Handel Street Projects
14 Florence Street, London N1

Olga Jevrić 1922 – 2014

Frieze Masters London – Spotlight
7 – 16 October 2020

Olga Jevric, Articulation of the Space IV (Grasshopper) 1958, Ferric – oxide, iron

Olga Jevrić’s work has a special place in the pantheon of post-war European sculpture. Born in Belgrade in 1922 Jevrić developed her unique visual language at a time when, amidst the ideological constraints of Socialist Realism, there was little space for personal expression. 

At Frieze Masters we are showing here the earliest examples of what she called ‘spatial compositions’, her earliest abstract sculptures from the 1950s’ but also three examples of her work from the 70s’ and 80s’. This group of works on show cover both variety of materials and techniques she deployed during her long career. Although she made bronzes, her true material was concrete mixed with iron dust compound she called ‘feroxide’, which would oxidise to give these works their colour.

Her early work is fundamentally linked to medieval Balkan Stećci, monolithic medieval tombstones scattered around Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro, leading Jevrić to assert that she could not have made her sculptures anywhere other than in her home country.  They are, she explains, informed by ‘war, uncertainty, the slaughter of innocent people, social upheavals and disorder of all social norms’.

These works manage to unite opposites, bringing together an expressive, rebellious existentialist attitude with decidedly constructivist tendencies.

During Frieze, the works will be on display in our showroom at 14 Florence Street N1, by appointment. Please bring your own face mask. Hand sanitizer will be provided.