Yiorgos Tzaneris and Genesis Gallery with Chris Boïcos and Chris Boïcos Fine Arts present in Athens the first major solo show of the Serbian artist Nikola Sarić. The exhibition is curated by PhD art historian and exhibition curator Katerina Koskina in collaboration with the nοn-profit Cultural Association Polites (ΑΜΚΕ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΣ).
Nikola Sarić was born in Bajina Bašta, in western Serbia in 1985. In 2011 he moved to Hanover, Germany where he lives and works. As a youth Sarić discovered and was immensely impressed by the spiritual atmosphere and beauty of the medieval murals of the Studenica monastery in Serbia. This experience marks the beginning of his artistic vocation. He studied painting the School of Fine Arts of the University of Belgrade (2005-2006) and traditional techniques at the School of Art and Conservation of the Serbian Orthodox Church (2006-2014).
At art school he was inspired by the study of Early Christian and Coptic art as well as the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna and the monastery of Osios Loukas in Greece. In his first series of paintings Witnesses and the Cycle of Life, Sarić appropriates the iconography and themes of the biblical Parables of Jesus and the stories of the Holy martyrs of the Church, adapting them into graceful compositions of his own in a highly original and poetic style.
Nicola Sarić became well known in France, through his painting depicting modern martyrs, that represents his personal reaction and artistic outcry to the execution of twenty-one Christian Copts of the Libyan church by the terrorists of the Islamic State in 2015. “The Martyrs of Libya” is now in the collection of the museum of the Petit Palais in Paris and displayed within its renowned collection of Byzantine icons.
The austere simplicity of the symbolic forms of this work triggers and animates the passage from darkness to light – from the black-clad, masked terrorists to the martyrs in their bright orange prisoners’ suits. It reveals a personal and powerful stylistic approach which goes beyond purely traditional religious iconography. Color provides the central source of light and meaning of the painting. The symmetry of the composition, the frontal placement of the figures and the elimination of unnecessary detail, concentrate the spiritual message of the painting and create a distinctive style.
In his more recent work Sarić, while retaining the austerity and purity of his style, has enriched his approach and his subject matter with painterly and material elements that go beyond traditional Orthodox iconography. Reflections on the state of the world, current events and physical phenomena have slipped into his work. The series “High Wind” (2024) reevaluates his approach to painting by introducing into his technique mixed media and new materials.
The almost meteorological title of the series is a poetic metaphor emphasizing the radically different appearance of the new work on all levels. Yet the power, symmetry, austerity and frontal composition of the older works is still there. The artist’s reflections on nature and humanity are here more concentrated in the abstract construction of the works. Seen from above, from a heavenly vantage point, the landscapes of “High Wind” point to the climate crisis caused by man on earth. Through his new materials the artist attempts to interpret a changing landscape seen as threatening or ominous.
It is not clear if the high vantage point of “Seen from Above” is that of a human-made drone or that of the eye of God contemplating the earth. Whatever the case may be, even if man here is competing with God, the result is of an unsettled equilibrium. Sarić’s works present us with a fascinating reflection on the destiny of man and the planet as well as on the history and future of art.
Katerina Koskina
May 2025
Artworks on exhibition :
High Wind, 2024
.
Recent works, 2020
.
Glowing Darkness / Gluhende Dunkelheit, 2019
.
Cycle of Life / Zyklus des Lebens, 2017
.
Witnesses / Zeugen, 2015 - 2016
.
Earthly Stories with Heavenly Meaning /
Irdische Geschichten mit himmlischer Bedeutung
.
After his studies in theater and film direction and a long and fruitful career as creative director in advertising, Yiorgos Tzaneris launched Genesis Gallery in Athens in 2010. He has since organized more than 160 exhibitions of Greek and international artists with a particular emphasis on figurative painting and Swedish contemporary art. Long a key artistic venue in the Kolonaki district of Athens, Genesis gallery has recently moved into larger premises in the more Bohemian and avant-garde district of Exarheia (at Ippokratous 121). Genesis is currently one of the best-known contemporary art galleries in Athens and a member of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association.
Venue : Genesis Gallery, Ippokratous 121-123, Athens 11472, Greece
Opening reception in the presence of the artist : Thursday 5 June, from 7:30pm
Entry : Free
Exhibition dates : 5 to 28 June 2025
Opening hours : Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 12 – 9pm / Saturday 12 – 3pm
Information & HD images :
g.tzaneris@gmail.com/ + 30 694 451 6552
contact@boicosfinearts.com / + 33 686 58 98 09
> relevant content : Nikola Sarić : An Artistic and Spiritual Journey