Ana Knežević
– (Belgrade, Serbia, 1976) is an interdisciplinary artist. She completed MFA Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade (2002) and studied painting at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston (2003 – 2004). She creates light and sound installations, drawings and VR installations. Since 2017, she has been experimenting with meditative spatial experiences, exploring new areas introduced by the VR technology. She was awarded the CultureHub scholarship and residency in New York in 2018 and is the winner of the Pollock-Krasner award in New York in 2017, the CEC ArtsLink award in New York in 2012, and the Belgrade Drawing Award of the Vladimir Veličković Foundation in 2009. Apart from the numerous cities in Serbia, she exhibited independently in New York, Boston and Paris. Her works can be found in important collections in Serbia (Museum in Smederevo, Museum of Rudnik and Takovo Region, Wiener Städtische, “Nadežda Petrović” Gallery, Čačak, HAOS gallery and others). Since 2013 she has lived and worked in New York.
For me, art is first and foremost the path of emotional cognition. Through artistic practice, I seek the unknown and I’m interested in projects at the intersection of technology and art. In my work, I continuously try to visually and spatially emphasise the “void” (the invisible) and to articulate it in such a way that it becomes “available” to the viewers through their personal, emotional and mental experience. I would like to sensitise the visitors of the exhibition to the emotional experiences of the works of art and to place them in such a situation where it would eventually be possible for them to reconsider the positions from which they habitually interpret the works of art12.
When I think about the time and social circumstances in which I was formed, I realise that my artistic expression was a constructive way of dealing with all the consequences of the war and the destruction of the country that I was born in, through the creative process. While I was growing up, it changed its name, borders and social system three times, which have all, without exception, failed the expectations of harmonious life of a society where culture would have a significant place. In addition, growing up as a gay woman in a country dominated by a deep-rooted patriarchy meant complete invisibility, and it is possible that the abstract language of my art work is a consequence of that set of circumstances. Achieving personal harmony through art thus became my main goal.
I see my artistic path as a continuous process, although there are cycles in it: series of abstract paintings3, light – sound spatially specific installations performed using lasers456 or fluorescent elastics and black light reflectors7891011, also ambient installations that include certain 2D elements1213, and finally installations in virtual reality14151617. Reacting to the given characteristics of the space in which I exhibit my work, I solve all situations in accordance with the space itself and the projected experience of the observer. Without the observer, my installations are not complete – they are conceived in relation to viewers and only become complete in their presence. Since 2017, I have been creating works based on the experiential technology of virtual reality (VR)17. VR made it possible for me to enter the work of art and experience the work from the inside. I believe that my VR works, through a subjective prism, reflect and detect changes in the wide area of contemporary artistic practices, but also in the World that is entering its fourth industrial revolution. Researches that are not closely related to the field of art but to modern theories in the domain of physics and music are an integral part of my work process, although they are not necessarily visible in my visual and sound installations18.
I believe that the combination of art and technology can create a platform for cultural and social changes because that field has not yet been fully defined and, at the same time, it provides the possibility for cooperation between the two areas that were separated in the current system up until now. I see the networking of experiences and fields as a way to a more open and complete society.19 For now, the art system is set as a male-centric world, just like the very structure of the society in which we live. The art system reflects society and when we reach equality in society, more women will be represented in the art system.
The text is written in collaboration with Simona Ognjanović (2022).
1Stevan Vuković, Geometry of Void, Installations 2003-2017, Beograd, 2017, 25. See: http://www.anaknezevic.net/Geometry%20of%20Void.pdf.2Mileta Prodanović, catalogue for the exhibition Lines of Desire, 2009.
3See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFlj6LqSriM&t=8s.
4Image: Ana Knežević, 6 Lines and 2 Panes of Glass to See You, laser installation, The Temple of Saint Sava, Belgrade, 2004. Foto: Miodrag živanović-Kec, courtesy of the artist.
5Image: Ana Knežević, Radio Light, laser installation, Radio Light 487796 project, Trg Republike, Belgrade, 2006. Photo: Srđan Veljović, courtesy of the artist.
6Image: Ana Knežević, The Sound of Light, laser installation, Belgrade Gallery, Belgrade, 2007, Photo: Srđan Veljović, courtesy of the artist.
7Image: Ana Knežević, Sounded Void 2, installation with fluorescent elastics and black light reflectors, 46th October Art Salon, Legacy House, Belgrade, 2005. Photo: Vladimir Popović, courtesy of the artist.
8Image: Ana Knežević, Light on Void, installation with fluorescent elastics and black light reflectors, Gallery DKSG (The Students' City Cultural Centre), Belgrade, 2011. Photo: Mirjana Miri Ristić Damjanović, courtesy of the artist.
9Image: Ana Knežević, The Love Synapse, installation with fluorescent elastics and black light reflectors, The Third Belgrade Gallery, 2012. Photo: Mirjana Miri Ristić Damjanović, courtesy of the artist.
10Image: Ana Knežević, Between You and Me, installation with fluorescent elastics and black light reflectors, Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Belgrade, 2015. Photo: Mirjana Miri Ristić Damjanović, courtesy of the artist. See: https://msub.org.rs/exhibition/prostori-odstupanja/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKahT7RXNTY.
11Image: Ana Knežević, Lines of Desire, installation with fluorescent elastics and black light reflectors, Gallery Nadežda Petrović, Čačak, 2009, courtesy of the artist.
12Image: Ana Knežević, The Mirror of Light, Gallery of Modern Art, Smederevo, 2017. Photo: Mirjana Miri Ristić Damjanović, courtesy of the artist.
13Image: Ana Knežević, Fiat Lux, Gallery PerpetuumMobile, Belgrade, 2017. Photo: Mirjana Miri Ristić Damjanović, courtesy of the artist.
14Image: Ana Knežević, Voiding the Void, VR installation, CultureHub, New York 2019. Photo: Livia Sa, courtesy of the artist. See: https://www.culturehub.org/ana-k, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aZ5PK2CEwY.
15Image: Ana Knežević, Sonic Geometry 1, VR installation, Gallery Reflector, Užice, 2021. Photo: Ana Knežević, courtesy of the artist.
16Image: Ana Knežević, The Eye of Pi, VR installation, 2022. Photo: Unity 3d model.
17Image: Ana Knežević, A Place to Hold You, the first VR installation by Ana Knežević 2003 - 2017. 3d Max model, courtesy of the artist.
18Simona Ognjanović, Catalogue 3BGD, 2012, p. 49. See: https://issuu.com/ninatodorovic/docs/3bgd2012_final_net.
19Video work by Nenad Glišić about installations by Ana Knežević, made in 2012 for the series "Self-Portrait" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgXZDhGglxI
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– (Beograd, Srbija, 1976) je interdisciplinarna umetnica. Završila je studije slikarstva na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu (2002) i studirala je slikarstvo na Fakultetu umetnosti Masačusets (Massachusetts College of Art) u Bostonu (2003-2004). Radi svetlosno-zvučne instalacije, crteže i VR instalacije. Od 2017. eksperimentšie sa meditativnim prostornim iskustvima, istražujuci nove teritorije otvorene VR tehnologijom. Dobitnica je CultureHub stipendije i rezidencije u Njujorku 2018, nagrade Pollock-Krasner u Njujorku 2017, nagrade CEC ArtsLink u Njujorku 2012. i beogradske nagrade za crtež Fondacije Vladimir Veličković za 2009. godine. Osim u brojnim gradovima Srbije, samostalno je izlagala u Njujorku, Bostonu i Parizu. Dela joj se nalaze u važnim kolekcijama u Srbiji (Muzej u Smederevu, Muzej Rudničko takovskog kraja, Wiener Städtische, Galerija „Nadežda Petrović“, Čačak, galerija HAOS i druge). Živi i radi u Njujorku od 2013. godine.
Umetnost je za mene pre svega put emotivne spoznaje. Kroz umetničku praksu tražim nepoznato i zanimaju me projekti na preseku tehnologije i umetnosti. U svom radu kontinuirano pokušavam da vizuelno i prostorno naglasim „prazninu“ (nevidljivo) i da je artikulišem na takav način da bude „dostupna” gledaocima kroz njihovo lično, emocionalno i mentalno iskustvo. Svojim radom želela bih da senzibilišem posetioce izložbe za emocionalne doživljaje umetničkih radova i da ih postavim u takvu situaciju u kojoj bi eventualno bilo moguće da preispitaju pozicije sa kojih su navikli da tumače umetničke radove12.
Kada danas razmišljam o vremenu i društvenim okolnostima u kojima sam se formirala, shvatam da je moj umetnički izraz bio način da se kroz stvaralački proces konstruktivno izborim sa svim posledicama ratnih razararanja države u kojoj sam rođena. Za vreme mog odrastanja ona je tri puta promenila ime, granice i društvena uređenja, koja su, bez izuzetka, izneverila očekivanja harmoničnog života u društvu u kome bi kultura imala značajno mesto. Pored toga, odrastati kao gej žena u zemlji u kojoj dominira duboki patrijarhat podrazumevalo je i potpunu nevidljivost, te je moguće je da je apstraktni jezik umetnosti u mom radu posledica i tog sticaja okolnosti. Dostizanje lične harmonije kroz umetnost postalo je tako moj glavni cilj.
Svoj umetnički put vidim kao jedan kontinuirani proces iako u njemu postoje određene zaokružene celine: serije apstraktnih slika3, svetlosno-zvučne prostorno specifične instalacije izvedene upotrebom lasera456 ili flourescentnih lastiša i black light reflektora7891011, zatim ambijentalne instalacije koje uključuju određene 2d elemente1213, i, najzad, instalacije u virtuelnoj realnosti14151617. Reagujući na zadate karakteristike prostora u kojem izlažem rad, sve situacije rešavam u skladu sa samim prostorom ali i projektovanim iskustvom posmatrača. Bez posmatrača moje instalacije nisu dovršene – one su koncipirane u odnosu na posmatrača i tek u njegovom prisustvu postaju zaokružene. Od 2017. realizujem radove zasnovane na iskustvenoj tehnologiji virtuelne realnosti (VR)17. VR mi je omogućio ulazak u umetničko delo, i doživljaj rada iznutra. Verujem da moji VR radovi kroz subjektivnu prizmu reflektuju i detektuju promene na širokom polju savremenih umetničkih praksi, ali i društva koje ulazi u četvrtu industrijsku revoluciju. Istraživanja koja nisu usko vezana za umetničko polje već za savremene teorije u oblasti fizike i muzike sastavni su deo mog procesa rada, iako nisu nužno vidljiva u mojim vizuelno zvučnim instalacijama18.
Verujem da spoj umetnosti i tehnologije može stvoriti platformu za kulturne i društvene promene zato što to polje još nije u potpunosti definisano, i pri tom pruža mogućnost saradnje dve oblasti koje su u dosadašnjem sistemu bile odvojene. Umrežavanje iskustava i oblasti vidim kao put ka otvorenijem i celovitijem društvu.19 Za sada je umetnički sistem postavljen kao male-centric svet kao i sama struktura društva u kome živimo. Umetnički sistem reflektuje društvo i kada dosegnemo ravnopravnost u društvu biće više žena zastupljeno i u umetničkom sistemu.
Tekst je napisan u saradnji sa Simonom Ognjanović (2022.)
1Stevan Vuković, Geometry of Void, Instalacije 2003-2017, Beograd, 2017, p. 25. http://www.anaknezevic.net/Geometry%20of%20Void.pdf.2Mileta Prodanović, katalog za izložbu Linije želje, 2009.
3Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFlj6LqSriM&t=8s.
4Ilustracija: Ana Knežević, 6 Lines and 2 Panes of Glass to See You, instalacija laserima, hram Svetog Save Beograd, 2004. Foto: Miodrag Živanović-Kec, ljubaznošću umetnice.
19Video rad Nenada Glišica o instalacijama Ane Knežević rađen 2012 za serijal ‘Autoportret” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgXZDhGglxI.
