Exhibition ”Kiki Smith: Humans and Other Animals”

A solo exhibition by Kiki Smith – a prominent, internationally recognized artist – will open on Saturday, September 17th at 7pm in Dots Gallery (Bulevar vojvode Bojovića 4). This is the first solo exhibition by Kiki Smith in Serbia, following her first major museum exhibition in the Balkan region.The exhibition will be open to the public until October 29, 2022.

Kiki Smith: Humans and Other Animals” was conceptualized by the artist, curated by Mirjana Dušić and Ljuba Jovićević, with exhibition design by Isidora M. Nikolić.

The exhibition consists of the artwork spanning the entire career of this prominent artist: from the 1990s, when the artist primarily dealt with the human body and its many aspects, through Smith’s artwork of the 2000s where her main focus was on animals, fables and nature, to her most recent work, ‘The Large Moon,’ (2022).

In collaboration with the artist herself, the exhibition was designed as a compact survey of the artist’s career. On display are four tapestries, fourteen sculptures, and twenty prints and drawings, which ‘function as a promenade that reminds the visitors of their presence in the world.’ (J. Stokić).

The gallery team has extensive experience in curating, exhibition production, publishing and design in public cultural institutions and galleries, in both local and international context.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication containing text by Aleksandra Jovićević, PhD, a historian and theorist of performance arts and a tenured professor at La Sapienza University in Rome, as well as writing by Jovana Stokić, PhD, an art historian and curator from New York. The promotion of the publication will be held after the exhibition opening, and will be attended by the artist and the authors.

The artwork has been generously loaned by Kiki Smith, Pace Gallery – New York and Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE).

About the Artist and Her Work

Kiki Smith has had numerous solo exhibitions around the world, including over 25 museum exhibitions. Her work has been displayed at five Venice Biennales. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 2017 she was awarded the title of the Honorary Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. She is the winner of many significant awards and was declared by TIME magazine as one of the ‘TIME 100: People Who Shape Our World’. She is an associate professor at both New York University (NYU) and the Columbia University.

Kiki Smith put on her first solo exhibition exactly forty years ago, in 1982, in New York alternative art space The Kitchen. She became known for her multidisciplinary work that explores the Incarnation, the natural world, and the unbreakable bond between humans, animals, plants and celestial bodies. In her work, she uses a variety of techniques and materials including sculpture, prints, photography, drawing and tapestries.

About Dots Gallery and Foundation

The Dots Gallery will open its doors to the public on Saturday, September 17, 2022 with asolo  exhibition by the world-renowned artist Kiki Smith. The Dots Gallery is located in Donji Dorćol, an urban neighborhood of Belgrade (4 Bulevar vojvode Bojovića). The focus of the Gallery’s art program will be the presentation of the local and international contemporary art scenes and establishing the liaison between the two.

The Dots Gallery, founded by the Dots Humanitarian Foundation as a non-profit gallery, will, through strengthening of the art scene and organization of cultural and art events, provide financial means, as well as non-material resources for systematic support of the children in the Children’s Village ‘Dr Milorad Pavlović’ in Sremska Kamenica.

Children without parental care are one of the most vulnerable social groups, whose growing up and coming of age is under constant physical, emotional and social stress. It is for this reason that the main goal of the DOTS Foundation is to, through enlisting professional staff for education, training and grant programs, aid these children in acquiring important skills which would facilitate their integration into society, educational institutions, and professional advancement after they reach the age of 18. The profit secured by the Dots Gallery activities related to the promotion of projects and works by local contemporary artists is aimed at contributing to achieving this goal.