Punk and Hybrid Print, Aleksandar Mladenović Leka

Subway Sect Nobody’s Scared B Flat

 

Two sets of six prints by a master serbian print-maker and professor living and working in Belgrade. Each is a graphic hybrid of identical dimensions (1,44 x 96cm), a large silk-screened print composed from four equal parts, each containing 6 mini images. The end result is a grid of 24 where photographs, text and hand-written lyrics are presented simultaneously, as identically-sized pictorial equals with no centre or hierarchy. Colour is simple but produces contrasts that clash so the total effect is intricate and powerful. Colour and print are used to mesh together a variety of materials relating to British punk, and more precisely to Vic Godard and the Prefects. Leka is seeking a visual equivalent to music and to the sound of the songs referenced in the imagery. Thus, the regular bullet-like circles –  3, 4, 5 or 6 – reproduce the chord of a guitar superimposed upon the imagery as printed coloured sound. The consistent imposition of order upon an imagery of disorder, anarchy and rebellion is carried over in the precision of the titles (Subway Sect-Nobody’s Scared, Chord B flat or The Prefects-VD, riff E5 A7-E5 A3). These ambitious prints were the subject of a solo exhibition at the Ulus Gallery (Belgrade) in 2012 and can now be seen, along with other recent works, in the artist’s studio, by personal appointment. Leka is a Professor at the Printmaking Department, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Belgrade, see www.amleka.com.