Crni magični andjeo – Black magic angel 2012

'Crni magični andjeo – Black magic angel' is a painting by Dragan Ilić Di Vogo. The smooth, almost airbrushed application of paint gives the whole image a dreamy, otherworldly quality. There's a captivating tension between the figure's smooth skin and the textured, almost grotesque forms sprouting from her head and back. Look at the wings, they're not feathery or light but fleshy and kind of disturbing, yet the colors are so alluring, like a poisonous bloom. Then there's that checkerboard cube at her feet; so solid and geometric amidst the organic chaos. The longer you look, the more you realize it's all about contrasts: beauty and ugliness, order and chaos, the real and the imagined. It reminds me a bit of some of the surrealist painters like Remedios Varo, who also created these bizarre, yet strangely compelling worlds. It's a reminder that art doesn't have to be one thing or the other. It can embrace the weird, the uncomfortable, and still be beautiful.