52

NIKOLA
DEDI

POJAM UNDERGROUNDA
U UMJETNOSTI
U SRBIJI DEVEDESETIH
-
-
THE NOTION OF
UNDERGROUND
IN SERBIAN ART
DURING THE 1990S
53
ASOPIS ZA SUVREMENA LIKOVNA ZBIVANJ A
MAGAZINE FOR CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS
Art of the 1990s
In the 1990s, what Yugoslav art critics used to describe as the
Yugoslav art space was disintegrating, and the nationalist
ideological and political platform became, to a certain extent,
the dominant language of the formerly Yugoslav cultural context.
Contemporary art, or at least its anti-nationalist, critical, and
internationally oriented segment, adopted various positions
as to the national mainstream: in Serbian art, for example,
the 1990s were often characterized by the creation of a sort
of political language of art, which strove to deconstruct the
prevailing nationalist ideology of the post-socialist era in the
spirit of political engagement; contrary to that, some artists
began creating an entirely non-political, formalist language
within the extended understanding of painting and sculpture,
thus anticipating an indirect, almost utopian critique of the
abovementioned ideology (various types of neo-formalism,
neo-minimalism, and radical abstraction). Eventually, one of
the most important phenomena in the criticism of the national
platform in the 1990s was the underground art. It emerged in
the 1980s (with the new wave as a characteristic subcultural
phenomenon), and represented one of the possible forms of
subversive artistic activity in the following decade as a fusion
of mostly guratively oriented painting and rock and punk music.
Its authors belonged to the milieu of youth subcultures and
consciously chose position on the social margins: it was the
alternative as a personal and professional stance.
Undergound and new figuration
Local art critics gave this phenomenon in gurative painting,
which in Serbia evolved in close connection with popular culture
and music, the name of Belgrade underground. It was a term
that referred to procedures that did not represent a typical and
obvious way of creating directly engaged, politicized art, but
used their references to popular and rock culture, their urban
self-mythologization and the insistence of their artists that
they belonged to a particular alternative, subcultural milieu, to
attempt an indirect discussion of the context of crisis, warfare,
and general social hypocrisy. Therefore, these practices were
not directly political; it was art whose authors used the strategy
of active escapism, as Lidija Merenik has called it. She has
used this phrase to denote the creation of a parallel ctional
reality and very personal stories that would have never come
into existence without being motivated in the existential reality
as such, which was able to surpass the ction itself.
1
Thus,
these were artistic procedures that originated in the sensibility
of the new wave in the 1980s, and could be described as a
specic form of urban alternative.
2
Branislava Anelkovi and
Branislav Dimitrijevi have accurately identied that sensibility of
Umjetnost devedesetih
Devedesetih godina 20. stoljea dolazi do raspada onoga to
je nekadanja jugoslavenska umjetnika kritika oznaavala kao
jugoslavenski umjetniki prostor, a nacionalistika ideoloko-
politika platforma u odreenoj mjeri postaje dominantni
jezik nekadanjeg jugoslavenskog kulturnog konteksta.
Suvremena umjetnost, barem onaj njezin antinacionalistiki,
kritiki i internacionalno orijentirani dio, na razliite se
naine pozicionirala u odnosu na nacionalni mainstream: u
Srbiji devedesetih u umjetnosti, na primjer, esto dolazi do
stvaranja neke vrste politikog umjetnikog jezika koji e u
duhu politikog angamana teiti dekonstrukciji vladajue
nacionalistike ideologije iz doba postsocijalizma; suprotno
PREGLEDNI LANAK-REVIEW
PREDAN 1.2.2012. - PRIHVAEN 13.5.2012.
UDK/UDC 7.038.51(497.11)199
UDK/UDC 7:316.723(497.11)199
SAETAK: U tekstu se analizira jednan od fenomena umjetnosti
devedesetih godina u Srbiji kojeg je tadanja kritika oznaila terminom
underground umjetnost. Ovaj se fenomen postavlja u odnos s novom
figuracijom u umjetnosti desetog desetljea, odnos underground
umjetnika prema nasljeu konceptualne umjetnosti i veze koje ovi autori
ostvaruju s popularnom, prije svega rock i punk glazbom.
KLJUNE RIJEI: undeground umjetnost, nova figuracija, lowbrow, pop
art, novi val
tome, pojedini umjetnici teit e stvaranju posve nepolitikog,
formalistikog jezika u podruju proirenog poimanja slikarstva i
skulpture, anticipirajui na taj nain indirektnu, gotovo utopijsku
kritiku spomenute ideologije (razliiti oblici neoformalizma,
neominimalizma i radikalne apstrakcije). Najzad, jedan je od
znaajnijih fenomena kritike nacionalne platforme devedesetih
i pojava umjetnosti undergrounda: formulirana tijekom
osamdesetih godina (s pojavom novog vala kao karakteristinog
subkulturnog fenomena), a predstavljajui i jedan od moguih
oblika subverzivnog umjetnikog djelovanja u iduem
desetljeu, ta se umjetnost formirala u spoju najee gurativno
orijentiranog slikarstva, rock i punk muzike, u pripadnosti
autora miljeu omladinskih subkultura i njihovu svjesnom
izboru poloaja drutvene margine, alternative kao osobnog i
profesionalnog stava.
Underground i nova figuracija
Taj fenomen gurativnog slikarstva koje se razvija prepliui se
s popularnom kulturom i muzikom u Srbiji lokalna umjetnika
kritika oznait e terminom beogradski underground. Rije je
o tezi koja se odnosila na postupke koji ne predstavljaju tipian
i oigledan primjer stvaranja izravno anagairane, politizirane
umjetnosti, nego se termin odnosi na tumaenje umjetnikih
postupaka koji su referencijama na popularnu i rock kulturu,
54
urbanu samomitologizaciju i inzistiranje umjetnika na pripadnosti
odreenom alternativnom subkulturnom miljeu teili indirektnoj
problematizaciji konteksta krize, ratova i ope drutvene
hipokrizije. Rije je, dakle, o praksama koje nisu izravno politike,
odnosno o umjetnosti iji autori upotrebljavaju taktiku, kako to
objanjava Lidija Merenik, aktivnog eskapizma. Pod ovom
frazom Merenik podrazumijeva kreiranje paralelne kcionalne
stvarnosti i sasvim linih storija koje, opet, nikada ne bi nastale da
nemaju (nisu imale) povoda u samoj egzistencijalnoj stvarnosti,
koja je nekada uspevala da nadmai i samu kciju.
1
U pitanju su,
dakle, umjetniki postupci koji svoje porijeklo trae u senzibilitetu
novog vala osamdesetih, a koji se mogu okarakterizirati kao
specian oblik urbane alternative.
2
Taj senzibilitet beogradskog
undergrounda precizno prepoznaju Branislava Anelkovi
i Branislav Dimitrijevi u svom tumaenju srpske umjetnike
scene devedesetih: termin underground u lokalnoj, beogradskoj
urbanoj mitologiji tako odzvanja posebnom vrstom kulturne
pregnantnosti. Postoji neka osobena vrsta ponosa zbog razliitih
oblika duhovnih alijacija koje su se putem omladinske kulture
ostvarivale izmeu Beograda i velikih zapadnih gradova, koji su bili
mesta produkcije radikalne subkulture kada je re o alternativnoj
rok muzici, umetnosti grata, nainu odevanja, narkoticima i
uopte kreativnom provoenju svakodnevice. Tu se pre svega
misli na London, Njujork ili Berlin (...) u Beogradu je stvorena
snana svest dela mlae populacije da je participiranje u tzv.
andergraundu posebna vrsta kreativnog stava kojim se stvara
istinska alternativa svim drugim oblicima kulturne proizvodnje,
do te mere da andergraund poinje da se mistikuje kao neki
poseban oblik elitne ili visoke kulture, to je osnovni paradoks
i osnovni imenitelj ovog konstrukta.
3
Rije je, dakle, o sceni koja
je osamdesetih gravitirala prema beogradskom SKC-u, klubu
Akademija i Omladinskim novinama, a za vrijeme devedesetih
prema kulturnom centru Rex i radiju B92. Radove brojnih
umjetnika kritika e tumaiti u okviru tog konstrukta, a meu njima
su najznaajniji Sran ile Markovi, Miodrag Gruji Fleka, Uro
uri, Stevan Marku, Zoran Marinkovi, Saa Markovi Mikrob,
Nenad Rackovi, kao i pojedini videoradovi i parateatarski nastupi
glumice Sonje Savi i grupe Supernaut.
Devedesetih godina Miomir Gruji pokrenut e znaajan projekt
Urbazona kojim e eksplicitno denirati naela beogradske
underground umjetnosti: radilo se o vie uzastopnih izlobi
odranih u Galeriji Doma omladine 1993. godine na kojima su
sudjelovali Sran ile Markovi, Uro uri, Stevan Marku,
Danijel Glid, Jelica Radovanovi, Dejan Anelkovi, Saa
Markovi, Dobrivoje Krgovi, Talent, i dr., a koje su popraene
nizom koncerata, radioemisija i akcija.
4
Fleka e moda
najpreciznije denirati znaenje fenomena alternative, tonije
undergrounda u srpskoj i beogradskoj kulturi devedesetih;
the Belgrade underground in their interpretation of the Serbian
art scene in the 1990s: according to them, the term underground
resounded with a special sort of cultural signicance. There was a
peculiar pride because of the various forms of spiritual afliations
which were emerging in youth culture between Belgrade and
the major Western cities as the sites of production of a radical
subculture when it came to the alternative rock music, grafti
art, clothing, drugs, and generally creative ways of spending
ones everyday life. Those cities were primarily London, New
York, and Berlin (...) In Belgrade, a part of young population was
developing powerful awareness of the fact that participating
in the so-called underground was a special type of creative
attitude, which supplied a genuine alternative to all other forms of
cultural production, to the extent that they began to mystify that
underground as a special form of elite or high culture, which
was the basic paradox and denominator of that construct.
3
In the
1980s, that scene gravitated towards SC Belgrade, Akademija
club, and Omladinske novine, and in the 1990s towards the
cultural centre Rex and Radio B92. Art critics would interpret the
work of numerous artists within that construct, the most prominent
among them being Sran ile Markovi, Miodrag Gruji Fleka,
Uro uri, Stevan Marku, Zoran Marinkovi, Saa Markovi
Mikrob, Nenad Rackovi, and certain videos and para-theatrical
performances of actress Sonja Savi and the Supernaut group.
In the 1990s, Miomir Gruji launched an important project called
Urbazona, which explicitly dened the principles of Belgrades
underground art. It consisted of several subsequent exhibitions,
which took place at the Gallery of Youth Centre in 1993 and
featured Sran ile Markovi, Uro uri, Stevan Marku, Danijel
Glid, Jelica Radovanovi, Dejan Anelkovi, Saa Markovi,
Dobrivoje Krgovi, Talent, and others. The exhibitions were
accompanied by a series of concerts, radio programmes, and
actions.
4
Perhaps it was Fleka who dened most accurately the
signicance of this alternative as a phenomenon, or rather the
meaning of underground in Serbian and Belgrade culture during
the 1990s. According to him, underground can be dened as a
state of mind dictated by the times and the need of individuals
searching for their individuality.
5
As he once stated, the strategy
of urban alternative implied an attempt of building up an
alternative, parallel, or even utopian space, independent from the
space of ofcial institutions and ideology, whereby he dened his
own position as that of a mist artist-outsider. That hypothesis
of his about Belgrades underground in the 1980s and the early
1990s is perhaps best illustrated by the paintings of Belgrade
artists during that period, and may be worth quoting in full: The
newly established jargons express most directly many common
features of subcultural and topical issues in art: OBSCURITY,
DECADENCE, HEDONISM, AGRESSION, EXHIBITIONISM,

NI KOLA
DEDI

-
ZORAN MARINKOVI,
13.12.87, 1989.
|
ZORAN MARINKOVI,
1987/12/13, 1989
-
ZORAN MARINKOVI,
FRIZERSKI SALON, 1989.
|
ZORAN MARINKOVI,
A HAIRDRESSERS SHOP, 1989
55
ASOPIS ZA SUVREMENA LIKOVNA ZBIVANJ A
MAGAZINE FOR CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS
POJAM
UNDERGROUNDA
U UMJ ETNOSTI
U SRBI J I
DEVEDESETI H

THE NOTION OF
UNDERGROUND
I N SERBIAN ART
DURI NG THE
1990S
56
po njemu, underground se moe denirati kao stanje svesti
koje diktira vreme i potreba pojedinaca koji trae svoju
individualnost.
5
Kako je svojedobno izjavio, taktika urbane
alternative podrazumijeva pokuaj izgradnje alternativnog,
paralelnog, ak utopijskog prostora, nezavisnog od prostora
slubenih institucija i ideologije, a svoju poziciju denira kao
poziciju neprilagoenog umjetnika-autsajdera. Tu njegovu
tezu o beogradskom undergroundu krajem osamdesetih i
poetkom devedesetih moda najpreciznije potvruje slikarstvo
beogradskih umjetnika toga vremena, pa je vrijedi navesti u
cjelini: Novoustanovljeni argoni najneposrednije izraavaju
mnoge zajednike odlike podkulturnih i aktuelnih umetnikih
sadraja: OPSKURNOST, DEKADENCIJU, HEDONIZAM,
AGRESIVNOST, EGZIBICIONIZAM, NARCISOIDNOST...,
spisak bi mogao biti mnogo dui, a inventar konkretnih primera
beskonaan. Sve te odlike su, jasno, reakcija na zateeni socijalni
i kulturni kontekst i njegov proizvod, istovremeno. A taj kontekst
je obeleen krizom, egzistencijalnim tesnacem, ivotnom i
kulturnom konfuzijom. Suene mogunosti participacije u takvom
drutvu upravo indukuju nove potkulturne talase kao to
suene mogunosti participacije unutar takve kulture proizvode
nove umetnike reakcije. Utopijski pokuaj da se izgradi nov,
paralelan, alternativan, u svakom sluaju celovit i primeren sistem
NARCISSISM... this list could go on and on, since the inventory
of actual examples is endless. Of course, all these features are
a reaction to the given social and cultural context, as well as its
product. And that context is marked by a crisis, an existential
strait, confusion in life and culture. The diminished possibilities
of participation in such a society actually induce new subcultural
waves, just as the diminished possibilities of participation in such
culture produce new artistic reactions. The utopian attempt at
building a new, parallel, alternative, and in this case complete and
adequate system of values, which will successfully counter the
existing one, guides both the member of a subcultural group and
the mist artist to adopt the marginal positions of an OUTSIDER.
Being an outsider is a state that conceals a potential, capable of
liberating an essentially new quality.
6
Speaking of Sran ile Markovi, the main sources for his
underground paintings were artistic phenomena such as (and
I am saying this with utter reserve) the American pop art,
German social art of the 1920s, underground comics, and
especially Californian lowbrow art (that is, pop-surrealism, as
this phenomenon has also been dened in the underground art
of the 1980s). The main difference that separated Belgrades
underground painting from the tradition of American pop art was
the fact that the latter was ideologically indifferent and based on
the typically postmodernist principles of scepticism, irony, and
STEVAN MARKUS,
BEZ NAZIVA, 1994.
|
STEVAN MARKUS,
UNTITLED, 1994
URO URI, DVA NAJVEA SRPSKA SLIKARA
U BRIUEM LETU, 1990-91.
|
URO URI, TWO GREATEST SERBIAN PAINTERS
IN SWEEP FLIGHT, 1990-91

NI KOLA
DEDI

57
ASOPIS ZA SUVREMENA LIKOVNA ZBIVANJ A
MAGAZINE FOR CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS
URO URI, ENA KOJU VOLIM
DA SREEM, 2002.
|
URO URI, A WOMAN
I LIKE TO MEET, 2002
URO URI, BESPREDMETNI AUTONOMIZAM - UBISTVO ILI DVA
NAJVEA SRPSKA SLIKARA UMIRENA SVOJOM VELIINOM, 1997.
|
URO URI, POINTLESS AUTONOMISM-MURDER,OR: TWO GREATEST
SERBIAN PAINTERS SHOOTED BY THEIR GREATNESS, 1997
POJAM
UNDERGROUNDA
U UMJ ETNOSTI
U SRBI J I
DEVEDESETI H

THE NOTION OF
UNDERGROUND
I N SERBIAN ART
DURI NG THE
1990S
58
prikazivanje nalija svakodnevice u kojoj dolazi do raspada
drutvenih vrijednosti sve su to postupci koji se po prvi put
mogu prepoznati u slikarstvu umjetnika kao to su Otto Dix ili pak
Georg Grosz, pripadnika Nove objektivnosti (Neue Sachlichkeit) u
vajmarskoj Njemakoj dvadesetih godina prologa stoljea.
8

Ipak, jedan od najznaajnijih referentnih okvira slikarstva Srana
ileta Markovia je fenomen kalifornijske underground guracije
80-ih i 90-ih godina, poznate pod nazivima lowbrow umjetnost,
odnosno pop nadrealizam. Rije je o umjetnicima koji u svojim
slikama spajaju izvjesna iskustva pop arta, punk muzike, hot-rod
uline kulture, alternativnog stripa, estetike lmova B-produkcije,
crtanih lmova, ilustracije, i sl. Meu prvima koji usvajaju maniru
lowbrow slikarstva su nekadanji underground strip crtai poput
Roberta Williamsa i Garyja Pantera; nakon odreenog vremena
takav pristup prerastao je u neku vrstu pokreta skoncentriranog
prije svega na alternativnu scenu u Los Angelesu. Termin lowbrow
upuuje na suprotstavljenost takvog slikarstva visokoj umjetnosti
koja djeluje unutar galerijskog sistema i dominantnog umjetnikog
trita (tj. tradicije postkonceptualistike umjetnosti).
9
Underground i konceptualna umjetnost
Veina spomenutih umjetnika (Markovi, uri, Marku,
Marinkovi) djeluje u podruju gurativnog slikarstva (izuzetak
je Nenad Rackovi koji se izraava u mediju performansa i
political ambivalence.
7
Contrary to that, underground artists often
aspired to a sort of political commentary in their work by using the
aestheticism of the mass media, primarily posters and caricature,
by expressing overt nihilism with regard to the representation of
actual social processes, by dealing with the typical issues of the
social margins and the underground, by presenting the life of
urban proletarians (transposed in underground art into the milieu
of urban youth subcultures), by abolishing the aesthetical, ethical,
and especially sexual taboos, by adopting the so-called off
social position, by distorting forms on the level of style, and by
embracing the aestheticism of ugliness, that is, by depicting the
reverse of everyday life, in which social values have declined
all of these procedures having been rst recognizable in paintings
by artists such as Otto Dix or Georg Grosz, representatives of the
New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) in the Weimar Germany of the
1920s.
8

However, one of the most signicant referential frameworks
for paintings by Sran ile Markovi was the phenomenon
of Californian underground, which emerged in the 1980s and
1990s, and was known as lowbrow art or pop surrealism. Its
artists merged experiences such as pop art, punk music, hot-rod
street culture, alternative comics, the aestheticism of B-movies,
cartoons, illustration, and so on. Among the rst ones who
adopted the manner of lowbrow painting were the former authors
of underground comics, such as Robert Williams or Gary Panter;
after a while, this approach evolved into a sort of movement that
was primarily related to the alternative scene of Los Angeles. The
term lowbrow indicated their opposition to the high art, which
operated within the system of galleries and the dominant art
market (i.e. the tradition of post-conceptualist art).
9
Underground and conceptual art
Most of the abovementioned artists (Markovi, uri, Marku,
Marinkovi) were involved in gurative painting (with the exception
of Nenad Rackovi, who expressed himself in the medium of
performance and installation, and Sonja Savi, who was active
in the elds of alternative theatre and video art), which is why
the sources of their artistic procedure included, besides pop art,
the legacy of trans-avantgarde from the 1980s, underground
comics, and a phenomenon known as guration libre (free
guration). However, Belgrades artists from this period reveal
different attitudes towards the legacy of conceptual art: Sran ile
Markovi, for example, as well as artists close to him, adopted an
outspokenly critical stance regarding the legacy of conceptualism
from the 1970s. Their accentuated anti-conceptualism was
based on the legacy of postmodernism and the new painting
as the central phenomenon in the art of the 1980s, and it was
also inuenced by the atmosphere of Belgrades New Wave,
vrednosti koji bi se uspeno suprotstavio postojeem, odvodi
pripadnika podkulturne grupe kao i neprilagoenog umetnika
do marginalnih pozicija AUTSAJDERA. Autsajderstvo je situacija
koja krije potencijal sposoban za oslobaanje esencijalno novog
kvaliteta.
6
Kad je rije o Sranu iletu Markoviu, osnovna ishodita njegova
underground slikarstva jesu umjetniki fenomeni kao to su
(krajnje uvjetno) ameriki pop art, njemaka socijalna umjetnost
dvadesetih godina, underground strip i naroito kalifornijska
lowbrow umjetnost (odnosno, pop-nadrealizam, kako se ta
pojava u underground umjetnosti osamdesetih jo oznaava).
Osnovna razlika koja beogradsko slikarstvo undergorunda odvaja
od tradicije amerikog pop arta lei u injenici da je pop art u
ideolokom smislu indiferentan i njeguje tipino postmodernistiki
princip skepticizma, ironije i politike ambivalentnosti.
7
Za razliku
od toga, underground umjetnici u svojim radovima esto tee
nekoj vrsti politikog komentara: upotreba estetike masovnih
medija, prije svega plakata i karikature, naglaeni nihilizam kad
je u pitanju prikazivanje aktualnih drutvenih kretanja, tematika
drutvene margine, socijalnog podzemlja, prikazivanje ivota
gradskog proleterijata (koje je u underground umjetnosti
transponirano u milje urbanih omladinskih subkultura), ruenje
estetskih, etikih i naroito seksualnih tabua, off drutvena
pozicija, distorzija oblika na nivou stila, estetika runog, odnosno
-
SRAN ILE MARKOVI,
DOBRI PORTIR, 2003.
|
SRAN ILE MARKOVI,
A GOOD DOORMAN, 2003

NI KOLA
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59
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MAGAZINE FOR CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS
POJAM
UNDERGROUNDA
U UMJ ETNOSTI
U SRBI J I
DEVEDESETI H

THE NOTION OF
UNDERGROUND
I N SERBIAN ART
DURI NG THE
1990S
60
Together with Stevan Marku, uri forwarded a hypothesis of
the so-called autonomist painting. Its basic features would be
the abovementioned reference to popular rock culture, intertextual
links with examples from art history (above all with Malevichs
Suprematism), and especially its emphasis on the artists personality
and private mythology. Moreover, autonomist painting carried
out the process of inscribing the author/subject into the textual
network of the image. Through self-portrait, which was uris and
Markus preferred form of expressing their personal principles, the
author/subject was inserted into the painting precisely according
to the principle proclaimed by Barthes as a protagonist of
narratives that are sometimes quite readable, and at other times
complicated almost to the impossibility of their resolution (...) The
way in which uri dealt with this sort of presentation also reveals
a powerful conceptual basis, which renders the guration present
in his paintings functional, placing it in the service of expressing the
materialization of his personal principle.
13
Such painting has also
been described as urban iconic painting and post-pop art. The
art of Zoran Marinkovi stands close to that of Markovi, uri, and
Marku, but even though he played in a rock band called Bjesovi,
the link between painting and rock culture was not that evident in his
work. As an artist, he primarily relied on the experience of the so-
called social gurative painting.
instalacija, dok e Sonja Savi djelovati u podruju alternativnog
teatra i video arta) te se kao izvor njihovih oblikovnih postupaka,
uz pop art, moe navesti i naslijee transavangarde 80-
ih, underground strip kao i fenomen poznat pod nazivom
guration libre (slobodna guracija). Meutim, za beogradske
umjetnike toga doba indikativan je razliit odnos prema naslijeu
konceptualne umjetnosti: Sran ile Markovi, na primjer, kao i
njemu bliski umjetnici, zauzet e naglaeno kritiki stav u odnosu
na naslijee konceptualizma 70-ih godina. Njihov naglaeni
antikonceptualizam temelji se na naslijeu postmodernizma
nove slike kao sredinje pojave umjetnosti devetog desetljea,
a obiljeen je i atmosferom beogradskog Novog talasa kojom
dominiraju razliiti oblici neoekspresionizma, kao i reinterpretacije
klasine tafelajne slike. Antikonceptualistiki stav karakteristian
je i za underground umjetnost u cjelini, a posebno za kalifornijsku
alternativnu scenu 80-ih i 90-ih godina; gurativno underground
slikarstvo s antagonizmom se odnosi prema naslijeu apstrakcije
visokog modernizma i teoretskog intelektualizma konceptualizma i
umjesto toga tei eklektici, dekorativnosti i parodiji.
10

Neto drugaiju poziciju prema konceptualizmu zauzet e
jo jedan znaajan predstavnik fenomena beogradskog
undergrounda Uro uri. Za razliku od Markovia, uri e,
iako 90-ih takoer radi u maniri novog gurativnog slikarstva,
upravo naglaavati kontinuitet naslijea konceptualizma.
Branislava Anelkovi i Branislav Dimitrijevi o urievoj
umjetnosti piu kao o post-konceptualnom slikarstvu koje se
ne moe interpretirati na nivou opozicije gurativno-apstraktno
(kao primjer spomenuti kritiari uzimaju urievo referiranje
na Maljevieve apstraktne slike koje karakterizira postupak
ikonikog prepoznavanja).
11
Tu vezu s konceptualom istie i sm
uri: Ja koristim guraciju kao to je Dian koristio ready-made.
Figuracijom se sluim dvoznano. I nisam gurativni slikar. Ja sam
isti konceptualista.
12
uri e, zajedno sa Stevanom Markuem, denirati tezu
o tzv. autonomistikom slikarstvu. Osnovne karakteristike
autonomistikog slikarstva su ve spomenuto referiranje na
popularnu rock kulturu, intertekstualno povezivanje s primjerima
iz povijesti umjetnosti (prije svega Maljevievim suprematizmom)
i naroito naglaavanje umjetnikove linosti te isticanje privatne
mitologije. Slikarstvo autonomizma je najdalje provelo proces
upisivanja autora/subjekta u tekstualnu mreu slike. Kroz
autoportret, kao urievu i Markuevu privilegovanu formu
iskazivanja svog linog principa, autor/ subjekt je uveden u sliku
upravo po naelu koje proklamuje Barthes kao protagonista
narativa koji su katkada sasvim itljivi, a katkada zamreni do
gotovo potpune neraspletivosti (...) Nain na koji uri barata
takvim tipom prikazivanja otkriva i snanu konceptualnu osnovu
koja na slikama predstavljenu guraciju ini funkcionalnom,
which was dominated by various forms of neo-expressionism
and sought to reinterpret the classical easel painting. Anti-
conceptualist stance was also characteristic of the underground
art as a whole, especially the Californian alternative scene of the
1980s and 1990s; gurative underground painting viewed with
antagonism the legacy of abstraction that was typical of high
modernism and the theoretical intellectualism of conceptualism,
tending instead towards eclecticism, decorativeness, and
parody.
10

A somewhat different position towards conceptualism was
adopted by another important representative of the Belgrade
underground: Uro uri. Unlike Markovi, he would, although
painting in the manner of new guration in the 1990s, emphasize
precisely the continuity of conceptualist legacy. Branislava
Anelkovi and Branislav Dimitrijevi dened uris art as post-
conceptualist painting, which cannot be interpreted on the level
of the gurative-abstract opposition (as an example these art
critics mention uris references to Malevichs abstract paintings,
characterized by the procedure of iconic recognition).
11
This
link with conceptual art has also been emphasized by uri
himself: I use guration as Dian used ready-made. My use of
it is ambiguous. And I am not a gurative painter. I am a pure
conceptualist.
12
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NO, 1999.
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UNDERGROUNDA
U UMJ ETNOSTI
U SRBI J I
DEVEDESETI H

THE NOTION OF
UNDERGROUND
I N SERBIAN ART
DURI NG THE
1990S
62
i stavlja je u slubu izraavanja i materijalizacije svog linog
principa.
13
Za opis takvog slikarstva koriteni su jo termini
urbano ikoniko slikarstvo, kao i postpop art. Donekle blizak
Markoviu, uriu i Markuu bit e i rad Zorana Marinkovia,
kod kojega, iako e nastupati u okviru rock sastava Bjesovi,
veza izmeu slikarstva i rock kulture nee biti toliko vidljiva, nego
e se taj autor prije svega nadovezati na iskustvo socijalnog
gurativnog slikarstva.
Underground i rock glazba
Ono to povezuje sve te relativno razliite autore jest i njihova
veza s popularnom muzikom: Uro uri e tokom 80-ih
nastupati s punk sastavom Urbana Gerila, Zoran Marinkovi e
biti lan sastava Bjesovi, Nenad Rackovi e biti blizak punk
kulturi, a kasnije, u svojim VJ nastupima i techno muzici.
14
Ipak,
moda je najznaajnije djelovanje sastava Supernaut, koje e
nastajati u kombinaciji sa slikarstvom (u umjetnosti frontmena
Srana ileta Markovia), odnosno video arta i alternativnog
teatra (u djelovanju glumice Sonje Savi). Ovdanja kritika e u
muzici Supernauta prepoznati elemente psihodelinog rocka,
punka, new wavea, razliite elemente elektronske i industrial
glazbe, a ve letiminim presluavanjen dosad objavljenih albuma
mogu se prepoznati utjecaji sastava i autora kao to su Kraftwerk,
Dr. Feelgood, The Stooges, The Cramps, Rockyja Ericksona,
Underground and rock music
What connects all these relatively different authors is their link
to popular music: in the 1980s, Uro uri performed with the
punk band Urbana Gerila, Zoran Marinkovi was a member
of Bjesovi, and Nenad Rackovi stood close to punk culture,
and later, in his VJ shows, to techno music as well.
14
However,
perhaps the most important factor was the activity of Supernaut,
which was born in a fusion of painting (through the art of its
frontman Sran ile Markovi), video art, and alternative theatre
(through actress Sonja Savi). In Supernauts music, Serbian art
critics have recognized elements of psychedelic rock, punk, new
wave, and various forms of electronic and industrial music, and
even a quick sampling of their albums reveal inuences of bands
and artists such as Kraftwerk, Dr. Feelgood, The Stooges, The
Cramps, Rocky Erickson, Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders (while
he was in punk bands New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers),
and Billy Childish, who painted somewhat like Markovi, as well
as the electronic proto-punk band Suicide. Shows of Supernaut
and Sonja Savi in the 1990s took place at the intersection,
or even in the interspace between theatre in the traditional
sense, happening, performance, rock concert, and painting.
Such actions were mostly examples of non-verbal theatre
actors created paintings with their bodies, and the action was
complemented by computer animation and a rock concert.
Richarda Hella, Johnnyja Thundersa (u djelima punk sastava
New York Dolls i The Heartbreakers), Bilyja Childisha, koji e se,
slino Markoviu, takoer baviti slikarstvom, kao i elektronskog,
protopunk sastava Suicide. Nastupi Supernauta i Sonje Savi 90-
ih godina nastajali su na raskriju, ili bolje reeno u meuprostoru
kazalita u tradicionalnom smislu, happeninga, performansa, rock
koncerta i slikarstva. Takve akcije uglavnom predstavljaju primjer
neverbalnog teatra glumci svojim tijelima stvaraju slike, a akcija
je dopunjena kompjuterskom animacijom i rock koncertom. Uzore
za takve happeninge Supernaut i Sonja Savi trae u slikarskim
avangardama 20-ih i 30-ih godina s posebnim naglaskom na
njemakom socijalnom ekspresionizmu te s ciljem stvaranja
angairanog teatra na tragu socijalne umjetnosti.
15
Sonja Savi realizirat e i znaajne radove u mediju videa koji se
uklapaju u upravo iznesenu tezu o beogradskom undergroundu.
U svojim videoradovima ona se nadovezuje na kritiku tradiciju
videoumjetnosti od ezdesetih godina nadalje, tonije, na
kola i de-kola u okviru procesuiranja slike, pri emu se, kako
primjeuju Anelkovi i Dimitrijevi, stvara vizualni jezik od
multitekstualnih izvora, bilo da se oni generiu ili pronalaze u
obliku video-redimejda. Ti radovi realizirani su kao videospotovi
te predstavljaju neku vrstu kvazimuzikog spota koji karakterizira
vrlo brza montaa. U tom smislu videoradovi Sonje Savi
euforina su kombinacija slike i zvuka, pri emu pojedini elementi
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Models for such happenings can be found in the painting avant-
gardes of the 1920s and 1930s, with a particular accent on
German social expressionism and with the aim of creating a
socially engaged theatre in the wake of social art.
15
Sonja Savi also created important video pieces, which t very
well into the suggested hypothesis of a Belgrade underground.
In her video art, she continued the critical tradition of video
art that began back in the 1960s, more precisely, to collage
and de-collage in the framework of image processing, which,
as observed by Anelkovi and Dimitrijevi, created a visual
language from multi-textual sources, generated or given in
the form of video ready-mades. These pieces were realized
as video clips and represented a sort of pseudo-musical clips
characterized by very fast montage. In that sense, videos by
Sonja Savi were a euphoric combination of image and sound,
whereby certain elements had a characteristic form of video-
performance, often with egocentric and sometimes with
self-ironic premises, appropriated from rashly multiplied video
materials taken over from commercial television or video tapes.
These were attempts at stepping away from the commercial logic
of television with the help of video by applying the characteristic
parasite strategy, which considers the manipulation of pre-
existing visual material to be a suitable form of social critique.
The video recorder thus becomes an equally essential tool of
video art as the video camera, and the whole project is created
in montage, thus evoking the experiences of early avant-garde
cinema.
16

For all these reasons, the phenomenon of underground art was
yet another tendency in the evolution of art in Serbia during
the 1990s, whereby it should be noted that underground was
not a coherent or easily recognizable artistic movement or
style. It was primarily a matter of sensibility in artists who were
primarily active in the eld of gurative, representational painting,
and to some extent performance and video; their common
feature was their link with popular music and with various
other forms of popular culture (comics, grafti, advertisements,
youth subculture, cinema). Art critics of the period used the
term underground as a descriptive and operational term for
interpreting that specic sensibility; in this respect, the art of
Belgrade underground was yet another element of the pluralist
and eclectic scene that evolved in the circumstances of art in a
closed society, which reacted in its peculiar way to the cultural,
ideological, and political context of crisis and post-Yugoslav wars.
_________
1
Lidija Merenik, No Wave: 1992-1995, in: Art in Yugoslavia 1992-
1995 (Belgrade: Open Society Fund Centre for Contemporary Art,
1996), 10.
2
On New Wave (novi talas) in Serbia, see: Ninoslava Vienti, Opte
u zatvorenom drutvu i koja je na svoj nain reagirala na kulturni,
ideoloki i politiki kontekst krize i postjugoslavenskih ratova.
_________
1
Lidija Merenik, No Wave: 1992-1995, u: Art in Yugoslavia 1992-
1995, Fond za otvoreno drutvo Centar za savremenu umetnost,
Beograd, 1996., 10.
2
O Novom valu (novom talasu) u Srbiji vidjeti u: Ninoslava Vienti,
Opte odlike umetnosti i uloga medija: iznoenje drutveno-
angaovanog stava beogradskog Novog talasa, Kultura, 133, decembar
2011., 328338.
3
Branislava Anelkovi, Branislav Dimitrijevi, Poslednja decenija:
Umetnost, drutvo, trauma i normalnost, u: O normalnosti. Umetnost
u Srbiji 19892001, katalog izlobe, Muzej savremene umetnosti,
Beograd, 2005., 9127.
4
Miomir Gruji Fleka, Urbazona Energija 93, u: Urbazona
1993-1995, Beograd, 1995.; Jea Denegri, Fenomen Urbazona, u:
Devedesete: teme srpske umetnosti, Svetovi, Novi Sad, 1999., 139142.
5
kola tekih udaraca (intervju s Miomirom Grujiem Flekom i
Sranom iletom Markoviem), Evropljanin, 4/18, Beograd, lipanj
1998.
6
Miomir Gruji, Meutim... umetnost... zar ne?, u: 4F, Beograd,
1984., 5; citirano prema: Jea Denegri, Miomir Gruji, u: Osamdesete:
teme srpske umetnosti, Svetovi, Novi Sad, 1997., 170.
7
Hal Foster, Te Return of the Real. Te Avant-Garde at the End of
the Century, Te MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts/London,
1996., 99-127.; Sylvia Harrison (ed.), Pop Art and the Origins of Post-
Modernism, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
8
Steve Plumb, Neue Sachlichkeit 1918-33: Unity and Diversity of an Art
Movement, Rodopi, Amsterdam-New York, 2006.
9
Kirsten Anderson (ed.), Pop Surrealism. Te Rise of Underground Art,
Ignition Publishing/Last Gasp, San Francisco, 2004.
rada predstavljaju karakteristian oblik videoperformansa, esto
sa egocentrinim ali negde i auto-ironinim premisama, dok je
drugi preuzet iz naglo umnoenog video materijala preuzetog
sa komercijalne televizije ili video traka. Radi se o pokuaju da
se pomou medija videa napravi odmak od komercijalne logike
televizije putem karakteristine parazitske strategije koja smatra
manipulaciju postojeim vizuelnim materijalom pogodnom formom
drutvene kritike. Video rekorder postaje isto tako bitno sredstvo
video umjetnosti kao i video kamera, a itav projekt se stvara u
montai i tako evociraju iskustva ranog avangardnog lma.
16

Fenomen underground umjetnosti zbog navedenih razloga bit e
jo jedna od tendencija u razvoju umjetnosti u Srbiji tijekom 90-ih
godina; pritom treba napomenuti da underground nije koherentan
i jasno prepoznatljiv pravac ili stil u umjetnosti navedenog
razdoblja. Radi se prije svega o senzibilitetu autora koji primarno
djeluju u podruju gurativnog, reprezentacijskog slikarstva te
manjim dijelom performansa i videa; zajednika im je povezanost
s popularnom muzikom kao i s razliitim oblicima popularne
kulture (stripom, gratima, reklamama, omladinskom subkulturom,
lmom). Umjetnika kritika toga doba je pojam undergrounda
iskoristila kao deskriptivni i operativni termin za tumaenje i
interpretiranje tog specinog senzibiliteta; na taj nain, umjetnost
beogradskog undergrounda jo je jedan od elemenata pluralne i
eklektine scene koja se razvijala u uvjetima tadanje umjetnosti POJAM
UNDERGROUNDA
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UNDERGROUND
I N SERBIAN ART
DURI NG THE
1990S
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of B-movies, comics, television, punk music, and generally of
popular culture in their art.
11
Branislava Anelkovi and Branislav Dimitrijevi, Poslednja
decenija: Umetnost, drutvo, trauma i normalnost [Te last decade:
art, the society, trauma, and normality], in: O normalnosti. Umetnost
u Srbiji 19892001 [On normality: art in Serbia, 1989-2001],
exhibition catalogue (Belgrade: Museum of Contemporary Art,
2005), 9-127.
12
Danijela Pureevi, Uro uri, in: VA, Pogled na zid, 19941996.
Umetnici i kritiari [A view of the wall, 1994-1996: Artists and
critics] (Belgrade: Open Society Fund, Centre for Contemporary Art,
and Radio B92, 1996), 24.
13
Stevan Vukovi, Lini umetniki eksperiment, in: Uro uri,
Radovi/Works: 1989-1997 (Belgrade: authors edition, 1998), 4-29.
14
See Olivera Eri, O video-deingu i performansu Nenada
Rackovia [On the VJ-ing and performance of Nenad Rackovi],
Kultura 131 (June 2011), 158-172.
15
For more details on Supernauts shows, see: Nikola Dedi, Nie
nego ljudski: Sran ile Markovi i underground fguracija [Lower
than human: Sran ile Markovi and the underground fguration]
(Belgrade: Vujii Collection, 2011).
16
Branislava Anelkovi and Branislav Dimitrijevi, Poslednja
decenija: Umetnost, drutvo, trauma i normalnost [Te last decade:
art, the society, trauma, and normality], in: O normalnosti. Umetnost
u Srbiji 19892001 [On normality: art in Serbia, 1989-2001],
exhibition catalogue (Belgrade: Museum of Contemporary Art,
2005), 9-127.
10
Ta teza se odnosi prije svega na fenomen kalifornijske lowbrow
umjetnosti, odnosno fenomen pop nadrealizma i umjetnike kao
to su Robert Williams, Glenn Barr, Tim Biskup, Alex Gross, Todd
Schorr, Eric White, idr. Ti autori djeluju uglavnom u podruju
narativnog, fgurativnog slikarstva i u svojoj umjetnosti uglavnom
upotrebljavaju ikonografju B-flmova, stripa, televizije, punk muzike i
generalno popularne kulture.
11
Branislava Anelkovi, Branislav Dimitrijevi, Poslednja decenija:
Umetnost, drutvo, trauma i normalnost, u: O normalnosti. Umetnost
u Srbiji 19892001, katalog izlobe, Muzej savremene umetnosti,
Beograd, 2005., 9127.
12
Danijela Pureevi, Uro uri, u: Grupa autora, Pogled na zid,
19941996. Umetnici i kritiari, Fond za otvoreno drutvo, Centar za
savremenu umetnost, Radio B92, Beograd, 1996., 24.
13
Stevan Vukovi, Lini umetniki eksperiment, Uro uri,
Radovi/ Works: 1989-1997, autorsko izdanje, Beograd, 1998., 429.
14
Vidi u: Olivera Eri, O video-deingu i performansu Nenada
Rackovia, Kultura, 131, lipanj 2011., 158172.
15
Detaljnije o nastupima Supernauta u: Nikola Dedi, Nie nego
ljudski: Sran ile Markovi i underground fguracija, Vujii
kolekcija, Beograd, 2011.
16
Branislava Anelkovi, Branislav Dimitrijevi, Poslednja decenija:
Umetnost, drutvo, trauma i normalnost, u: O normalnosti. Umetnost
u Srbiji 19892001, katalog izlobe, Muzej savremene umetnosti,
Beograd, 2005., 9127.
odlike umetnosti i uloga medija: iznoenje drutveno-angaovanog
stava beogradskog Novog talasa [General features of art and the role
of the media: transmitting the socially engaged attitude of Belgrades
New Wave], Kultura 133 (December 2011), 328-338.
3
Branislava Anelkovi and Branislav Dimitrijevi, Poslednja
decenija: Umetnost, drutvo, trauma i normalnost [Te last decade:
art, the society, trauma, and normality], in: O normalnosti. Umetnost
u Srbiji 19892001 [On normality: art in Serbia, 1989-2001],
exhibition catalogue (Belgrade: Museum of Contemporary Art,
2005), 9-127.
4
Miomir Gruji Fleka, Urbazona Energija 93 in: Urbazona
1993-1995 (Belgrade, 1995); Jea Denegri, Fenomen Urbazona in:
Devedesete: teme srpske umetnosti [Te 1900s: Issues in Serbian art]
(Novi Sad: Svetovi, 1999), 139-142.
5
kola tekih udaraca [Te school of hard blows] (interview with
Miomir Gruji Fleka and Sran ile Markovi), Evropljanin 4/18
(June 1998).
6
Miomir Gruji, Meutim... umetnost... zar ne? [However...
art... right?], in: 4F (Belgrade, 1984), 5; quoted from: Jea Denegri,
Miomir Gruji, in: Osamdesete: teme srpske umetnosti [Te 1980s:
Issues in Serbian art] (Novi Sad: Svetovi, 1997), 170.
7
Hal Foster, Te Return of the Real. Te Avant-Garde at the End of the
Century (Cambridge, MA and London: Te MIT Press, 1996), 99-
127.; Sylvia Harrison (ed.), Pop Art and the Origins of Post-Modernism
(Cambridge University Press, 2003).
8
Steve Plumb, Neue Sachlichkeit 1918-33: Unity and Diversity of an
Art Movement (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2006).
9
Kirsten Anderson (ed.), Pop Surrealism. Te Rise of Underground Art
(San Francisco: Ignition Publishing/Last Gasp, 2004).
10
Tis hypothesis refers primarily to the phenomenon of Californian
lowbrow art, that is, to the phenomenon of pop surrealism and
artists such as Robert Williams, Glenn Barr, Tim Biskup, Alex Gross,
Todd Schorr, Eric White, and others. Tey were mainly active in the
feld of narrative, fgurative painting and largely used the iconography
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SRAN ILE MARKOVI,
JURI, 2010.-2011.
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SRAN ILE MARKOVI,
ATTACK, 2010-2011
POJAM
UNDERGROUNDA
U UMJ ETNOSTI
U SRBI J I
DEVEDESETI H

THE NOTION OF
UNDERGROUND
I N SERBIAN ART
DURI NG THE
1990S