Hunt Gallery: Friday, 21 March 2014

Altered Connections: Recent Art from Serbia will open with a public reception on Friday, March 21 from 6 – 8 pm at the Hunt Gallery at Webster University. Comprised of video installations, photography and textiles, Altered Connections will introduce some of the important and, in some cases, provocative work being created by Serbian artists.

With accelerated globalization, much recent art practice has emphasized a multi-dimensional understanding of identity. Serbian artists – and the Yugoslavian diaspora – are at the forefront of this global approach. The exhibition will include works by eight internationally acclaimed Serbian artists: Dejan Kaludjerović, Aleksandra Lalić, Tanja Ostojić, Vesna Pavlović, Ivan Petrović, Vahida Ramujkić, Zoran Todorović, and Katarina Zdjelar.

A panel discussion featuring Serbian exhibition artists Dejan Kaludjerović, Vesna Pavlović, and Vahida Ramujkić will be presented on Friday, March 21 from 11:30-1:30 in Sunnen Lounge in the University Center at Webster University.

In her exhibition catalogue essay, Suzana Milevska, Endowed Chair Professor of Central and South East European Art Histories at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, wrote:

“Almost after a quarter of a century from the split of Yugoslavia, the politics of memory and futureless nostalgia still dominate the public space and local politics in Serbia. The domination also concerns freedom of movement, expression and creativity necessary for producing emancipated subjects that would neither produce false mnemonics nor succumb to current instant reconciliatory right-wing and neo-liberally driven ideologies.

"One could argue that some of the contemporary artists in Serbia, especially the emerging artists of younger generations (e.g. the youngest artists who are presenting works in Alter Connections) may not even have clear personal memories of the 1990s war conflicts. However, the burden of collectively inherited guilt, or implanted “false memories” from not yet reconciled tensions, the cultural and political isolation, the impoverished middle class, nationalistic discourse and ethnic hatred surrounding “lost” territory compete with the desires to be included and to fully “belong” to contemporary “Europe” (meaning European Union).”

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm or by appointment

CECILLE R. HUNT GALLERY
Webster University – Visual Arts Studio
8342 Big Bend Boulevard
St. Louis, Missouri, 63119
http://websterart.wordpress.com/hunt-gallery