Nenad Kostic’s recent paintings are invitations to pause to appreciate images that, as individual frames in digital or motion pictures, race past our eyes at a speed of 1/24th of a second.  In the tradition of copying ‘Old Masters”, whose objective in painting was to capture a moment in time, Kostic’s homage to contemporary ‘masters’ is to portray, literally, that singular moment in a single frame. Considering that Kostic is deconstructing films, it’s almost ironic that he is formally trained and identifies himself with traditional oil painters.

Inspired by films, mostly animated ones, the artist paints a manufactured nature, one that exists as images projected into our consciousness by digital and motion pictures moving at 1,440 frames per minute.  Nature, people and landscape alike are the product of movie and flat screen lighting and imaging technology.   By watching animated films over and over, sometimes frame by frame, Kostic scrutinizes to select individuals during moments of discovery, philosophy, even spirituality that pass unnoticed in the blink of an eye.  The subjects turn out to be portraits of individuals and also portraits or personifications of significant moments.

Nenad Kostic earned his MFA in 2006 from the University of Arts/Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade, Serbia.  In 1994 his work was included in the First Biennial of Young Artists in Belgrade.  Since then he has shown paintings and video art internationally in museums and galleries in London, UK; Paris, France; Zurich, Switzerland; Vienna, Austria.  He was in a group show last year in San Diego, this is his first solo show in SF.  In 2006 Kostic was awarded a Presidential Scholarship from Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic’s Foundation for Education.  This allowed him two years of Graduate Animation Studies (2007-08) at the Academy of Art University here in SF.