Hvala ti – Thank you 2012

Dragan Ilić Di Vogo painted this artwork in a realist style, maybe with oils. What strikes me is the contrast between the cold, stony figure of David and the soft, organic blooms of the roses. The figure, a copy of the idealized Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo, shows cracks and imperfections, as if time and the elements have taken their toll. I imagine Di Vogo carefully building up the layers of paint, smoothing and blending to create that marble-like effect, but then adding those deliberate ruptures. Those roses, though – they’re bursting with life and color. It feels like a comment on the enduring power of beauty, even in decay. It also feels symbolic: David represents the old canon of art history, and the roses hint at a future, something new blooming from the cracks. Like artists are always doing, taking the old and making it new. I wonder if Di Vogo’s other works have a similar preoccupation with life, death, and transformation. It's like he's asking, what does art mean now?