MILJAN SUKNOVIC
Retrospective 2
Miljan Suknovic’s art reflects a restless spirit, addicted to constant movement, enrichment, and unrepressed creativity. Originally from Montenegro, Suknovic studied art and architecture in first in Belgrade, then Prague, Florence and Hamburg, and finally in New York, where he still lives and works. This wide range of experience is evident in his paintings, which are constantly evolving through different forms of art-making and testing the potentials and limits of material, space, and color. This primary focus on
experimentation has led him to a monthlong residency at Catherine Ahnell Gallery, during which he has created a body of work entitled “Constellations III.”
The primary effect of Suknovic’s recent painting work has been a distinct dynamism, achieved through an increasingly vibrant palette and emphasis on the physicality of his painting style in the finished works, a psychedelic Abstract Expressionism. Suknovic uses wide, painterly gestures, working methodically to build great, fluorescent fields, layered universes often punctuated by splattered explosions of colors that imitate the entitled constellations. In other works, such as his series of eight large-scale paintings recently exhibited at the new 7 World Trade Center alongside works by Jenny Holzer and Jeff Koons, Suknovic slices up these fields of color with geometric lines, creating planar structures and relating the abstract works to concrete spaces. These works reference Suknovic’s earliest experiences studying architecture, a continued interest also apparent in his paintings that break free from the canvas, traveling across the wall in vast murals, and in site-specific sculptural installations that employ language both from painting and from spatial studies.
Suknovic has exhibited widely on an international scale, with repeat solo shows at New York’s Union Gallery and Slag Gallery, Galleria DEA in Florence, and Petalouda Art Gallery in Naxos, Greece, among others. Although abstract painting makes up much of his oeuvre, he also has a parallel body of more slapstick work created with a strong sense of irony regarding the art world, including a series of large-scale portraits of New York’s art world power players (including Larry Gagosian, Roberta Smith and Eli Broad).
“Constellations III” promises an immersive experience demonstrating Suknovic’s skilled facility with color, enveloping visitors in his painted networks of line and form, and investigating the concepts of chaos and order.
Artsy—K. Sundberg
MILJAN SUKNOVIC born 1973 in former Yugoslavia, Serbia.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2019 | Air France at JFK Airport, New York
2019 | Painting Installation JFK Airport, Terminal 1, New York
2019 | The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Video Painting Installation, Washington DC 2018 | Opera America, Video painting Installation, New York
2018-19 | "Four Seasons", Large scale painting installation, Rhythm Ryde, New York
2017 | Miljan Suknovic x Arfullyawear, Dreams on Air, New York
2016 | "Studio Visit" Catherine Ahnell Gallery, New York
2015 | "Constellations III" Serbian Mission to the UN, New York
2014 | "Constellations III" Catherine Ahnell Gallery, New York
2014 | “Constellations”, Museum of Porto Montenegro, Montenegro
2013 | “New Paintings”, 7 World Trade Center, New York, 4 months public painting installation
2013 | “Aquarium”, video installation, Chelsea Gallery district New York
2012 | “Tapes”, FB Gallery New York, curated by Francois Baron
2012 | “Stripes”, Cyrus Company New York, curated by Giorgio Zinardi
2011 | “Self Portrait”, SLAG Gallery New York, curated by Irina Protopopescu
2011 | “Untitled”, Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia, curated by Jovana Stokic, New York 2011 | “Frida, Fan, Red Painting and Me”, Lotus Gallery New York
2010 | “Noise of Silence –Happiness in the vacuum”, curated by John Peet, Union Gallery New York 2010 | “Silence of Happiness”, curated by Walter Bellini, Ken’s Art Gallery Florence Italy
2010 | Ken’s Art Gallery, curated by Walter Bellini Capoliveri Italy
2010 | Art –Nice Contemporary Art Fair, Nice France
2009 | Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia, text by Joshua Neustein New York
2008 | Tower 49, public installation, New York
2008 | Union Gallery New York
2007 | Ken’s Art Gallery, Florence, Italy
2005 | Ken’s Art Gallery, Florence, Italy
2003 | Ken’s Art Gallery, Florence, Italy
2002 | Petalouda Art Gallery, Naxos, Greece
2000 | Galleria “DEA”, curated by Silvana Grippi Florence, Italy
1998 | Galerija Okruznog Zatvora, Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia
1997 | Galerija Kulturnog Centra, Kula ,Yugoslavia
SELECTED COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS
2019 | BAM Art Auction
2017-18 | The Elephant Parade, Public installation, India
2017 | Buy What You Love, Rema Hort Mann Foundation at the Lyles & King
2017 | Abstract Art in Dialogue, New York School of Interior Design Gallery, curated by Zhijian Qian 2017 | <3OOO, Catherine Ahnell Gallery, New York
2016 | X Contemporary Art fair, Miami
2016 | Bloom, Slag Gallery New York in collaboration with Halo Foundation
2016 | Boulevard Penthouses Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
2016 | Buy What You Love, Rema Hort Mann Foundation at the Cara Gallery
2015 | TAKE 2, Catherine Ahnell Gallery, New York
2014 | The National Arts Club New York
2014 | Faberge , The Big Egg Hunt, New York
2014 | Postcard from the Edge, Luhring Augustine, New York
2013 | Diritto dell'uomo, Robert F. Kennedy Center, Curated by Valerio Giovannini, Florence,Italy 2013 | Momenta art, New york
2012 | The Hole Gallery New York
2012 | The Art ♥ Stephen Petronio Company, New York
2011 | Marianne Boesky Gallery New York 2011 | Libreria Servi Florence Italy
2011 | Lesley Heller Workspace, New York 2010 | DA Gallery New York
2010 | Biennale Grottaglie, Italy
2010 | Art For Tibet, Union Gallery New York
2010 | Volume AT1 Art Projects, curated by Andrea Neustein, Los Angeles 2009 | Umanexximo, Istituto degli Innocenti, Florence,Italy
2009 | “Wake“, Union Gallery New York
2009 | Washington Square East Galleries ,32nd Small Works, New York 2009 | Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery Red Dot Show ,New York
2009 | New Ken’s Art Gallery,Island of Elba,Italy
2008 | “Give”, Union Gallery New York
2008 | Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery New York, Red Dot Show
2008 | Private house Coopers New York
2008 | Ogilvy & Mather New York
2008 | NEWH Las Vegas
2007 | Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery New York
2006 | HFBK Hamburg, Germany
2005 | SIAE, Florence, Italy
2004 | Workshop “Tara”, Montenegro
2003 | Artemente, Prato, Italy
2003 | ST’art Strasbourg the Contemporary Art Fair, France
2003 | Europa Galerie, Hannover, Germany
2001 | Galleria Terre Rare, Bologna, Italy
2001 | Original Gallery, permanently 2001-2004,Nice, France
2000 | Ken’s Art Gallery, permanently 2000-2010 Florence, Italy
2000 | Parchitelli Galleria, Florence, Italy
2000 | Galleria Vialarga, Florence, Italy
2000 | Petalouda Art Gallery, permanently 2000-2008 Naxos, Greece
1999 | Galleria Festina Lente, permanently 1999-2004, Florence, Italy 1999 | Galleria Pugliese Arte, Florence, Italy
1997 | Galerija Kulturnog Centra, Kula, Yugoslavia
His work is represented in large scale mural paintings in Florence and Bologna.
REVIEWS-PUBLICATIONS
https://reservedmagazine.com/tender-giant-miljan-suknovic/
http://voyagedallas.com/interview/check-miljan-suknovics-artwork/