C’ville Arts is honored to present a rare, insightful collection from our longtime member and award-winning painter, Milenko Katic. Instead of a First Friday reception we will celebrate his life’s work and retirement by making a guest book available to sign, as a way to send best wishes to our dearest friend, respected talent, and gifted member during the entire month-long exhibit.
In 2001, when he became a member, connoisseurs sought out Milenko's work at C'ville Arts. For decades his work has been well received at art festivals and galleries all along the east coast where he gained notoriety and countless awards. He also made sculptures and unique jewelry in silver, clay, ivory nut, copper, marble and other and stones early on.
After mastering realistic, representational styles with great success, Milenko challenged himself to create new art, that was fresh, innovative and ground breaking. He believed that new work implies denial of what has come before. Milenko immersed himself in painting, using different media, creating distinctive periods in his work. He transitioned from early painting in oil to his new work using acrylic, water color, collage, charcoal and crayon, often combining different media. Milenko intertwined abstract and representational forms in his painting. In each work Milenko stretched the boundaries of artistic imagination and its underlying meaning.
When a painting was "finished", he let time pass before reconsidering it. Then he would confront the work, re-imagine and re-work it, and age it again. Through this process he felt the work stayed alive, as an integral part of the artist's life as long as it remains with the artist.
Katic once said "Working in this rhythmic cycle — work-finish-age-confront, work-finish-age-confront — I find excitement with each project, because each work leads me to the possibility of creating a different and important piece of art.”
Milenko hoped through his art people would see new worlds for themselves and find unique personal meaning. He believed in the words of Marcel Proust:
“Thanks to art, instead of seeing a single world, our own, we see it multiply until we have before us as many worlds as there are original artists.”
While we are sad to see him go, we understand his decision to retire to Serbia and spend his remaining time closer to his family. We will miss him dearly and his many gifts to us at C’ville Arts. His legacy will remain as one artist who truly is rethinking art and redefining its meaning with each passing day.
To learn more about Milenko Katic and his work come see the show in February!
For additional information, contact Genevieve Story at 434-972-9500. The gallery’s web site is www.cvillearts.org. The C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery, located on the historic Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, is open Monday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m.
ABOUT C’VILLE ARTS – C’ville Arts, a cooperative membership gallery of more than sixty local artists and crafters, was established in 1997. Original works include photography, painting, glass, fiber, clay and pottery, quilling, mosaics, jewelry, leather and wood.