TEXTS
Shozo Shimamoto: NETWORK
I have received a message from NENAD BOGDANOVIC, a mail artist in Yugoslavia, that he would like to see me during his stay in Japan. On 31 January 1997, I visited to Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo to give a lecture. This museum has a biggest collection in the field of Japanese modern art. The curator had planned a series of eight lectures on each of eight works, eight masterpieces of the museum. My work, Ana (Hole), is one of them. So, I was asked to give a lecture on this selected work. I happened to see NENAD at this museum before the lecture. Last time I saw him was more than ten years ago when I had visited to Yugoslavia. I have known him and respect him for his splendid talent not only as a mail artist but also a performing artist. Even it was a short meeting but we had made an interesting collaborating performance in front of my work, Ana (Hole). Two mail artists met by chance in the Far East knowing each other by mail art - networking. It was significant and interesting exchange for both of us that we have done such a collaboration at the regulated facility, a public museum, by knowing each other in the counter method of networking.
Fernando Aguiar: COLOUR RAIN FOR HIROSHIMA
In Hiroshima , during the NIPAF '97 - The 4th Nippon International Performance Art Festival, I've a new and great experience, when Nenad Bogdanovic invite me for make a work on his body-Gallery. At the first days in Hiroshima , we visit the Peace Memorial Museum and I (and the other artists, too) keep very impressed with all holocaust and their consequences. One of the thing I've impressed was the black rain on Hiroshima in the days after the nuclear bomb. So, I decided make a homage to Hiroshima using a tradicional form of Japanese poetry - the haiku, and the theme of black rain. And in Nenad Bogdanovic Gallery I've make an haiku called "Colour Rain for Hiroshima", a vertical haiku with 5/7/5 colour letters in sign of hope. I think the public understand the work and the message, and the Hiroshima television , after make the film of the performance, make an interview with us about the work and his subject. Some days after, Seiji Shimoda invite us for make another work in Nagano. And that time I' ve made a poetical installation in Nenad Bogdanovic Gallery, with many different letters glued on Nenad's body. They was two very interesting experiences, because I never exhibit in a so peculiar Gallery. May of 1997
Paolo Barrile:
Since the first artist traced his first images - it was probably the times of rupestrian painting and the engravings in Valcamonica - artists have always strived to reach immortality for themselves and for their works. It was so for Greek art as well as for most of the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. With a great sence of humility, the artist Nenad Bogdanovic gives up producing his own works and chooses to turn his body into an art gallery, giving other artists the chance to use it as a medium or as an exhibiting space for their actions. Nothing could be more ephemeral. How long can a work of art last on such a medium? An hour? A day? Or till his partner gets fed up and tells him: "wash yourself, you stink and soil all the sheets"? Who knows. What we know is that, given the extremely ephemeral character of the medium used - and here I knock on wood and invite Nenad to do likewise - such an artistic image will not last beyond the maximum limit reached by the mythical Methuselah. Cui prodest? "Art is ephemeral" Bogdanovic seems to tell us. "So are life, glory and beauty". Many works of art are doomed to waste away because of the decay of the medium - let us think for example of all colour movies. How could we not agree with him? The lesson Nenad Bogdanovic is teaching us is one of great humility and profound poetry but also of cynical realism. The human body is transient, all vanities of this world are transient, and beauty is destined to wither away. But ART - as an expression of the mind and as such leading to MAN - is eternal. Art is a concept, an IDEA, and it is the idea which is passed on and which is the spirit and the core of the artistic work in all times. Milano, 30th September 1995
John Held, Jr.:
Nenad Bogdanovic uses his body to communicate the art experience.He has gone beyond his many years of working with other international artists through the postal sistem. He has gone beyond communicating with his magazine Total, which was an important mail art magazine that shared the work of Eastern European artists with the rest of the world. He has gone beyond the white walls of the art gallery to share his artworks. Bogdanovic has fused all of his previous art interests in this latest project. From Mail Art he has taken the philosophy that art and life are best when joined together. He is also aware that the artwork is a shared experience between artist and viewer, and at it's best, there is often no distinction between the two. Nenad Bogdanovic is indeed a creator , but he is a confident enough artist to realize that creativity is a collaborative effort. The Networker Gallery uses the artist's body as a medium to create an open structure that can be used to communicate. The telephone is used in a similar way. It carries messages, but makes no effort to determine the information which flows through it. Bogdanovic becomes the medium through which others flow and are allowed to express their creativity. He holds his body like a mirror in which the individual reflects and reveal themselves. He is the open medium allowing them to do this. In exposing himself, Bogdanovic is allowing his fellow artists to reveal themselves. Ultimately the audience for this work will be given a better picture of contemporary art and the ideas and interests that the new art holds important.
Julien Blaine: HORIZON (S)
In French, like in most languages there is only one word for "Horizon". In Japanese there are two words: one that means: "horizon of the sea" one that means: "horizon of the land" What can we do? For this performance which I wanted to realize with this live, moving, human: "The networker gallery Nenad Bogdanovic", man-space, man-object, man-subject, man-painting, man-display to be transformed in, and, set, establish, paint, admire, ore convert in, change to horizon ... What can we do? "horizon of the sea or horizon of the land ?" Man (Man-gallery also), that curious mammal is he rather earthly or from the sea, which element? So, I remembered the line of the horizon, that bond of coordination between earth (planet - coast - sea) and I'm for the option of the sea. Looking at it this way, could Nenad`s face be the Sun setting down and meet me between the dog and the wolf, in the moment that signifies the end of the day and possible beginning of the night.
Jürgen O. Olbrich:
Everybody defines space. Every space has a body. Most spaces are man - made. Men are space. Man meeting man is creating new space. Space defines the body.
Franco Santini & Raimondo Del Prete:
WE LOVE THE NETWORKER GALLERY NENAD BOGDANOVIC
On Thursday 10th August 1995 we lived a particulary profound emotion, when the living gallery THE NETWORKER GALLERY NENAD BOGDANOVIC came to our houses during his tour of Italy after fantastic common experience at Bienno (Brescia) and Ponte Nossa (Bergamo) in PERFOMEDIA 1995 (a meeting of networkers and performers organized every year by Emilio Morandi). Nenad is an aware of his own creativeness man, a netlover like us. He came from Odzaci in Yugoslavia, in spite of the hard time that are tormenting that land, for offering us his body as a loving gallery in which, on which we had to exhibit our creativeness.
We went to the pine - wood on the sea and we installed on his throbbing explanatory space our extempore works of BEACH - ART, satisfing our need to display anD Nenad`s need to make himself displayed on.
After dinner at Franco and Patrizia Santini?s house garden we organized an evening in honour of the living gallery that had generously travelled to make us exhibit our works on himself. So deeply moved we showed on him the maximum symbol of our creativeness of simple man, not artists by trade, that is our railwayman uniform. Then we had some other shows with the works of domestic art which Raimondo Del Prete realizes on behalf of his wife Caterina Casciello Del Prete and with little cages containing symbols of time which Franco Santini recently built in subject with his search. All people present (about 25) were at the end invited by Nenad to exhibit our signatures our handwritings our symbols on his naked chest and back.
Consequently in addition to us, our friends also had the nice possibility of a collective exhibition with little fragments of their creativeness in, on THE NETWORKER GALLERY NENAD BOGDANOVIC.
In indelible memory of that great occasion he offered us, we thank Nenad very much and so we want openly to say we netlove his operation and his body gallery that such lovingly stimulated our psihological need to be creative.
Emilio Morandi:
Nenad Bogdanovic go further this possibility, go longer the fact of communicate to others. Nenad Bogdanovic have the brilliant idea to give the possibility to others to express the own creativity and immediately exhibit in the special gallery. Nenad Bogdanovic have think up to offer the his body as place of exhibition where whoever can expose poetics works, art works, write messages, put stamps, timbre, adhesives. Nenad Bogdanovic in this years make art - trip of his NOMAD GALLERY IN TRAVEL in the Yugoslavia, and shows with his "ART BODY GALLERY" also at Museum of Modern Art of Belgrade. Nenad Bogdanovic in the year 1994 have make exhibition his gallery to atelje by artist "Le Peintre Nato" and models at Paris. Nenad Bogdanovic in the year 1995 have bring his "BODY GALLERY" in Italy, at Festival of performances "Perfomedia" Bienno (Brescia) Ponte Nossa (Bergamo) where all artists participants and the public present have make interventions and write messages in the his body, in the his HUMAN - NOMAD GALLERY with enthusiasm.
Alberto Rizzi:
If I was a critic, I could try to link Nenad`s concept of "body - gallery" to some body - art performance of the Seventies. In fact it`s not new to see an artist operating on its own body, or to let that other artist use it; but the act of offering one`s body as an "open space" to other artists operating, passes over this simple listing. If art is, more than all, communication, Nenad`s choice drives us to consider how much important is the body in any kind of communication, and it defiants also to overpass both the concepts of "dedicated place for art" and of the "at par"involvement artist (s) - observer (s). In fact, if every place - from a theatre or a gallery to a simple room - can be used for any kind of artistic evenment, the logic consequence of this is that also a body - after body - painting, tattooing, gesturing - is only a place like others. And wich kind of more precious occasion to share one`s reliance in other people`s creativity than this? I don`t pretend that everyone act as Nenad does, but it`s important to learn to consider - in any circumstance - that also our whole, body included, is a part of our artistic operating.
Adrian Guta: Ann ART 9
"Nenad BOGDANOVIC from Yugoslavia is an itinerant author of performance, who has been promoting a provoking programme for a few years. This attracted to the artist invitations in many countries. This is a complex and indirect form of body-art, BOGDANOVIC offering his body to the action of others, at the same time transforming it in a mobile space of exhibition. This way a variant of alternative space is created, one of the most ingenious ones, with an added sui generis modality of interaction. At Ann ART 9 Nenad BOGDANOVIC proposed to the public to "structure" with site-specific elements the space embodied by the Yugoslavian.
Nenad Bogdanovic: I, THE GALLERY
I, the Man Gallery Nenad Bogdanovic, was born - originate in 1955 in Odzaci, Yugoslavia.
My body - the gallery is already an artistic institution but it is an artistic project that has not been commercialised. Taking the basic fact, well known to everybody, during the last years, even decades, classical art and exhibition spaces are becoming non-interesting and boring. People are walking through the gallery without any interess. Artistic power of exhibited works is too weak for people to wish to communicate with them. Reason is possibly, a great amount of informations that people are exposed to in every moment. Inspite that, they are not taking it intimately and they are shortened for communication between them. This has influenced me to bring something new in my artistic work. I have decided to create a totally different gallery, something that won`t be lifeless and boring. Audience must be provoked to think about art work. They should be animated, taking part in creation of an art work. This is the only way for them to like the art work. My body - the gallery is not a cold, insensitive space, a room - an exhibit. My body - the Man gallery is an exceptionally communicative exhibitional room - object. It is not closed and limited in co-operation with other artists and artistic groups interested in exhibiting and collective creative work and communication. I, the Man Gallery Nenad Bogdanovic, am not a selling gallery of artistic works. My body - the gallery does not organise buing and selling artistic projects and exibitions. It does not trade with artists, exhibitors and collaborators. It does not deal in their artistic works and projects. The relations between me, the Man Gallery Nenad Bogdanovic, and many artists and co-operating exhibitors is exceptionally honest and mutually open and sincere. They, the artists collaborators, refuse the former buing-selling system of the most of today`s galleries and museums, and gladly exhibit and co-operate with me, with my body, the Man Gallery.With the very act of exhibiting and communicating with me, with my body - the Man Gallery, all the artists and many other known and unknown collaborators, in the best way express their attitude towards the art itself, their audience and problems in the contemporary art and show their relations with them.