Holy Femininity by Biljana Cincarevic- Artist in Residence

Gallery MC is proud to present Holy Femininity, a solo show by Serbian Artist in Residence Biljana Cincarevic. Artistic expression of Bilyana Cincarevic derives from pop art and manifests itself through contemporary realism. A meticulous biographer of her time, Bilyana is showing the world around her through the eyes of a woman as well as through female figuration. Her recent body of work, part of it on show, engages the observer to reflect on contemporary feminine spirituality as well as church administration and religious hypocrisy.

“These two extremes, the nun-cum-whore, will become the foundation for her expression as an artist. Bilyana speaks for all the sisters. Her paintings are ambiguous, depicting females that are both empowered and submitted, but her artistic voice is clear. It is a call for women’s emancipation in what Bilyana considers a male dominated universe. She plays with stereotypes, sporting a blond bombshell look herself, only to turns those into a provocation. For, what she has to say is the anti-thesis of what the blond look connotes. In a society where girls aspire to marry footballers and gangsters, Bilyana says you need to man. In a society where religion has been rediscovered only to be aligned with dubious moral values, Bilyana claims you need no God. In fact, her performance art exhibition Lord Have Mercy (2009), where she accuses the Church of outright corruption, caused outrage among the establishment but it also gave Bilyana some notoriety. She may be among the loudest but she is not a lone voice in Serbia, representing a new generation of artists who reject their country’s insular position, reaching out to the world. And, the world is ready for fresh blood from the ‘Balkans’. Think of Bilyana not as someone who comes form a country of bloodshed, but as someone who comes from the same place as Marina Abramovich – a place where a new generation is preaching their own religion, that of tolerance and old-fashioned citizenship (simple values worth remembering in our era dominated by ‘bling’ art).”

 Dr. Lida Hujic, London 2012.

Bilyana Cincarevic is a recognized public figure in Serbia, where by using her status of a celebrity artist, she engages socially and politically in order to achieve various humanitarian goals.