Maja Maljević
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b. 1973 – Belgrade, SRB
Maja Maljević graduated from the School for Design in Belgrade in 1992 and received her BA in Fine Art (1997) and her MA in Fine Art (2000) from the University of Arts, Belgrade. In 2000, she moved to South Africa where she now lives and works as a full- time artist in Johannesburg.
Maljevic’s work has been exhibited widely in Southern Africa and Europe, participat- ing primarily in gallery exhibitions and art fairs. The artist has had 8 solo exhibitions to date and features in many of the most important private and corporate art collections in South Africa. While Maljević works intuitively, her concerns are predominantly formal. Her interest, for instance, in the relationship between two shapes within a composition is informed primarily by an interest in the shapes themselves rather than symbolic or an emotional state.
Maljević’s particular style begins with “dirtying” the canvas with a layer of bright paint that breaks the baldness of the white surface and opens up the space for Maljević’s intuitive jigsaw endeavour. Onto this ground, Maljević builds up surfaces with drips, blocks, bands and waves of colour, searching for harmony between colour and form, line and shape, expansive surface and small detail. For Maljević, physical movement is an important part of the process – never can she be found sitting at an easel.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 Objects of Desire - Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA 2019 The Silence of Change – David Krut Projects, New York, USA
2018 Polytekton – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 Room With A View – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2016 Disrupted – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 Horror Vacui – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 Works on Paper – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2012 Ex Nihilo – David Krut Projects, Cape Town, RSA
2012 Revisited – Nirox Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2011 Bubble and Leak – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2010 2 Months Thursdays – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2009 Into The Spine – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2008 Drawings – Obert Contemporary Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2007 Pretty Monsters – Obert Contemporary Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2005 Fact and Fiction – Obert Contemporary Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2002 Present Tense – Spark Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2002 Recent Work – Inspace Interiors, Johannesburg, RSA
1999 Emocore – Gallery Zvono, Belgrade, SRB
Selected Group Exhibitions & Projects
2023 X - A Decade of Kalashnikovv - Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA 2020-1 Pictures Worth A Thousand Words - David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2019 Kind of Blue - David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2019 FORMS’ – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2018 Memento Mori – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2018 A Contemporary Showcase – Graham’s Fine Art Gallery & Kalashnikovv Gallery,
Johannesburg, RSA
2018 The Colourist Manifesto – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 A Piece of Work – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 Occupy II – Fried Contemporary & Kalashnikovv Gallery, Pretoria, RSA
2017 Super Salon II – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 Salon Hang – David Krut Projects, New York, USA
2016 Mantenga | DKW Prints – David Krut Projects, New York, USA
2016 Nano – Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2016 I.n.c.h. X i.n.c.h. – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2015 No End to This – NO END Contemporary Art Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2015 Young Collectors – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RA
2015 Out of Context – University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2015 Carved – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 I Take It All Back – Nirox Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 Along the Line – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 The Benediction of Shade – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 Equinox – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 Matrix – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 PAPERWORK – SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, SA
2013 Back to the Future: Abstract Art in South Africa Past and Present – SMAC Gallery,
Cape Town, RSA
2013 Inspiracija-Secanhe ili Buducnost – KCB-Podroom Gallery, Belgrade, SRB
2013 The Painters Show – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2012 The Lite Room – Basel, CHE
2011 Art on Paper – Casa Labia Galeria, Cape Town, RSA
2008 The New Spell – David Krut Projects, New York, USA
2008 6:08 – David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2007 Bicycle – Art Space, Johannesburg, RSA
2007 The Winning Team – Gallery Zvono, Belgrade, SRB
2005 Melrose Art – Obert Contemporary Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2004 Warm Red Carven – Moja Modern, Johannesburg, RSA
1999 Critics Choice – Cultural Centre, Belgrade, SRB
Residencies & Awards
2014 Nirox Foundation, Cradle of Humankind, RSA
Selected Art Fairs
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, RSA: 2019 / 2017 / 2015
FNB Art Joburg Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2023 / 2018 / 2015 - 2008
Latitudes Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2019
Singapore Art Fair, SGP: 2014
VIENNAFAIR, Viena, AUT: 2007
Art Cologne, Cologne, GER: 2006
Collections
The Spier Arts Trust Collections
Hollard Art Collection
Nandos Art Collection