About the exhibition
Ilija Vuković's Bestial Visual Theater That Is Still Something Else
These paintings are something special. The fact that Ilija painted them between his eighteenth and twentieth year is both special and strange, and proof that we are merely instruments in the hands of something greater that sings, writes, and paints through us. For these paintings breathe with ancient experience, both in their content and style. We could characterize them as feminist or expressionist, but they transcend such classifications. They are simply stunning. So rich in content. So intense. Some of them unforgettable. Bestial yet tame. Depraved yet humble. Excessive yet measured. Offensive and ruthless yet beneficial, toxic yet healing. Infinitely violent yet so sweet and gentle. Perverse yet healthy and normal.
Completely liberated and free yet still present. Too personal yet everyone's.
Repulsive yet drinkable. Unnecessary or superfluous yet indispensable. Repellent yet immediate. And above all, and this is what awakens gratitude in me as I observe them, and more than gratitude — faith in meaning, immeasurably full of pain, yet above all witty. That's why they are wise. Full of understanding and love. And unusual. And it's unusual that they were painted by a boy.
F.G. 23.10.2025. Belgrade / Mala Vrata
Text: F.G.
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