Izida 2020

Curator: This compelling artwork is titled "Izida," created in 2020 by Dragan Ilić Di Vogo. It's an oil painting, blending elements of portraiture with a surreal, almost dreamlike quality. Editor: It strikes me as immediately melancholic. The subdued palette, juxtaposed with these vibrant, almost chaotic floral and abstract elements, creates a fascinating tension. The geometry of the floating cube adds to the dream-like quality, it’s a bit unsettling. Curator: The title "Izida," referencing the Egyptian goddess Isis, layers another level of interpretation. Isis is associated with motherhood, magic, and rebirth. Do you think the artist is exploring these themes through the image of the young face and surrounding iconography? Editor: Perhaps. I'm drawn to the textures—the smoothness of the face compared to the impasto-like application of paint in the surrounding ornamentation. The textures and chromatic choices destabilize any comfortable reading of the central figure; there's something being obscured, resisted. It avoids the conventional codes for traditional beauty through fragmentation and opacity. Curator: Indeed. And within a broader art historical context, "Izida" also situates itself within the neo-expressionist movement. I wonder about Di Vogo’s intent through this positioning and the commentary it offers. What can we infer about the politics of his imagery by appropriating the style? Editor: What catches my attention is the deliberate way in which the traditional portrait is being deconstructed and recomposed. The interplay of form and formlessness in those colorful swirls against the pale skin is where, I think, much of the work's power lies. I see it less as making any political statement and more about probing the structure of representation, using disruption of symmetry as a key tool. Curator: A compelling consideration of form, I find your take insightful. Thank you for pointing out these qualities that inform how "Izida" sits in relation to neo-expressionist works within an Eastern European milieu of the last half-century. Editor: A pleasure. This image exemplifies how technical skill in representational painting can be amplified when merged with disruptive surrealism.