Immersion into Stanic's world

Sometimes it seems that the story harms painting, and that it has its own mission. However, the whole history of art with their examples refutes this opinion. These examples, no doubt, belongs the creativity of Vojo Stanic, maestro from Montenegro, the master of fantastic and captivating summaries. Through the window of his studio, which is located in his house in Herceg Novi, offers wonderful views of the waterfront and the sea. By the window stands binoculars, through which can be seen distant endless spaces. Nearby and away there are pooled into a single image.

All the walls in the house are covered with host's paintings. Stanic, who is over eighty years old, is committed to continuing his work, creating a unique "story", a kind of epic legends. Despite the dimensions of his paintings, mostly relatively small. But the matter is not in their dimensions. Immersion in Stanic world forgetting all.

It is so interesting, so seductive.

Watching Stanic's works, you understand that there is a city, a city with the suburbs. Provincial city, but not quiet, a city that is not dormant but very much alive. And fun. A city, which can not be found on the map, because it has created a power of Vojo Stanic's fantasy. It exists on its own way, but where in the fictional space - it is difficult to say. At the moment it decreases, next moment it increases, and it seems that there is no permanent foothold on the land, but with its residents and their guests traveled, mostly along the coastline. Although it is sometimes obvious that there are associations in certain buildings and archaeological monuments. There are also reminiscences of Belgrade and Rome landscapes, which although it existed separately, nevertheless enter a conditional artistic and geographical term, but in the world of Stanic. There are organically unite witn observations about the city in which Maestro lives even today.

It is noted that this real-imaginary city usually tends Sea (the artist himself lives by the sea). From its streets and the city harbour, you can see the distant islands, ships in the bays and few fishermans. There are beaches and swimming areas, and a man reading a newspaper while sitting in the room can even not notice that the sea come there as guest, instiling through the open door into the room. Sea is present, but not like a main character of image, because, of course marines are not matter. Hardly that passion of sea, all manner of storms and shipwrecks can inspire artists (there are exceptions, but they are very rarely and its excellence proved that the artists use sea as background). Although, wait, rather, sea is the mark of inhabited settlement, next to which is only possible to happen various strange events. The sea is calm and turbulent life is on the coast, in homes and on the streets.

No winters, weather is always beautiful. They give us only one winter landscape in Stani's creation, and it is connected to the memories of childhood. So, again, time is beautiful. The artist likes the character of the southern city, when the weather does not change the mood, which is here for a miracle straight, and there are only morning, day, evening and night. Here, calendar is not essential, but shifts day and night. The large cyclical turnover has been reduced to 24 hours. Although the sheer grandeur of God's ideas felt at such a relatively small chronological sequence: repetition is a characteristic component of Eternity, and despite that, there is no monotony, at all.

Here's the essence: uniqueness gives an unusual life of the inhabitants of the city and its surroundings to the every minute of Being. The local residents occur most diverse experiences, which are the main contents of the Maestro's image. The most frequently during the day. Then see better, and there's a lot to watch.

The city is unrealistic, absurd, though in his own way nice, neat and attractive. It's hard to say, would you had to live there, it can be a dangerous occupation. But always interesting to look thru the Stanic's eyes.

It seemed that Surrealism has long been part of the past, but not so. Maybe it's gone as schools which formed in 20s of the 19th century, but the tradition is alive, characters are immortal, and ideas are still attractive. It is indicative that the artist was born precisely in 1924, when the first Manifesto of Surrealism is created. Also, symbolic is the fact that the date of birth coincides with an important date in world history of art. The ruse of history is in the fact that gambling with their marked cards, by opening strange solitaire, we love all sorts, at first glance mysterious coincidences, and then whole lives we thinking why it turned out like that. Clearly, there is no coincidence. Neither in life nor in art.

Everything is preordained.
In every intrigue looming a bigger idea...

Speaking about surreal of small town by the sea, we must not lose sight of the various entertainment events which the actors are local residents, whose physical and moral fiber tempts by fate. It should remember that in the Stanic's works are many, covert and open allusions to works of artists such as Giorgio de Chirico, Charl Chara, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Rene Magritte, Paul Delvoye, Baltys and others, who founded new fantastic art of the 20th century, the art of dreams, hallucinations and absurd. Experiment, after all. Collision between eternal (sea) and transient (human actions).

Stanic is defined a lot as its theater of the absurd staged an imaginary provincial town by the sea. Like his teachers, artists of fantastic, according to whose creativity manage in a certain extent, when he decided to leave the sculpting, a profession for which he was educated, and turned to painting, Maestro uses a variety of methods, characteristic of artists, in which order we classify Stanic. If Stanic had a good professional preparation as a sculptor, painting he studied independently. Maybe that's why he became so free, original and independent.

History of painting offers us series of examples of great painters creativity, who art skills are not acquired in the studios of celebrated masters, careful attitude to the surrounding world and to examples of art that they were closer in spirit. Their "school" is in the independent assessment of seen, in an individual approach to art history. This, as a rule, means a lot ...

No doubt, for Stanic tradition of naive art is important, which once flourished in a country that, unfortunately, as a whole does not exist anymore (we think abuot the famed "Yugoslav naive", who painted on the glass). "Naive" are always follow the great road of avant-garde art, starting from customs officers Henri Rousseau. Let us remember of friendship between mentioned Rousseau and Picasso. They not only follow, but also entered the artistic fabric of many independent works. Tinge new naive is required as a good spice in quality and abundant food. It's one pinch of salt and pepper that thoughtfully meal turns into a masterpiece.

His knowledge of medieval art is important. Stanic's color palette in some way reminiscent of frescoes. Colors are local, but not too colorful. Painting has always shared coloristic range. It is, among other things, beautiful... Entient with his naivety, but that suffering, grasped, thoughtful. It has the power, through it streaming soul. It should be noted that Maestro is talented colorist. His handwriting is recognizable. Extremely individualistic.

Painting like this is not textured, purposefully, because here is not the essence in the beauty applying brush strokes on canvas. On the contrary, painting is smooth, because it is very important to allow the viewer to look more closely see what's going on, and there every, carefully conceived detail, is important. Each hallucination is exciting, when resemble to reality. Dreams are feared when they are more realistic and more resemble true life. So, Dali and Magritte wrote like that. Authors that prices obsessive illusion of an imaginary idea, which seems like the truth, which was invented and is seen flowing into one wrote like that.

Beauty of spreads could distract from the essence, of trying to penetrate the mysteries of the world, so real, and so absurd. In addition, flat textures give a sense of something not created by hand, a sense of mirrors which is directed into the world beyond the mirror.

Attention must be paid to the specific development of painting space, the pushy perspective, a certain metaphysical character, the interest of the Master to connect all kind, which (like Bosch or eastern painters) forms one certain compositional unity from a plurality of pieces.

Finally, when the city panoramas are not showing, but the action is happening in the interior, it is noticeable how important is motif of open doors and windows, how often Stanic uses the motif of transition from one room to another. Like an experienced director in the theater, Stanic set decorations which he needs, in which he sets his shows. Here arises the moment a certain level of scenographerity, manifested as an element of the game. Absurd game of residents of an imaginary city, in which artist is puppeteer, mysterious but wise and shrewd.

The master likes to look at a little above, almost alienated, even if he do not truncate the distance to the object of his painting. A sharp eye of the free bird, sailing on the amount, the artist observes all that interesting and unexpected. In fact, he is an observer. And a spectator becomes it, following him.