vanovic, Kosta Bogdanovic, Tosa Sebekovic and other artists would
come. The artistic ambient of the Atelier was not classical, impenetrable; on the contrary, it was very innovative. Moma would allow us
to do anything we would want, but only after we would learn the
basics of the art of sculpture. We were making foots, portraits and
the classical stuff, but once we would master those, we were free to
experiment. Though, a complete sculptural form had to be maintained. There was a term we used a lot in those days, “to be in the
character of”. No one really knew what it meant, but it was fundamental for the evaluation of our works. Atmosphere was created
also by the interesting crowd that visited the Atelier. Veljko Lalic,
Bora Lukic, Steva… Boris Miljkovic, Trsa would also drop by, along
with other people who had chosen art as a profession.
Besides the classical models in clay, Moma would also buy
stone, he taught us how to carve. We were the first ones that started
modelling in Styrofoam. . We “invented” casting with sawdust, and
also melting Styrofoam as welding material. It was part of the game,
but also of our childish curiosity. I thought then that a modern sculpture required modern materials.
Our “classical” artisan knowledge is well represented by
Moma’s sculpture that lies in front of the Museum of Contemporary
Art. Of course, we did the rougher and preparatory works.
I myself did a sculpture in Styrofoam for Mira, some 25 cube
meters, for the Second Triennial.
Actually, that could be considered my first professional work
I learned how to weld the metals and I was quite good at it! I mastered the art of stone carving, welding, I casted plastic, worked in
Styrofoam, I experimented…
At the end, it made no sense to me to go to the Academy,
which was the goal to the most of us.
There was no pleasure of learning or the challenge of being
able to do it, at that point.
In those days, I believed I could do anything.
A great part of my generation was admitted to the Academy,
some others didn’t even try, whereas Boris and I were admitted to
Art History. The Atelier was a good place.
Portray, 1972-1979
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