21/1/2009
Denis Stepanovic
Traversee, Munich
Barba et Coma. This artist knows violence from the other side of the screen as well since he experienced the war in Yugoslavia in his youth. He is haunted by the terrors of war until today. When he discovered the centuries old book titled "Barba et Coma" (beard and scalp hair), he aquired parts of its contents.
With great pleasure the Gallery Traversée will show Denis Stepanovic "Barba et Coma". Please join us at the opening 22nd January 2009, 7-9pm.
As if there were pitchforked into the presence by a time machine, the runners in Denis Stepanovic’s painting “Läufer schlägt Uhr” (Runner batting clock) are searching for their pole position. Behind them a burning house is flickering just as a grass we know from computer games, around them ruins. To return from the virtual fights they must give up their mummery and agree to an identity. Today the young leave it at training their tempo on the screen while the older alter the real world: A phenomenon called “robbed rebellion” by Denis Stepanovic. Grown up without Sesame Street and joysticks, the generation of 1968 had still time to read and prepare for a revolution. At the computer myth fade and violence is just as cute as in “Ragnaröck”, another painting of the artist, in which candy-like bullets from a machine gun are warfting away into the background’s cloudy cream.
Denis Stepanovic knows violence from the other side of the screen as well since he experienced the war in Yugoslavia in his youth. He is haunted by the terrors of war until today. When he discovered the centuries old book titled “Barba et Coma” (beard and scalp hair), he aquired parts of its contents. His reminiscence of men who came down from the mountains in march, together with the book’s thoughts, led to an image of the “evil and bearded man”. From now on this imagination has been the guiding criterion in assessing his figures.
In their potential to give hope but also in their potential to pose a threat to others, humans dominate Denis Stepanovic’s paintings. This fact is radically depicted in the single figures of past years. Unlike Baselitz’s and Schönebeck’s square built heros, his figures are often of disarming elegance. To inspire confidence and familiarity they are called Jonathan, Erol or Thomas, however they remain alien. Carefully selected shades that are limited to a few tones prevail these works. Strong narrative background and powerful colours mark his most recent paintings. The red on the young man’s shirt in the work “Es ist so schön in deiner Ferienwohung” (It is so beautiful at your vacation home) is called “Christian-Dior-Blood” by Denis Stepanovic. Viewed extremely from below, he is carrying a blindfold in his hand. It remains unclear whether he does not want to see or to be seen. The room’s ambience quotes the aesthetics of Heinz Edelmann, the originator of the front credits for ZDF-seasons “Der phantastische Film” (The phantastic Film). In front of that room’s window, a motorway’s loop is curling. In reality, ways have to be overcome in order to reach a vacation home.
Like in the painting’s bulk accentuated single figure also play a crucial role in the drawings. Examples for the drawings are “Tänzerin der Kolonne” (Column’s dancer), “Engelswalder Minnesänger” (Engelswalder Minstrel) or the mummed “Assassine mit Ross” (Assassine with steed). Thereby, the line appears in different manifestation; once as a slim and narrative percil or ink stroke and then also as a bold marker’s streak that comments or hides. In “Saalschaft mit Ausgang” (Saalschaft with exit) both versions intertwine and therewith fortify each other. In sketchy manner even intimate details can come up as in “Ihr Zimmer” (Her room) that is very allusive.
For a short time Denis Stepanovic has also been engaged with photography. In dealing with this medium he widens his contents and corresponding aesthetic solutions.
Denis Stepanovic graduated from secondary school in art and design. He studies at the Munich academy of visual art since 2003, first at Anke Doberauer and now at Markus Oehlen.
(Text: Annemarie Zeiller)
Traversee
Turkenstrasse 11 - Munich