• 01/04/2022/

• Gallery Terra

Mila Guardiol – ,,QUO VADIS?”

An exhibition of paintings, by Mila Guardiol entitled ,,QVO VADIS” opened at the Terra Gallery on Friday, Abril 1. 2022.

From catalogue  – ,,The series of paintings from the profuse artistic opus of Mila Gvardiol entitled Quo Vadis? uses staircases as a key motif and confirms the author’s fascination with the contemporary, with architecture, both in form and expression. The urban motifs of Mila’s works enchant us not only because of their complexity, grandiosity and sheer size but also because of their magical power to captivate and pull us into the painting, beckoning us to participate. While observing the works from the Quo Vadis? series, we notice that the artist skillfully plays with our existence in space and time always offering us details of a staircase, never allowing us the opportunity to see the whole architectural construction.

Analyzed linguistically, the name of this period depicted by Mila has its roots in the ancient legend according to which St. Peter while leaving Rome to escape martyrdom, experienced a vision of Christ and, frightened, asked him “Quo Vadis, Domine?” (“Where are you going, Lord?”). In the works presented to us, the artist offers us more than one possibility –  of constantly striving for higher levels, goals and paths, returning to the known and already seen, or standing still and staying in the present time. Sometimes we inevitable have to take a step back to be able to step more boldly into the future – “descent” and stagnation are not necessarily symbols of degradation and decay.

Miona Marta Marković, PhD, Academic Painter and Art Historian

Mila Guardiol was born in 1979 in Belgrade. She graduated in 2004 from the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, Department of Wall Painting. She received her PhD in 2012 from the Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Arts in Belgrade, Department of Digital Art. She has been a member of ULUS since 2006, and of ULUPUDS since 2011. She is employed as an associate professor at the Faculty of Digital Production in Sremska Kamenica and the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade. She has exhibited her works at 31 solo and over 250 group exhibitions. She is a participant in international digital art festivals and art colonies. She has received several painting awards.