Milakovic & Stefanucci | Interwoven | February 2025

INTERWOVEN 

works by

KRISTINA MILAKOVIC

MARCO STEFANUCCI

Von Buren Contemporary is delighted to present Interwoven, the duo exhibition of Kristina Milakovic and Marco Stefanucci.

The show title refers to the intertwining of contemporary ideas with past pictorial traditions which is a key element in the style of both artists. Milakovic evokes an early 19^th-century approach to the landscape with her vivid, brooding canvases while Stefanucci has studied the techniques of Old Masters in depth and references to their work and art history are the pillars of his oeuvre.

In the dramatic, flickering landscapes of Serbian-born Milakovic, reality blends with the imagination. Her atmospheric paintings contain clear echoes of Romanticism, with its emphasis on an emotional response to nature. Using acrylic, pigments, tar and ink, Milakovic applies her chosen palette with quick, gestural techniques to create layers and drips of colour. The final effect verges on abstraction, with a dreamlike world devoid of specific reference points.

Roman artist Marco Stefanucci, meanwhile, prefers the use of neutral colors with hints of wear and suggestions of stains in his figurative panels on wood. Creating a lived-in aesthetic and the illusion that his work has survived through the centuries, the paintings hark back to the Baroque style with a clear reference to classical mythology. The use of acids and solvents to corrode the pictorial surface – a technique which has long characterised Stefanucci’s output – reinforces the ‘past as present’ aspect of his paintings.

Kristina Milakovic was born in Belgrade in 1976 and completed her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. She has exhibited widely, in exhibitions and art fairs in Italy and abroad.

Marco Stefanucci was born in Rome in 1970. He graduated in Graphic Art and the History of Contemporary Art at the city’s La Sapienza University. He has exhibited in Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, England and Luxembourg.