At once seemingly straightforward and confusing, Goran Djurovic's paintings in "Borrow Light" offer riddles to their viewers. Swathed in the usual trappings of story, symbolism and metaphor each painting's surface is just as confusing as it's depth. In the words of the artist, "You understand what you understand."
All of the pieces displayed are compact, both in story and in size. As Djurovic explains, they portray situations both "in and alongside reality." A particularly striking aspect of the paintings is the use of light, reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters", Courbet's "Burial at Ornans" and works by Caravaggio. There is an intense play between light and shadow; strong highlights sit next to deep colors.
The figures themselves are mysterious and engrossed in their actions, action which can be quite light-hearted such as in "Spaces," or deeply sinister as in "The Great Circle." The surfaces of the paintings are as unvarnished as the subject painted, and while the viewer may not know what the characters are doing, or even who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist, the truth of who the people are at their deepest level is there, hidden in plain sight.
The show is on view at Obsolete 222 Main St Venice, California until June 5th.
