolutions” (with Avory Gilbert II aka ADOS 33), within POLYCHROMA COLLECTIVE’s LIGHT (work) show,
UNA Gallery, Portland, Oregon
-2016, “They said sacred, I said human”, Alvord Desert, Oregon, USA
-2014, “Freedom: Meditation On Lost And Time To Come”, Oregon Sandy Dunes, USA
-2013, “Freedom: Repetition #1”, House Of Dreams, Portland, Oregon
-2012, “ Bleed Black – White Emptiness – Red Release”, C.A. Studio, Portland, Oregon
-2012, “Freedom: Movement”, Place Gallery, Portland, Oregon
-2009, “Balkan Opera – Final Act”, MADRE Museum Of Contemporary Art, Napoli Teatre Festival, Italy
-2009, “Four-Sided Figure”, Museum Night, Belgrade, Serbia
-2009, “Choose Your Way To Be Forgotten”, SPOT festival of autoperformance, Belgrade, Serbia
-2009, “XY” (with Nela Antonovic), ULUS Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Never Follow The Artist”, public space, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Marking The Thinking Machine”, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Big Bang Belgrade” (with Nela Antonovic), SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Breathing - Walking – Touching”, Ars in actio – perfo festival, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Time Stands Still”, 14th International Festival Of Alternative And New Theatre, Novi Sad, Serbia
-2008, “And Red Ends Red (with Marco Nektan), Ozon Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Great Annihilator No. ‰” (with Marco Nektan), April Meetings festival, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Digressions Of Mortality Into Robotic Metaphysics”, “Dr. Vinko Perčić”, Gallery, Subotica, Serbia
-2008, “Releasing The Filth”, International “six_events” project, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Todestrilogie: Tanz von Nihil”, side specific place, Belgrade, Serbia
-2008, “Todestrilogie: Lächeln Für das Grabstein-Foto”, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “Todestrilogie: Phänomenologie Des Geistes”, International Biennale Of Expanded Medias, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “The End Of Program”, 9th International Multimedia Art Festival, Odzaci, Serbia
-2007, “Capital”, 13th International Festival Of Alternative And New Theatre, Novi Sad, Serbia
-2007, “CremArtorium” (with group of artists), public space, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “Black is the color of innocence” (with Maja Zivkovic), April Meetings festival, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “Post Apocalyptical Humans” (with Marco Nektan), public space, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “Marriage with Art” (with N. Antonovic and Mimart Theater), SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2007, “Balkan Opera – Third Act”, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Balkan Opera – Second Act”, Atelier Momas Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
-2006, “Balkan Opera – First Act” (performed by VojislaV Radovanovic), Youth Cultural Center, Skoplje, Macedonia
-2006, “My heart is empty, but…” (with Gordanom Trajkovic), FONA - Festival Of New Art, Rijeka, Croatia
-2006, “Lament for Maria Farmosa”, Church of Maria Farmosa, Pula, Croatia
-2006, “Capital – Endless line of numbers” (in the honor of Linda Kliewer), little hall, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Nihil Algorithms (Paul Gaugin’s Hand)”, IZBA Gallery, Novi Sad, Serbia
-2006, “Consumed By The Rose”, 8th International Multimedial Art Festival, Odzaci, Serbia
-2006, “Zos Alter Ego”, Open Mind – Open World, International Multimedia Art Project, Home of Cultural Center “Student
Town”, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Feather Signalization” (with Nela and Lidija Antonovic), 18th Independent Art Festival, Sint Niclaas, Belgium
-2006, “Reflexion”, April Meetings Festival, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Printing Machines” (with Tatjana T. Bajovic), Museum of Contemporary Art, Novi Sad, Serbia
-2006, “Ra-Hoor-Khuit Chromosomes – Empty Space For Cyber Wisdom”, Ozon Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
-2006, “Where the enigma is…”, SCC, Belgrade
-2005, “… and me” (with Nela Antonovic), Little Hall, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Ritual opening of the exhibition” (with Mimart Theatre), Galery Circus, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Dancing Footsteps” (with Goran Micevski), Little Hall, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “To Supervise Or To Punish”, within the project of Mimart Theatre, Festival Museum Night, Military Museum,
Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Four Elements – Burning The Fifth”, 7th International Multimedial Art Festival, Odzaci, Serbia
-2005, “Silent Word As Everlasting Understanding” (with Milica Lapcevic), Academic Film Center, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Mandala of Creation”, within the project of Flexible Art Network, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “De profundis, my cyber Lord - downloading the Gods”, IETM meeting, Gallery of YCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2005, “Ma Longue Misere”, Little Hall, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2004, “ Spectrum”, IZBA Gallery, Novi Sad, Serbia
-2004, Action with Era Milivojevic, Gallery of Youth Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia
-2004, “ Satori cyber Adonai De Profundis”, BELEF 04, Barutana, Belgrade, Serbia
-2004, “ Kunst uber alles” (with Slavko Timotijevic), Big Hall, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia
-2003, “ The Dance of the Shadows” (with Ana Zivancevic Ra), Youth Cultural Center, Pancevo, Serbia
-2003, “ Spying out the shadows/ Naked us you come No.2” (with Ana Zivancevic Ra), Cultural Center, Zrenjanin, Serbia
-2003, “ Spying out the shadows/ Naked us you come” (with Mirjana Stojadinovic), BELEF 03, Barutana, Belgrade, Serbia
-2003, “ The Marriageã”, Federal Agency for cultural property, Belgrade, Serbia
-2003, “ The Word sculptured by Sound” (concept and realization: Marko Stoimenov),
Big Hall, SCC, Belgrade, Serbia