Exhibition ’Ilija Bosilj: The Triumph of Art’ at the SASA Gallery

The retrospective exhibition of artworks of Ilija Bašičević Bosilj, a modern autodidact, authored by Ivana Bašičević Antić, PhD, was opened on Tuesday, 25 March, at the SASA Gallery.

The exhibition includes approximately a hundred of his works from numerous museum and private collections, many of which will be showcased to the public for the first time. The introduction to the exhibition consists of texts by distinguished members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts which are to introduce to the public the artist’s opus which has defied conventional categorization for decades.

Ilija Bosilj was born in Šid in 1895. He was a schoolmate of Sava Šumanović, whose decision to take up painting had a tremendous impact on Bosilj. During the Second World War, he spent some time in Vienna where he encountered the works of Gustav Klimt. He produced his first gouaches and drawings in 1957, and in 1958 he transitioned to oil painting. He painted until his death having developed a visual language expressing his personal philosophy. He left behind a body of work comprising over 2000 paintings. During his life, he had his works exhibited across the globe, and his first solo exhibition in the USA was held in 2006. The London-based magazine Raw Vision listed him among 50 classic art brut artists. His works are exhibited in numerous renowned museums and private collections. He passed away in 1972 in Šid.

The exhibition offers a perspective on how to apply contemporary views of the theory of art on the positioning of Ilija Bosilj’s painting in domestic art history and the way to approach the relevant understanding of his opus. Starting with interpretations offered by the members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the exhibition Ilija Bosilj: Triumph of Art contains an overview of various phases of the artist’s work, beginning with early phases to the mature period with particular attention being paid to the painting in front of a commission which represents an act of incomparable contesting of an artist’s authorship. In addition to presenting works that have remained largely unknown to the public, the segment making this exhibition exclusive is the first exhibition set up of a long-present thesis in the history of art on Art Informel and Ilija Bosilj’s art connections. The exhibition concludes with a dialogue between Ilija Bosilj and Raša Todosijević’s opuses, who honoured his predecessor through the ’Ilija in the Sky’ series.

The exhibition is accompanied by a selection of documentary and video material, a film about Ilija Bosilj produced by Centrofilm Belgrade, and a bilingual catalogue published by SASA.