Lepa vest 2020

Editor: This is "Lepa vest," or "Good News," by Dragan Ilić Di Vogo, painted in 2020 using oil paints. It feels very dreamlike and layered, almost like a collage. I am curious – what's your take on this layered reality? Curator: Oh, it's a delightful tumble down the rabbit hole, isn't it? My first thought went to those Renaissance portraits where everything in the background seems to whisper secrets. But here, Di Vogo gives us a louder chorus. The juxtaposition of realism in the woman’s face with the surreal elements – that swirling planetoid, the perched bird, the broken… are those tiles? – It feels like he's externalizing an interior world. Makes you wonder what news she’s received, doesn’t it? Good news, perhaps, that shatters the mundane. Editor: That's an interesting perspective! The tiles could suggest fragmentation or things falling apart, which doesn't immediately align with "Good News". Curator: Or perhaps, a shattering of expectations, a delightful surprise? I feel as though our news broadcasts often promise simple cause and effect, good or bad. Maybe Di Vogo suggests something in-between. What do you reckon all those hats might mean? Editor: It's hard to say... perhaps, all the roles a woman takes on, at once? I see what you mean by "shattering expectations," I find the artist's use of realism with a surreal atmosphere captivating. Curator: Precisely! It's in that tension, that dance between the familiar and the fantastical, that I think the magic truly lives. Thank you for bringing this one to my attention; it makes me wonder about the good news awaiting all of us, masked behind the absurd happenings of everyday life.