Relja Penezić (born 1950) is a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, media artist,

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, and a

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. His work is a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

blend that combines technology and painting, performance and video, art and craft.

Biography

Penezić was born in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, in the

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in 1950 to parents

Slobodan Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...

and . After studies of fine arts at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

, he relocated to Paris, France where he based his art practice from 1975 to 1980. In 1985 he immigrated to the United States. Until 1990 he was based in New York City and his art practice consisted mainly of painting and printmaking. He started experimenting with digital media, video and photography in 1991 when he moved to San Francisco where he lived until 2007. Today, Penezic lives and works in Los Angeles. In 1996 Zakros InterArts label Chronic Art published his CD-ROM "Computer Film Sketchbook" and premiered it at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

. His 2002 Audio/Video installation in collaboration with composer Victoria Jordanova at the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

entitled "Panopticon" was published by ArpaViva label as a DVD and is distributed by The

Cinema Guild The Cinema Guild Inc. is an American film distribution company. It was established by Philip Hobel and Mary-Ann Hobel, producers known for their work in documentaries and features, including the film ''Tender Mercies''. Since 1968, the Cinema ...

of New York. His paintings and media pieces are part of numerous private and public collections in the US, Europe and Japan. In 2004 he was selected to create a permanent site-specific media installation "The Alaska Cycle" by Alaska Arts Council. In 2005 and 2006 he finished two large-scale site-specific paintings "Alaska Time-Lapse" and "Views of Tundra" for the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, commissioned by Alaska Arts Council. Penezic is a cofounder of ARTaVIVA, a company/curatorial project dedicated to the promotion of audio/video art as a permanent installation medium. In addition to an international career as an artist, he served as a Creative Director for ID8, Los Angeles based branding agency, an Art Director and a Designer for Jump Ship Studios, San Francisco, and a Designer/Visual Effects Artist for Fleet Street Pictures of San Francisco. Relja Penezic was also a Master Printmaker for John Nichols Printmakers of New York specializing in silk-screen and lithography limited editions. He was a lecturer at the

Princeton University School of Architecture The Princeton University School of Architecture is the architecture school of Princeton University. Founded in 1919, the School is a center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory. The School offers an undergraduate ...

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

, and

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

External links

Artist's Web Site

ARTaVIVA

ARTaVIVA YouTube Channel

Panopticon

The Cinema Guild

Composer Victoria Jordanova
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penezic, Relja 1950 births Living people Photographers from Belgrade Serbian filmmakers Serbian multimedia artists Serbian painters Serbian printmakers French video artists University of Belgrade alumni Yugoslav emigrants to the United States