Waiting for Boris 2009

Dragan Ilić Di Vogo, who was born in 1962, painted "Waiting for Boris" with what looks like oils, layering and glazing to create a surreal and kinda haunting image. The surface texture varies from smooth, almost porcelain skin, to these gloopy, dreamlike forms swirling around the central figure. There's a real push-pull between representation and abstraction. Look at the way the artist renders the woman's face with such detail, and then contrast that with the ghostly figures behind her. There's a dark, almost gothic sensibility to the work. The little swirl of green and yellow above her right ear is particularly intriguing. It seems to anchor the composition, balancing the weight of the woman's gaze with the fantastical elements of the painting. It reminds me a bit of some of the weirder stuff in Odilon Redon’s paintings, where you can see the artist playing with color and form in an almost hallucinatory way. It’s a reminder that art can embrace mystery and ambiguity.