Exhibition Figuration in Contemporary Context

Exhibition 'FIGURATION IN CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT' by Ana Delić, Jana Delić and Ivana Marinković

• From February 3 to 20, 2026.
• DOB//Gallery

The exhibition 'Figuration in Contemporary Context' originated from the shared experience, conversations, and closeness that the artists developed during their studies at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade. The collective exploration and examination of their own artistic practices led to the idea of realizing this collaborative exhibition.

While each artist nurtures a different approach and poetics in artistic expression, figuration represents a common point of interest for them. Through it, they question the concept of identity, memory, tradition, and contemporary life, applying various visual strategies.
Within the exhibition, each artist develops their own relationship with the figure, using it as a means of personal and conceptual expression. The focus on figuration allows these different approaches to be read as part of the same visual and conceptual dialogue of the artists.
In Ana Delić's works, the motif of a cow takes a central place and functions as a self-portrait. Through this symbol, Ana explores questions of identity, origin, and belonging, placing the cow in contemporary and intimate situations, often in relationships with close people. The substitution of the human figure with an animal opens up space for various interpretations but also for a strong personal identification, where tradition and modernity intertwine.

Ana Delić – Encounter, oil on canvas, 120x90cm, 2025

Jana Delić starts from family photographs and motifs of traditional customs, especially wedding rituals. Through fragments of memory and scenes of everyday life, she translates documentary records into the language of painting, exploring the boundary between the intimate and the universal. In her works, the figure becomes a carrier of cultural memory, but also a space for personal interpretation and transformation.

Jana Delić, -Memory, acrylic and pastel on canvas, 100x120cm, 2025

In Ivana Marinković's works, the figure is often taken from photos and presented through excerpts, details, and fragments of body parts, clothing, or objects from everyday surroundings. With this approach, the focus shifts from the whole to the peripheral, and the figure acquires a new, intimate meaning. Fragmentation becomes a way to only hint at the whole, leaving space for personal interpretation and experience.

Ivana Marinković -With Anči 3, acrylic and oil on canvas, 150x120cm, 2024-25

Although different in motifs and visual language, these three poetics converge in a shared interest in the figure as a bearer of meaning and as a means of reflecting on the contemporary moment.
Through the exhibition 'Figuration in Contemporary Context,' the authors aim to present figuration as a vibrant, flexible, and contemporary artistic language. For them, it is not a return to traditional forms but a space for constant questioning between the past and the present, personal experience and a broader social context, whole and fragment...

Ana Delić, Jana Delić and Ivana Marinković