Olga Jevrić: Sculpture

About

After studying at both the Belgrade Academy of Fine Arts (1943 – 48) and the Belgrade Academy of Music (1942 – 46), Jevrić initially pursued a traditional artistic path by creating figures, portraits and reliefs in the realist tradition of the time. By the mid 1950s however she began to move away from figuration and developed a unique language of abstraction, which had no sculptural precedence in Yugoslavia at that time.

As a witness to the Second World War and its aftermath, Jevrić sought to explore the spiritual roots, cultural foundation and social conditions of the besieged, war-torn environment in which her work developed. She was also fascinated with and took inspiration from the limestone carved medieval tombstones – Stecci – that lay scattered across Yugoslavia, which subsequently formed an emotionally rich and complex source for her work.

By way of bringing Jevrić’s extraordinary work to contemporary British audiences, Richard Deacon (who met the artist at her studio on a number of occasions) and Phyllida Barlow and have been invited to write personal responses to this artist’s work. These texts will be included in a planned publication to be launched in September. Both Barlow and Deacon have also generously contributed their ideas to the selection of works and the exhibition design. 

An exhibition that focused on Jevrić’s Proposals for Monuments was presented at the Henry Moore Institute in 2006, but this will be Jevrić’s first solo exhibition in London.