Изложба Ерос и танатос: Сусрети на другој страни ликовне реалности је отворена у Галерији Музеја наивне и маргиналне уметности у Јагодини (Бошка Ђуричића 10) у четвртак 19. октобра у 19 часова. У знак дугогодишње сарадње, ученици Основне школе „17. октобар“ са наставницом ликовне Наташом Крстић засадили су дрво у дворишту музеја као симбол живота и рађања. Публици се прво обратила директорка музеја др Ивана Башичевић Антић, а затим је Биљана Милановић, директор Основне школе „17. октобар“ свечано отворила изложбу. 

Кроз спектар ових универзалних, наизглед супротстављених, основних импулса који обликују наше мотиве, жеље и акције, из којих све потиче и у које се на крају неминовно улива, представићемо панораму репрезентативних дела из музејске колекције, али и оних које публика није имала прилику да види. Ове две снажне иницијалне енергије, непосредно или посредно, обележиле су значајан број дела неконвенционалне уметности коју баштини интернационална Збирка Музеја наивне и маргиналне уметности. Очекивано, у пољу инстинктивне стваралачке слободе, искрене инспирације и дубоке личне мотивације срећемо неке од најупечатљивијих остварења инспирисаних суштинским феноменима исконских нагона ероса и танатоса. Изложбу прати и истоимена богато илустрована монографија која на 88 страница даје виђење сусрета ових комплементарних и синергичних сила ероса и танатоса на другој страни ликовне реалности наивне и маргиналне уметности. Аутор изложбе и монографије је Ивана Јовановић, музејски саветник. 

Трајање изложбе: 19. 10 – 10. 12. 2023.

The contemporary moment, imbued with uncertainty and re-examination of the fundamental values of civilization, marked by a global crisis of society that emphasizes the sense of orientation of modern man towards subjectivism, introspection and basic instincts for survival, inevitably permeate the emerging field of art, whose final outlines, still fluid, can only be glimpsed. Naïve and marginal art that exists on the margins, on the other side of artistic reality, unlimited by the thematic, technical and stylistic affinities of the author, spontaneity, purity and intensity of unique artistic experience attracts increasing attention of the professional public, the wider audience, as well as the artists themselves. As expected, in this field of instinctive creative freedom, sincere inspiration and deep personal motivation, we meet some of the most impressive achievements inspired by the essential phenomena of the primordial drives of Eros and Thanatos. These two strong complementary initial energies, directly or indirectly, marked a significant number of works of unconventional art, acquired by the international collection of Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art. Guided by an authentic artistic feeling, the authors inevitably incorporated the potential of personal creative sources into their works, their dreams, unconscious aspirations, vague visions, experiences of rapture and elation, but also the tension of internal conflict, the agony of fears and destructive urges.
The search for the origin and source of the very phenomenon of the creative impulse inevitably leads us to the field where the struggle of the abundance of creation takes place against the nothingness of the threatening abyss of inevitability and finality of death. This conquering of the space of freedom and invention resonates strongly in the field of unconventional naïve and marginal art, where the intense presence of the forces of Eros and Thanatos is observed at different levels, like waves arising in the process of creation and disintegration of their chain reactions. In addition to the essential relatedness to the deeper meanings and motivations involved in the phenomena of Eros and Thanatos, a wide range of corresponding themes and motifs can be also found in the collection of Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art. Comprehensive notions of beauty and strength of nature and man, sensuality, nudity, intimacy and interconnection, are accompanied by representations related to death, fear, pain, helplessness, aggression, suffering and tragedy. Besides the ubiquitous themes of the eternal struggle between good and evil, there are frequent apocalyptic depictions of hopelessness transposed through mythological visions and the anxious states of modern man, as well as the glorification of sacrifice, courage and the conquest of the space of freedom and immortality, as the path of salvation that closes the circle of the life cycle. Thus, in the presentations of dark sides of human nature, which often appear in the context of a certain religious subtext, we find hints of hope and faith in a new beginning and revitalization.
The current moment of uncertainty of the perspective of human existence, which deepened the gap between modern society and the individual, thus making human existence painful, absurd and uncertain, pervaded the world with an atmosphere of fear, defeatism and resignation, a feeling of pessimism, anxiety and separation of the individuals, in relation to both one’s own, and the other people’s existence. In an era when it seems that the raw forces of destruction prevail and win over the subtler aspirations of creation, and that the balance of the energies of Eros and Thanatos is imperceptibly and irreversibly disturbed, the question arises: can darkness defeat light? Authentic visionaries, who create on the margins of society, often out of step with the times in which they live, with their singular creative sense of the world and sincere, instinctive search for personal truths, remind us of the primordial values that have guided man for centuries on his civilizational stepping through time, coloring and reshaping them with the insignia of original artistic invention. Hence, the art of naïve and marginal artists, free and elusive like dreams and imagination, even when obsessed with intimidating and dark visions, attracts with its visionary intensity, thus celebrating the eternal beauties of everything that exists, and in its inexhaustible creative source conveys the power to turn the dark ground into bright news.