Witnesses 11 Drawing

Pavle Maksimovic, Born in 1981. Belgrade, Serbia. "I always thought that the condition of human emotions, especially as an expression, transcends time. In that context, the work of any man who explores this subject, tends to relay on same, or similar principles and elements. The degree of subjectivity in these matters does not rely so much on one's talent, as it does in sincerity of one's state of mind in the moment of exploration. Notes from Underground, written in 1864., Picasso's "La Vie" from 1903., or Bruegel's "The Blind Leading the Blind" painted in 1568., are all expressions of modern man and his struggle. In this respect, any contemporary art form, as a tool, is not so much a victory of progress, but more of a necessity in the realities of a given era. Painting is the only visual art language that transcends time on the scale that encompasses human civilization in its entirety, and maintains the greatest level of visual communication. Painting, or art expression of any kind, in my opinion and experience, is a hard earned process. It is a never ending trial of climbs and falls. I was never able to relate to the romantic idea of relaxing hours of painting and enjoyment in a "free your mind with a smile" type of creativity. Whether I was doing video projects, paintings or any other form of expression, I always found my self in an almost tantalising state of mind. In that respect the time needed to create a single painting is almost impossible to predict. When the series is preconceived as a single minded installation, the time to put it together is notably shorter, and can be materialised in matter of few months. More classical way of contracting a series from individual paintings created in a given period of time, can take years". Taken from the interview for the Berline based "KALTBLUT Magazine' anniversary issue, from January 2015.