STATEMENT
Using only a handful of elemental motifs; a ladder, drapery, or geometric shapes coupled with his exquisite handling of the the human form, Jovan Radakovich's paintings are charged with an uncommon poetic force.
Stripped of almost all context, these enigmatic images suggest some existential play or arcane rite in progress that invites the viewer to provide their own narrative. Though highly minimalistic they are also representational in the extreme and closer examination reveal subtle allusions to themes drawn from classical literature and even film.
BIOGRAPHY
Born and raised in the Chicago area, one of Jovan Radakovich's earliest memories was meeting the artist Ivan Albright at the legendary Riccardo's restaurant when he was only 5 years old. This would prove fortuitous as Albright would later become an inspiration to him.
Throughout his early education studying often took second place to drawing and daydreaming in class.
But it wasn't until the age of 13 during a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago that he decided upon becoming an artist. Having the benefit of very cultured and supportive parents (his mother was a former opera singer) he was immediately enrolled in life drawing classes through a progressive program with the School of the Art Institute that allowed high school students to earn college credit. It was here that his love of the figure developed and he became enamoured with the Old Masters, notably Caravaggio, Raphael, and Vermeer.
After graduating from high school he continued at the Art Institute but by this time Europe was beckoning. His sophomore year of college he studied in Paris with Patrick Betaudier, a virtuoso painter, whom along with Ernst Fuchs taught in the manner of early Flemish masters. The experience in Paris had such a profound affect upon him that he went onto stay in France for nearly 7 years, eventually establishing a studio in Vence and later Nice.
Due to visa problems and family obligations he returned to the Midwest where he became the lead restorer for the W.P.A . project, the largest art restoration project in the city of Chicago's history. Always having a parallel interest in photography, he impulsively bought a Leica camera before leaving France. This beautiful mechanism became an added appendage wherever he went, prompting him to temporarily switch to photography as his primary medium.
Over the course of two years Jovan taught himself all the techniques of the darkroom and embarked upon a photo essay documenting contemporary painters in the context of their studios. His first subject was the realist painter Richard Maury in Florence. Shunning current trends and movements his photographic oeuvre has more in common with the early pictorialists or such outsiders as Edmund Teske and Herbert List.
Jovan Radakovich continues to travel extensively while effortlessly balancing painting and photography.
