10 Questions with Milena ZeVu

Collectors’ Art Book Featured Cover Artist

Milena ZeVu graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Belgrade. She is a multimedia conceptual artist whose creative work includes paintings, sculptures, installations, performances, NFT, and AR.  
From 2001 to 2015, she created art collections on different themes of interest in a combined technique with acrylic, cement, and crystals. 
From 2015, ZeVu has started a new artistic direction, which she named ‘ArtWalks’. This art form is a fusion of painting, body art, performance, and lately NFT.

www.milenazevu.com | @milena.zevu

ArtWalks | Project Description

Milena ZeVu always wanted her art to be more dynamic. She had a feeling that she should somehow blend with her work and eventually become 'one' with it. The process of becoming 'one' with her work was a slow development, involving a lot of meditative practice and analytical thinking, which she immensely enjoyed doing. She painted over her body and clothes as she was painting canvases, which soon would disappear, replaced with new ones.

Through the use of wearable canvases, or the inclusion of the human body in the painting, the ArtWalks leaves space for mediation for anyone who comes across them. The artist literally opens her works to the spectator who can thus visually and conceptually participate in their meaning.

ArtWalks emphasizes ZeVu's need to free art from the conventional exhibition space and the dominant western system of contemporary art, to which most artists are strongly subordinated. Milena unites with her art to defend it and preserve art's supreme independence and freedom.

In June 2022, Milena ZeVu had a major art exhibition, which marked 20 years of her artistic expression, in Silosi, Belgrade, entitled ArtWalks.

INTERVIEW

Your career spans already over 20 years, and you are about to launch a big solo exhibition to celebrate this milestone. But let’s get back to the start; how and when did you decide to become an artist?

I was born in an artistic family. My father was a painter, as well as several close relatives. My parents had the first private gallery in Belgrade in the 80s, so I was surrounded by many artists since early childhood. That affected me quite a lot, in the sense that, from an early age, I began to understand the way artists tend to think and behave. After completing the Academy of Applied Arts in Belgrade, which lasted for five years, I realised that I was only at the beginning of my journey. I felt a strong sense of urgency to somehow move the existing boundaries and distance myself from any current style and narrative known to myself at that time. My father would often tell me: ’for you, it will be difficult to find your own style since you are the daughter of an artist’. These words strongly affected me.

How has your motivation changed over the years? Do you still feel the same sparkle when creating your artworks?

My studio is my favourite place. For me, it was crucial to create my own space, which corresponds to my aesthetics. This was my necessity as a way to accumulate inspiration and energy on a daily basis. I give my time and love to this place, and reciprocally I am receiving it back with a lot of good energy needed for my daily work.

My motivation is becoming stronger each day because, as an artist fully dedicated to my art, I know myself better now, and I have my own ‘voice’. So it’s kind of a deeper immersion into the creation process, with a sense that I know what I am supposed to do.  

Is there a project that particularly influenced you? And what is your favorite memory or experience so far as an artist?

In every project I created, I learned something new. I cannot emphasise only one project as my favourite one, as I enjoyed each one of them immensely. The feeling of freedom as an artist is my ultimate goal. This means creating and showing my works in unexpected places without making any compromises, which is what I am constantly trying to achieve.

Your career and production can be divided into two separate moments. How did you transition from the early works to the ArtWalks series?

In 2005, I had a solo exhibition in the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest, which was basically one scene from my video work ‘One’. The painting extended into a carpet 70m long and stretched through the main floor of the Museum, all the way to the street. Visitors were walking on the artwork, thus becoming part of it. After ten years of using crystals in my works, which was as well a tool I used to make my works alive, I came back to the idea of trying to make a more dynamic artwork.

Let’s talk about the ArtWalks. Where did you get your inspiration for this series?

I’ve always wanted to make my works alive. So at a certain moment, I had a feeling that I should somehow try to blend with my work and become one with it. This process which started in 2015, I named ArtWalks. ArtWalks is a multidimensional project which contains paintings, body art, painted dresses, performance, and meditation. It has no limits in space. 

And what messages are you trying to convey with these works?

My art is the internal dialogue with myself on some themes which interest me. I think the central point in my work is the awareness that time is passing and the question of what I can do about it. I am contemplating from a position of myself as a small dot in the Universe, how powerful I am, and what is my own attitude towards the place where I dwell. 

Your body seems to have a central role, both conceptually and physically, in your series. How do you incorporate painting into the mix, and how do you balance this with the performative aspects of your production? 

From the beginning, ArtWalks has been a demanding but fascinating journey for me. I incorporated a lot of meditation in the process of creation. I was going through different phases, from the initial period, when I was just standing in front of a painting in complete synergy with a painted dress, to the next phase, when I basically cut the canvas in the shape of my silhouette and definitely felt more united with my work. The next direction was to take my work outside to a busy street, where my internal dialogue would become exposed to the audience. My work has to do with our awareness towards Nature, Man, and our Planet.

Are there other new themes you would like to tackle with future projects or series?

Art needs to move beyond existing boundaries. Most recently, I created a new piece based on a photo of the artist Grayson Perry by Richard Ansett, which, in my view, announces a new era we are approaching in art. It is called ‘Artist is Queen’. This work will be exhibited for the first time at the exhibition in Belgrade.

Your upcoming exhibition will be a great chance to see your whole production together. What is the most challenging part about this project? 

Silosi space in Belgrade, where my exhibition took place in June 2022, is an old grain silo complex, a very unique and interesting industrial space, which I found very inspirational. I prefer such raw places much more than galleries or museums, but this requires my total involvement in all aspects of the exhibition production, so this is my biggest challenge now. I am very happy that it is curated by Nina Vagic, as she helped me shape my narrative in the right manner.

Apart from the exhibition, what other plans do you have for the future? Anything exciting you can share with our readers?

I prefer to be creative than talk about my plans and projects in advance. However, I can share that one of my next projects will be a more complex ArtWalks Cities performance somewhere in Italy.