Ilija Vitolić's art originates in the culture and  the eventful history of his homeland, in folk  customs, in the spirit of Orthodoxy, particu  larly in medieval Serbian icon and church  painting. His sculptures, reliefs and paintings  transform the themes of history, war and  spirituality in his distinctive and simulta  neously universal way. The central theme is man torn between life  and death, might and disintegration, vio  lence and suffering, body and soul. With a  few exceptions, his figure is extended, striv  ing to the heights, neck is long and slender  and hands animated. That expressive ab  stractedness gives his work distinctive cha  racter. Throughout time, a particular face  crystallized, a face shown from the front and  in profile at the same time. The ability to  see and understand manifests itself in the  reduction of and concentration on one single  eye. Fish stands as a substitute for man, an  ancient symbol of fertility, life and imper  manence, divine and demonic, a sign for  Christ. Ilija Vitolić most often presents it  reduced to its skeletal structure. Candle  sticks also captured his imagination, and an  important position was held by the cross  always present on a human body and often  depicted or suggested in his work. The search for clarity, for truth, for the  spiritual, invulnerable in man, marked Ilija  Vitolić’s whole artistic opus.

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ABOUT THE WORK