Without a Map

Surrealism and collages of Jasmine Kukic

My first serious attraction to art was surrealism. Andre Breton’s manifesto, Marcelle Duchamp, da-da, Chirico, Dali, of course –  a young soul searching for the identity in subconscious, mysterious, illogical, defying ‘prescribed, ordinary, routine’. The attraction never stopped since then – only recently, though, I realized that it was not because I am ‘brainy’, inclined to interpret and analyze, but rather because I react by ‘gut’, ancient, ingrained, intuitive, limbic reaction. The ‘mood’ (of the painting) comes first, the attention to symbols, details, and their interactions follows.

This ‘gut’ reaction has never been more apparent to me than in relating to a series of surrealist collages by our close to heart artist and friend, Jasmine Kukic, in which she ‘chats’ with Rene Magritte in her unique way.

Stories are told  – images embrace words, jointly creating an atmosphere that permeates the visual display. Words do not explain the paintings – they contribute to the ‘mood’, ephemeral and ambiguous, emotions encouraged by unexpected symbols and details we can not rationalize but can internalize nevertheless.  While this symbolism is rooted in mythological, ancestral archetypes to which we react through our stored collective memory, it truly is the ‘atmosphere’ of the painting in which we get enveloped – world that exists in our dreams, unmapped, curious, yet familiar.

Minka and Rene – what a conversation! Wandering, yet intentional somehow, through the sublime reality, without a map, getting lost in untraveled paths of mind and soul…

Chats with Magritte

A flipbook of key works shown in the exhibition.