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| 1981 |
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October
Art salon KCMB V. Aksentijević, Obrenovac. |
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December
Gallery 73, Belgrade. Exhibition "The Painter's
Studio". |
| 1984 |
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April
"On Friday, at 10 pm", TV Belgrade. TV
exhibition "The Anatomy Class". |
| 1991 |
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March
Yugoslav Art gallery, Belgrade.
Exhibition "Study for the Third Anatomy Class at the
J.Swift State Hospital". |
| 1999 |
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December
www.geocities.com/stevanklasnja
Web Exhibition "The Story about the Return of the
Prodigal Son (sacrifice)". |
| 2001 |
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July
www.geocities.com/klasnjas.
Web Exhibition "Portrait". |
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| Excerpt from an art
review |
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Exhibition
"The Painter's Studio"
Gallery 73
Belgrade, December, 1981
... Stevan Klašnja is the second Belgrade author who exhibits
one painting only ... When such ambitious and long term
projects, undertaken by Stevan Klašnja and embodied in the
painting "The Painter's Studio", are taken into
consideration, then, it would actually be a digression to
exhibit such a painting alongside other paintings, because
thematically, it represents something special and extremely
unique and therefore deserves special presentation.
... As regarding the style, it is the one that evokes the style
of the Serbian romanticism of 19th century. In style, Stevan
Klašnja resembles Djordje Krstić. Those who are familiar
with the art of painting in the Belgrade circle will not be
surprised at all that such conscientiously evoked romanticism
appears in our time. We have to take into consideration that we
live in a period which is, as far as art is concerned, opposed
to any kind of ideology (the death of it so to say). And, as
regarding the art, different kinds of correspondences with its
time and moment such as this one, over conscious memories of
historical style and attitude, are allowed, and possible and
deeply justified. That is why I say, that in front of us is a
work of art, that aspires to communicate and correspond to its
time, our time, trying to recall the attitude and position we
had during the 19th century romanticism, not literary imitating
it and trying to revive it in some retarded way, and certainly
not offering romanticism as a solution for the art, or thought,
emotions and living. The romanticism here is a thesis,
consequence of the world view which in the spectre of the
current trends that range from conceptualism to the so called
non artistic ways of expression finds its place and
justification. I think Klašnja's position in this case is on
the other, opposite side of the radical conceptualism, i.e. at
the utmost appreciation, acceptance of the linguistic structure
of classical expression as a way of communication with something
contemporary, current and present.
The world in which this work is trying to find its place is not
the romantic world of Djordje Krstić, but the real world we are
in, and we have to be able to understand that massage.
Therefore, I think, that in front of us is the work of extreme
contemporary value, and of a very complex metaphorical and
linguistic structure which, because of many layers that it
comprises, deserves the engagement of our lucidity and
resonance. |
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Djordje
Kadijević, art critic
(Introductory Speech at the Opening of the Exhibition) |
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Exhibition
"Study for the Third Anatomy Class at the J.Swift State
Hospital"
Yugoslav Art gallery (Andrićev venac)
Belgrade, March, 1991
... Inside Belgrade Art circle, only Veličković,
unfortunately, has the similar mythology, the underground one,
the mythology of gallows, casemate. However, unlike
Veličković, Stevan Klašnja does not allow any sophistry. I
have to tell you that sophistry is a kind of relief, when these
subjects are concerned. You know, I would even like to see
mystification here, as well. Mystification, by itself, relieves,
because it says - well, it is art, it is only a painting. The
deadly thing in these paintings is their liveliness and their
authenticity, some kind of documentarity, beyond aesthetic ...
they bring remembrance of your hardest experience. You see the
very fact that we are not sure that this is either present or
past, and at the same time we are not sure that this is future
either. Is actually the absence of sophistry which would enable
communication with these paintings?
As regarding the language of the painting, Stevan Klašnja has
chosen more difficult one for this evidently difficult subject.
It belongs to the so called "total painting" that
pulls together all the available resources that painting as a
part of an art itself possesses.
Having in mind that this is an auto dictation, then of course,
being brave enough to take up this path is really, really
impressive. Yet, the impressive is the result too, which could
only be obtained by working long hours, thanks to enormous
willingness, fanatic love of painting, extreme lucidity and
subtlety to "read" the knowledge and techniques of
other painters. Stevan Klašnja has perfected his naturalistic
painting style which suits this kind of subject, because this
kind of subject could not be treated in any other way.
When we talk about this style, we could somehow rank it, place
it between neoromanticism and anachronism. We recognise a
certain aura, the scent of some Munich, Vienna-Munich school,
that has been an art of our painting since the last decade of
the 19th century ... It is, in fact, one naturalistic style
which applies to early painting of Stevan Klašnja.
There are a very small number of paintings here, and yet, Stevan
Klašnja moves within them. He moves from the original narrative
to, how should I put it, very obscure style, a naturalism which
is a part of the mentality of the sight, and in the new
paintings, these yellow paintings with the underground light, he
moves towards greater picturality, larger gesture freedom,
greater sense for colour, subtle disassemblement of the local
tone structure, but especially, he moves towards more precise
articulation of the light and the consequences of it. It is a
shift, if I may say so, from a model such as Engre, towards
another model - Rembrandt. This yellow phase he is entering now,
the phase of yellow light and paste, this thick layer of colour
which was not characteristic for his early paintings is the
change that makes him new, in relation to his painting we have
been familiar with in the last five, six, seven or eight years.
In any case, it is an evolutionary process which refers only to
the language of painting. The mythology of Stevan Klašnja,
however, his depressive realism, the mystic poetry of the human
underground, stays intact. The space is equally present, as I
have said, in the paintings painted in two different ways. The
unique sense of nausea, existential fear remains. It is not only
the fear of the scene itself which provokes associations
of Concentration camps, genocide, the wonders of the wars and
misfortunes we have experienced and are familiar with well. It
is something much greater than that. It is a Tran historic fear,
fear beyond time, the one that originates from the very human
existence, from the cosmic position of the man and his relation
of his early self. It is indeed a unique, strange, not
traditional trend outside the Belgrade painting circle that one
does not expect to see. Stevan Klašnja is, I think, one of the
greatest surprises, not only for this decade which came to an
end, but for the whole post war period, with his kind of
mythology which can remind of some, only superficially of some
of the obsessions of Medijala and the surrealists.
Those who are acquainted better with the Belgrade school will be
able to feel that differences in mentality. Neither Medijala,
nor the later surrealists ever had this obsessive sense of
morbidity, pressure to look deeply into the darkness of the
humanity and the human underground which can be found in the
paintings of Stevan Klašnja ... |
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Djordje
Kadijević, art critic
(Introductory Speech at the Opening of the Exhibition) |
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general lyrical fervour is questioned by the emphasised subject
matter. This kind of painting does not require any special light
in order to percieve such a thorough experimental work which
balances skillfully between the subjective sense of reality of
Frances Bacon and the emphasised focused rennesaince light. The
choice of "anatomy painting", which Rembrandt inclined
to, is stated here as processuality of the coherent thinking of
pictorial feature of the model, feeling the depth of the method
of the very act that occurred prior to the form. If we tried to
define the direction this art was heading to, we would certainly
be able to say that this was the preserving of the sculptural
autopsies of the surgical operations. That certainly is one of
the great and everlasting innovations of the great masters. The
dark black, the radiant ochre merge, their relation being very
refined. The expressiveness of the colour gives impression of
iconology as one of the aspects of the general determination for
this sort of evaluation of modern art. |
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Marina
Pipan
(Professional journal "Likovni život", No 30,
March/April, 1991, page 11) |
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Stevan
Klašnja was not taught painting, if it is a relevant fact at
all. Stevan Klašnja is simply talented. And the true painter,
too. His starting points may be the greatest classical models
and their paintings, but this painter goes further. Thus, his
art is, at first sight, similar to Rembrandt, by the atmosphere,
light, colour, title, but Klašnja's paintings are completely
new ones. The point of the "Anatomy Class" is not a
group portrait, such as Rembrandt's, but deeper philosophical
thought ...
The minute physical disintegrates from Rembrandt's "Anatomy
Class", the spirit of Rembrandt remains in the Klašnja's
painting, the spirit of eternity remains and that is what
connects these two artists. That is the boundary, the moment
when Klašnja, the painter and thinker emerges. |
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Tanja Tomić
(RTV Serbia 1, Belgrade's program, April, 1991)
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| Stevan
Klašnja |
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Born in Belgrade, 1956 |
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Belgrade,
1981 |
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Belgrade,
1981 |
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Khanty-Mansiysk
(Russia), 2002 |
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