Jovan Matić was born in 1996 in Belgrade, Serbia. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, the Ceramics Department (2014-2020). In 2020 he was accepted as a post-doctoral fellow at the Ishoken Institute in Taijimi, Japan. Since 2021 he has been part of the Canon Foundation Research Fellowship. Since 2016 he has been actively exhibiting at many solo and group exhibitions in the country and abroad. His works can be found in several private collections in the country and overseas.
The artistic practice I deal with is a product of observing current social topics that leave a strong impression on me – above all those phenomena that encourage thinking about the system and the position of man in it. In the light of social and market relations, man today is in a dual position – consumer and goods, so my art is an attempt to understand and resist the implications of these positions. As a consumer, man observes the world around him through the prism of goods and their market value, and thus observes other people, which makes social relations economic. In my work, I consider precisely that aspect of social relations that create value and consequently profit, as well as my own position within such a system.
My focus is everyday situations where as an observer, but also an accomplice, I try to understand and show emotions that draw most people and me into socio-economic events of which we are largely unaware: alienation produced by such interpersonal relationships, fear of rationalization of human relations as economic, as well as the possibility of exploitation that follows from that, and finally resistance to the general insincerity that arises as a consequence of the struggle for capital (social, economic, cultural).
The way I materialize ideas in my work: using various techniques and a combination of contrasting materials and vivid colors, with the intensity of visual impression this aims to draw attention to the relevance of the topics I talk about. At first glance, the intensity of likable forms can cause attractiveness and likeability, but with each subsequent look at the work, critical views of the phenomena in question are provoked. The aestheticization of the form ironically speaks of human nature to be easier to swallow with a teaspoon of sugar.
Abundance Zone, November Gallery in Belgrade, Serbia
Private Zone, American Corner Novi Sad in Novi Sad, Serbia
Symposium Marble and Sounds – World of Ceramics, Pavilion Biveta in Arandjelovac, Serbia
Life in vain – Life in pain, X Vitamin Art Gallery in Belgrade, Serbia
Abandonment / Covers, Gallery of Student Cultural Center in Belgrade, Serbia
Exhibition of Ceramics Students, Gallery of Vracar municipality in Belgrade, Serbia
Summer Vibes: Summertime Sadness, Novembar Gallery in Belgrade, Serbia
Graduation Exhibition, Voice Gallery in Tajimi, Japan
Mid-Term Exhibition, Tajimishi Tojikiisho Research Institute (Ishoken) in Tajimi, Japan
Bling Bling?, International Ceramics Competition in Geneva, Switzerland
Triennale of Drawing and small plastics, Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzoric in Belgrade, Serbia
Belgrade Ceramics Biennial, Residence of Princes Ljubica in Belgrade, Serbia
Private value 2, Residence of the Ambassador of Switzerland in Belgrade, Serbia
Festival 9 – Alchemy, Old Brick Factory in Belgrade, Serbia
Miniature 3, Singidunum Gallery in Belgrade, Serbia