Predrag Lojanica

Predrag Lojanica was born on 22.12.1973. in Tomasevac, (Zrenjanin) Vojvodina, Serbia

BFA graduate 2003 at the Academy of Fine Arts (FLU) Belgrade University, class of prof. Cedomir Vasic.

MFA Master of Fine Arts 2007 „Portrait of Human"

ULUS Member (Association of Fine Artists of Serbia) from 2004

Established artist since 2006.

Address: Tel:+381 (0) 64 3257-434



EXHIBITIONS

Important Solo shows

16.04. – 25.04.2007. "PORTRAIT OF HUMAN" MFA works exhibition at Gallery F.L.U., Belgrade, Serbia
14.03. – 02.04.2006. „PEDAMAN“- paintings at Gallery Kolarac (Zaduzbina Ilije M.Kolarca) Belgrade, Serbia


Other shows

SMALL GRAPHICS - Gallery of Graphical Collective (Galerija Grafickog Kolektiva) Beolgrade, Serbia
Dec 2001- Jan 2002.

MOSAICS - Created by students of FLU currated by Djura Radlovic, Gallery Studentski grad, Belgrade, Serbia
14.11.-30.11.2002

PORTRAIT THROUGH TIME - Gallery N.U.“ Braca Stamenkovic", Belgrade, Serbia
25.04.-05.05.2003

XII BIENALE OF ART STUDENTS DRAWINGS IN SRBIJA AND MONTENEGRO - Gallery Studentski grad, Belgrade
10.05.-31.05.2003.

TOUCHES - ART COLONY SHOW at Staro Selo Sirogojno, Serbia
15.08 -25.08.2003

XXV GROUP EXHIBITION OF DRAWINGS - Gallery N.U.“Braca Stamenkovic“ Belgrade, Serbia
31.10.- 06.11.2003.

XXX PERSPECTIVES - Gallery „Andricev venac“ Belgrade, Serbia
11.07.-11.08.2003

EMERGINA ARTISTS SHOW: MLADI 2003 - Gallery „Nadezda Petrović“, Cacak, Serbia
Nov. 2003.

ULUS - NEW MEMBERS SHOW - Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzoric“, Belgrade, Serbia
26.02.-01.03.2004.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE UNKNOWN CITY: ACT OF VISUAL ART, City of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia
14.05.-28.05.2004.

EXHIBITION OTKUP 2004 at the builidng of the Assembly of City of Belgrade, Serbia

ULUS - NEW YEAR SHOW - Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzoric“, Belgrade, Serbia
28.12.04.-14.01.2005.

ULUS - SPRING SHOW - Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzoric“, Belgrade, Serbia
11.05.2006 – 30.05.2006.

ANNUAL EXHIBITION - Gallery Kolarac (Zaduzbina Ilije M. Kolarca) Belgrade, Serbia
Jul. - Avg. 2006.

BELLS OF METOHIJA- Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzoric“Belgrade, Serbia
11.07 – 17.07.2006.

ARTISTS FROM ZRENJANIN - National Museum Zrenjanin, Serbia
2006.

ZEMUN SALON 2006, Stara Kapetanija, Zemun, Serbia
14-26.11.2006.

ART COLONY AT MONASTERY TRAPISTA SHOW - Gallery of Croatian Culture Center, Banja Luka, R.Srpska
19 - 27.05.2007.



AWARDS

FIRST PRIZE AT CONTEST „PORTRAIT THROUGH TIMES“, N.U. „Braca Stamenkovic“, Belgrade
25.04-05.05.2003.

FIRST PRIZE AT THE CONTEST „PORTRAIT THROUGH TIMES“, N.U. „Braca Stamenkovic“, Belgrade, Serbia 25.04-05.05.2003.

What may be the use of Art if it is not honest? I want to be alive and be just as I am! Through painting and drawing I feel I am closest to that. I want to paint and draw freely, always bordered only by my own limitations. I want to paint sorrow like sorrow! Beauty like beauty! Happiness like happiness! Images on my paintings and drawings are mirroring my emotions, thoughts and moods. I want to make the other people see how I feel, what I think, even if I may be down or wrong, no matter, I want to be alive and happy.

That is my concept. That is my idea. That is my life.


PORTRAIT OF HUMAN


„Portrait of Human“ (2007) exhibition shows main directions of my art. There is drawing and portrait of humans. (explained below in more detail)

Secondly, there is concept/project of a new hero PEDAMAN (Child-man) a man that acts in art and life with innocence and energy of a child. That concept featured in paintings exploring relations with our inner child. Beside paintings and drawings, PEDAMAN includes workshops and performance, too.

Third segment of my artistic action is strip that is going on "Journal of the Artist" (in form of artistic comic, or non-fiction graphic novel) Journal of the Artist carries personal authentic view and experience, and is both in its texts and drawings done in an observing autobiographic manner

Finally, my visual art is interwoven by sounds of music that releases our tension, cures our stress and makes us breathe and live easier.

* * *

Each show in public is another chance of sharing personal thoughts, observation, experiences and hope in changing some things for better in human lives, it is another possibility of creating union with other people.

This online show is also one Hope that things are rolling slowly and moving not aside of you, but with you involved and with every human involved in it. This is our way of rolling our lives on . . .

* * *


My Studio - I think that contemporary art studios don't have mystery or power of old times, they are more like storages and havens, for escape, like contemporary artist is trying to runaway and hide from himself!?

In „Portrait of Human" series I deal with character and portraying the essence of each human. It is my try to show all layers of one person in portraying years, events, struggles and environment of that person through the face and body language, the wishes and thoughts of the person.

* * *

Why Drawings?

Drawing is the essence of painting, sculpture, graphic, animation and strip, or it should be so. Maybe also after all explorations of modern art drawing also became something "as you like it"(?!?) but for me drawing is the basis of every artistic trial, and it is the most natural thing for me to express myself in drawing when I am trying to figure out the essence of human being, in two dimensions, on paper. But I can not go deeper into deduction of reasons and meanings of drawing because for me art is integration, not analysis and deduction. Everyone is individual and everyone should be assured that each individual creates something unique and new by its living in this world. And it was my decision to make drawing of humans my master thesis in the academy of fine arts.

The drawings in my series "Portrait of Human" were created over the period of 4 years and they belong together to the body and concept of my MFA master thesis, that means, they are not ever intended to serve as the sketches for something else. They are self-contained the way they are (and I wish the others see that too) Here I could explain in more details each of them, the way you could see in the end that each of them is like finished painting, no matter how they appear unfinished to you at first glance, because of the approach My approach is that the painting (in my case) is more subordinated to the drawing, than the drawing itself is subordinated to the painting.

For me, both painting and drawing are not just followers and observers of life, they ARE life, they represent each moment my readiness for it, my effort or joy of living. It is important for me to understand myself as someone of no importance, someone who is given the possibility of noting truth that I see. And believe me there are not many of those who were given such a gift, because it was not given for mere joy and pleasure, it was given for living and reaching into life.

The art is rejection of richness and not gathering of richness, maybe art may be creating additional fame but the artist has no material gain of it, the artist is always in lack of what is the most needed, because who is given so much is required to give even more.

Someone think that artists can be both rich and creative, fed up and content. But I think that true power of art is when the artist is craving something, being hungry and thirsty for more to express, more to give and more to show with less, and that is creating artist's mastery over time. Creating art is effort and struggle to achieve it, individual way, as long as the artist live.

* * *

I am always focused on humans. I try to understand, try to feel, to be compassionate to the most, to identify, and yes, I try to "note down" all what is human in one moment... these are my trials, but I don't know the reason or purpose of my talent unless I work it out to the point where I can see the light on the other side of the tunnel. The essence is infinity, eternal existence of yourself as you are, and your acceptance of yourself as you are.

My essence is expressed through drawing. To that essence I strive through series "Portrait of Human" and depicting by drawing a character that is intangeable (I have already been writing about that in "Art Rant" on examples of Andrew Rublev and Basquiat) and that character is not possible to express by any quantitative measure. There is no measure for human. There is no volume. Human implies thought and spirit that shape up truth.

„The character is what makes the difference between humans" - said Dostoevsky and that is the closest articulation that I have found so far. I strive that characters I portray have expression and strength of characters from the works of Dostoevsky. And again, this is not more than my individual trial.

* * *

We were crying while our bodies were laughing.

* * *

Drawing is reflection of human and time up to the extent that we give ourselves to it. Human is stronger than time, not just reflection of it. All people are individual and no time or style can unify them. But I want that my drawing carry our time, be contemporary, within all those features that I recognize on each individual. Also I strive to show universal in all human, the soul (God given soul of human) I want to recognize peace inside human and give that peace a chance to radiate from the piece of paper. I want to see the cause of restlessness, too, to discover its hidden potentials, it can not be done just by copying...

* * *

This show is meant to offer life contained in these portraits of humans on paper. They have offered to me their lives in one moment, and now I am offering it to you. They have given it to me not thinking of who they were, or believing that they were what they thought about themselves? These humans offered to me their lives and I give them back through you who are coming to look into them. They are Hope, one reflection of the hope for future of all of us.

... some of them got scared, some of them got mad, some got disappointed... some loved me, some even laughed at me, some felt sorry, and some didn't care at all... some were rushing to work, the others were running home, I fell in love with someone... no one stayed indifferent.

Some of them now feed the birds in the street and gaze into the distance... Some have found their reflection in the mirror, and some have never gotten out from the mirror, some thought that I was offending them, some stopped to talk with me, some brought to me their friends, some ran away, some have forgotten me, and some have never remembered me, some do not contact me ever, the other get happy to see me... but to all of us it was not easy, because the portrait is great effort and that effort is love in the end, love that carries patience, and suffering and peace, not ever coldness. Only with the openness of mind and heart one can play with it.

This is the "Portrait of Human" and at the same time my portrait as the artist, and these words are my thoughts of it, not collage of thoughts of great thinkers, great and small artists from our present or past. I believe that only our own lives and thoughts have power to stay alive, and that using other people's thoughts shows emptiness or at least lack of inspiration....

26.01.2007.