SPARK ART FAIR 2024 – Marko Marković

The shapes of the tears remind of swastikas, thus symbolizing not only the ambivalent nature of the Iron Curtain but also the power structures and identity conflicts that Marković confronts in his artworks. The artist also refers to the association with the meanders of ancient Greece, symbolizing the roots of Western Eurocentrism clinging to each other.  The symbolism of the Iron Curtain, especially in the context of the Cold War, is reflected upon. This curtain was not only a physical barrier but also a symbol of the division of Europe and the world between the two superpowers, the USA and the USSR, which remain till today.

Yugoslavia played a particular role in the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, as it distanced itself from the Eastern Bloc and took an independent stance after the rupture between Tito and Stalin in 1948. Born in the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (1983) Markovic talks about the position of in-between and transition times of collective memory in the war and post-war period of 90es.

In the context of the Capitalocene today, Iron Waterfall is an imaginative vision toward future societies built upon new perspectives of utopian constructs. Monumental sculpture heavy and light at the same time levitates in the air defining its gravity. By being simultaneously visible and invisible it evokes ambivalent sensations questioning the power of perception and the thoughts of division and authority.