25 November 2022 — 21 January 2023
Essays by Anja Foerschner and Fabrizio Pizzuto

Maja Arte Contemporanea is delighted to present the gallery’s first collaboration with performance artist Marta Jovanović.

The sculpted pieces are the outcome of the Motherhood performance held by Jovanović in February 2016, at the “O3one Gallery” in Belgrade. During the performance, Jovanović struck 246 eggs hanging from the ceiling, rupturing them one-by-one. The eggs symbolically numbered each fertile day from the artist’s first menstruation to the date of the performance.

The ruptured shells were then turned into unique electroformed copper sculptures, numbered and plated in 24K gold.

“Each egg I broke during the performance is a missed opportunity at maternity in the name of art,” Jovanović says not without a touch of irony. Her pieces alchemically transform what might otherwise exist as a sacrilege in dystopian worlds such as the one imagined by Margareth Atwood in “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

Anja Foerschner notes, “through this work, Jovanović provides an ironic counter perspective to the destruction of her eggs in her performance: not only are the eggs being carefully restored in the installation, they — and thus her ‘wasted opportunities’ — have even been literally turned into gold.”

The performance Motherhood is rooted in a moment of profound change for Jovanović one that brought her to revisit her life choices and reflect on the status of ‘female artist’ in a patriarchal society. The installation is thus surprisingly transformative, becoming a cathartic experience for both artist and viewer. We are welcomed by a beautiful constellation of golden eggs: these are shells but they are also the precious custodians of wishes; in them the latter travel towards their Moon where they are collected — alongside madness — with all that is lost or merely transformed.

The installation is curated by Sauro Radicchi.

(trans. Livia Sacchetti)


Twould take too long to relate in rhyme

All the things he saw there, in that valley,
Viewed thousands upon thousands, at a time,
The results of our lives, each casualty;
Yet little or no sign of that madness
Rarely absent from Earth one must confess.
– Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso (Astolfo on the Moon) / trans. A.S. Kline

Selected works

Marta Jovanović
Motherhood, 2017
Enquire
Marta Jovanović
Motherhood, 2022
Enquire
Marta Jovanović
Motherhood, 2022
Enquire
Marta Jovanović
Motherhood, 2022
Enquire
Marta Jovanović
Motherhood, 2022
Enquire
Marta Jovanović
Motherhood, 2022
Enquire

Critical essay

Motherhood - MARTA JOVANOVIĆ

By Anja Foerschner

The installation “Motherhood” originated in a performance of the same title, that Marta Jovanović performed on February 2016 at O3one Art space in Belgrade. The performance derived out of the artist’s deeply personal urge to contemplate her life choices and her status as a woman artist in a patriarchal world. Having just gone through a fundamental transformation in her personal life, which forced her to reevaluate her path, her past and her future, she had to choose, once again, between society’s vision for a woman and her own way. This schism was symbolized in the performance by raw eggs, which Jovanović smashed with a hammer. The number of eggs was carefully chosen, each egg representing one fertile day in her life since she started menstruating at age 16. She states with an ironic smirk that each egg she cracked in the performance is one chance of becoming a “real woman”, a mother that she “wasted on art.”

Jovanović faced a decision that many women have to make and that for most women is accompanied by substantial doubt and a paralyzing feeling of being torn. Do I want to become a mother or do I want to pursue my career? It also is a decision that possibly puts enormous strain on relationships and even friendships. Of course, it does not necessarily need to be “either” “or”, but sometimes it has to be. And what will the implications be? Will I regret becoming a mother and wife and having to put my career on hold or even let it go entirely? Will I wish I had become a mother once I do not have the option any longer? Even though in the present day contraceptives and the increasing, yet still insufficient support systems for women have at least made a choice possible, that choice still needs to be made and its implications, which are grave and long-term, considered carefully.

In its sculptural transformation, “Motherhood” is conceived as an installation containing 267 eggs as of December 2017. It is a work-in process as the artist’s future is impossible to predict: it will only be either through pregnancy or by entering menopause that the work’s final state will be determined.

The raw eggs that were used in the “Motherhood” performance are turned into unique sculptures in the installation, with each egg crafted in electroformed copper and gold-plated with 24K gold. Through this work, Jovanović provides an ironic counter perspective to the destruction of her eggs in her performance: not only are the eggs being carefully restored in the installation, they – and thus her “wasted” opportunities – have even been literally turned into gold.

Motherhood - MARTA JOVANOVIĆ

By Fabrizio Pizzuto

Not so simple.

A stretch in flight, a fluctuating sea, but the front is the position: the sea fluctuates in front, stretched out vertically. Gravity is reversed because it’s not a familiar dimension, nor is it even entirely symbolic. Real, in front of us, we rub our eyes but we are awake.

The sea dances motionless full of life and absence of context. This is the theme: life, golden life, open life, perhaps dispersed. The waves consolidate into ovals like words spoken in sequence, frozen in front of us from the last wave. They seemed obsessively the same from the start but have different endings, which are the openings, the broken void, the sense of being in the world, the divine speech that speaks the world. Like image and likeness it means same and different at the same time. In the afflatus there is birth, an underlying theme floating between the coils of a light wind that moves the words, which remain solid in front of them like salt rocks ready to crumble but which instead resist.

Although wounded, broken, hit, missing, words are matter, matter is soon a memory, persistence of the retina, inner wounds, shortcomings. The emptiness obtained from the blow remains to remind us that everything was present, perfect and eternal.

All this takes place in an environment that opens up to new abilities to perceive oneself, wrapped up in a thought and penetrated by solid clouds like rare certainties in the mind of the improbable being alive and constant. Finally, it is a space of female being that can be traveled by all, always listenable but not experienced by all. A space of the ovum seen as meaning itself, Courbet’s The Origin of the World, a new open perspective of a deliberately ambiguous visual thought. Finally, a space that one crosses dominated by this solidification, hanging, open, wavering and tinkling, frozen in perception, in the absence of wind.

Exhibited Artists

Marta Jovanović
 

Request

In order to respond to your request, we will process the personal data you have provided to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe from the Newsletter or change your preferences at any time by clicking on the link in our emails.

 
 

Request

 
 
Accept Refuse jack singer m4 170cm 5ft7 silicone male sex doll iron tech doll damsa fierce blonde sex doll b1d09319 mature sexy milf sex doll alice 158cm lola 161cm 5ft3 e cup iron tech doll gender x all in one mature blonde full silicone sex doll kamari 168cm replaceable with head and body scarlet 175cm 5ft9 e cup iron tech doll maia harper beautiful mature sex doll karla 163cm real life full size new japanese maid sex doll dorothy 158cm bluebella elizabeth soft body 41750 black realistic asian japanese sex doll julie 163cm realistic beautiful living sex doll yvonne 158cm meryl premium tpe sex doll lifelike fair skin japanese sex doll june 165cm new g cup asian doll yuyan 163cm life size beautiful elf sex doll annabelle 168cm naturally yours by blush novelties mambo vibe evelyn 165cm love doll new nurse cospaly bbw sex doll ayla 153cm silicone head rose 158cm 5ft 2 f cup iron tech doll small tits fantasy sex doll lily 164cm gessica 163cm 5ft 4 e cup se doll coco de mer lunaria amethyst bodysuit lun 022 05 ada wong 166cm 5ft5 e cup silicone sex doll game lady doll lisa cheap female sex doll b cup dolls castle ebony penny premium lifelike full silicone love doll gdsex doll high quality lifelike life size american sex doll cecelia 170cm silicone maia budzee yang yi vr2 c cup 171cm 5ft8 starpery sex doll 2023 new sex doll sola 157cm free articulated fingers realistic oral movable jaw small mini japanese silicone sex doll jennifer 100cm audrey premium silicone head sle body sex doll zelex usa stock mature sexy blonde silicone sex doll estelle 168cm miya 166cm silicone doll s1 5ft4 c cup iron tech doll maison close lamoureuse thong body black 560628 pretty cute bbw sex doll reina 157cm real life mature tall female sex doll emerald 174cm shye intelligent girl sex doll 1548893f goddess pink lily massager oriana realistic full silicone love doll movable jaws ge16 2 zelex 1 b4104988 life size grey hair japanese sex doll katie 168cm free 2nd head pretty asian japanese sex doll erin 160cm silicone head hair transplant cost effective new silicone sex doll destiny 168cm ashley 164cm plus 5ft4 g cup iron tech doll sexy tall silicone sex doll arianna 175cm movable jaw with oral structure misa 154cm f cup hybrid doll irontech doll huge boobs blonde granny sex doll dulce 161cm enid 105cm small doll real doll life size pretty japanese sex doll finley 165cm
special offer cute asian japanese double ponytail sex doll elora 148cm lydia premium lifelike sex doll selina 90cm 2ft9 e cup iron tech doll torso lifelike bbw chubby sex doll nyra 164cm extra random free head busty mature milf sex doll violeta 161cm silicone head temptation selective sex doll celia 152cm fair skin pregnant sex doll elena 160cm replaceable with head yuuka 163cm 5ft 4 e cup se doll 1 sexy tall silicone sex doll harmony 175cm realistic small tits korean sex doll kamryn 169cm 9be0b505 lifelike mature celebrity sex doll julie 171cm silicone head misa e cup 159cm 5ft2 starpery sex doll bluebella dali soft body black 42268 planet wand er jasmina piercing gaze sex doll realistic full size sexy asian sex doll katie 156cm 05c9510c hot sexy sex doll violet 165cm silicone head life size sexy legs sex doll katherine 165cm realistic small tits korean sex doll kamryn 169cm eberjey elvia racerback cami slim pant set harriet tall and curvy sex doll super reality big booty chinese sex doll 161cm louise silicone head small tits fantasy sex doll lily 164cm flora realistic silicone doll gdsex doll high end big ass tatsumaki sex doll 174cm full size small breast sex doll lenora 162cm silicone head marina premium full silicone sex doll zelex miya 160cm silicone doll s1 5ft3 h cup iron tech doll maison close madame reve long dress black 608867 super realistic big tits big booty sex doll lylah 161cm silicone head le wand gee sarah silicone head movable jaw sle body sex doll zelex usa canada stock 7b52a74c valka anime viking sex doll isladora naughty brat sex doll rosegasm rose blossom licker special offer sex doll malani 173cm 5 upgrade features 2 extra heads special offer sexy mature blonde sex doll laney 155cm candy 153cm silicone doll s6 4ft 9 e cup iron tech doll kama 161cm 5ft 3 e cup iron tech doll best tpe blonde sex doll braylee 158cm pearl 168cm silicone doll s19 5ft8 c cup iron tech doll 1 suzumi 160cm 5ft 3 d cup se doll fleur du mal vegan leather caged bodysuit black bs0404 blonde busty sex doll macie 163cm fantasy mature sexy big boobs pornstar sex doll ivy 162cm real life asian chinese bbw sex doll skye 165cm silicone head special offer asian korean busty sex doll clare 165cm freya icy blonde sex doll sexy things by blush novelties slimline vibe lifelike chinese star sex doll bingbing 168cm silicone head d222d3f6