Exhibition opens this week in Dowd Gallery

10/26/2021 

Dowd Gallery will host a solo exhibition by Serbian-American artist Natalija Mijatović, “Of Snow and Sorrow,” beginning Oct. 25.

An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in Dowd Gallery on Thursday, Oct. 28.

Mijatović, professor of painting and chair of the Faculty Senate at Binghamton University, will display her latest paintings and works on paper as well as earlier pieces. Her work is influenced by uninhabited residual landscapes of urban decay and gray facades of the social-realist architecture of Eastern Europe.

She interprets the industrial landscape by extracting visual shapes such as power plants, wiring systems and factory interiors and juxtaposing them against flat backgrounds, using a subdued monochromatic color palette. The underlying grid system in much of her work references industrial spaces with a rich history of human activity, alluded through architectural forms.

“Materiality vs. perception. Reality vs. memory. Physicality vs. spirituality,” Mijatović, said. “Formal elements are an important aspect of my creative investigation, and such is the aforementioned considerations of color palette and composition, as well as tactile qualities of the substrate and finished surface."

Born in Belgrade, Mijatović, earned a B.F.A. from the University of Montenegro and an M.F.A. in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She has exhibited internationally at the Museum of American Art in Philadelphia, the International Festival of Alternative Cultural Exchange in Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia and the 50^th Venice Biennial, among others.

Her art evokes the feeling of unoccupied industrial spaces and landscapes.

“I think of the non-presence of people rather than their absence,” she said. “Non-presence seems more active, in a way, it’s a space in a latent state. Absence is a space that is left behind. I think of spaces I create as a refuge or a quiet place for us to find a moment of reflection.”

Other events that coincide with the exhibition, to be held in Dowd Gallery unless otherwise noted, include:

• Documentary screening: Thursday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. “Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (2010), a documentary about German painter Anselm Kiefer, directed by Sophie Fiennes.
• First Fridays: Nov. 5 and Dec. 3, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Organized by the Cultural Council of Cortland County.
• Artist’s Talk: Thursday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. Natalija Mijatović, “Of Snow and Sorrow.”
• Musical performance: Sunday, Nov. 14, 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. “Three-Winged Wisdom: Sounds for Snow and Sorrow,” performed by Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, from the Department of Music, Princeton University, voice; and Daniel Thomas Davis, from the Department of Music, Binghamton University, compositions and keyboards.
• Poetry reading: Wednesday, Nov. 17, 5 p.m. “Imprints in Snow,” organized by Howard Lindh, lecturer, English Department, SUNY Cortland.
• Documentary screening: Monday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m. “In Company of Shadows,” a collection of shorts.
• Gallery talk: Thursday, Dec. 2, 5 p.m. “Brutalism and Sophistication,” Vladimir Kulić, associate professor from the Department of Architecture, College of Design, Iowa State University, virtual via Webex.
• Gallery talk: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 5 p.m. “Emotional Aesthetics of Place: Attachment, Loss and a Quest for Hope,” by Leslie Eaton, professor, Department of Psychology, SUNY Cortland.

All lectures are free and open to the public. Please visit the Dowd Gallery website for detailed information about other programs and links to virtual events.

The exhibition will be available to the campus community and the public both in virtual and in-person format until Dec. 10. Visitors from outside the SUNY Cortland campus are advised to fill out a visitor registration and screening form to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

For more information, to inquire about an appointment or tour, please contact Dowd Gallery Director Jaroslava Prihodova at 607-753-4216.