Efimija Topolski
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, How much do you really need to get to know a man!, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.3 x 19.5 cm (6 x 7.7 inch)
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, Abandoned, poor and miserable II, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.5 x 19.4 cm (6.1 x 7.6 inch)
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, Another horrible night, without hope, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.5 x 19.5 cm (6.1 x 7.7 inch)
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, Don’t take for granted the air you breathe!, 2010
mixed media on paper, 30.4 x 40.8 cm (12 x 16.1 inch)
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, Paradise, Mother, Father and I, 2016
mixed media on paper, 26 x 32.5 cm (10.2 x 12.8 inch)
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, Now, my darling knows very well he has to be strong forever!, 2015
mixed media on paper, 23.5 x 38.5 cm (9.3 x 15.2 inch)
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, No title (front side), 2018
mixed media on wood, 15.8 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm (6.2 x 6.2 x 1 inch)
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, No title (the view from above), 2018
mixed media on wood, 15.8 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm (6.2 x 6.2 x 1 inch)
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, Hello darkness my old friend, 2018
soft pastel on paper, 34 x 44 cm (13.4 x 17.3 x 1 inch)
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, Hurray, you can see everything!, 2018
mixed media on paper, 11.5 x 14.8 cm (4.5 x 5.8 x 1 inch)
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, L’ Oiseau de feu, 2018
acrylic on unstretched canvas, 234.5 x 247 cm (92.3 x 97.2 x 1 inch)
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, The wind brings longing, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.6 x 19.5 cm (6.1 x 7.7 x 1 inch)
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, How much do you really need to get to know a man!, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.3 x 19.5 cm (6 x 7.7 x 1 inch)
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, Abandoned, poor and miserable II, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.5 x 19.4 cm (6.1 x 7.6 x 1 inch)
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, Particle and antimatter, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.5 x 19.5 cm (6.1 x 7.7 x 1 inch)
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, Another horrible night, without hope, 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.5 x 19.5 cm (6.1 x 7.7 x 1 inch)
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, Don’t take for granted the air you breathe!, 2010
mixed media on paper, 30.4 x 40.8 cm (12 x 16.1 x 1 inch)
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, Paradise, Mother, Father and I, 2016
mixed media on paper, 26 x 32.5 cm (10.2 x 12.8 x 1 inch)
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, The happiest day of life, 2015
mixed media on paper, 25 x 36.5 cm (9.8 x 14.4 x 1 inch)
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, Now, my darling knows very well he has to be strong forever!, 2015
mixed media on paper, 23.5 x 38.5 cm (9.3 x 15.2 x 1 inch)
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, Longing II (wild boar), 1990
mixed media on paper, 15.5 x 19.5 cm (6.1 x 7.7 x 1 inch)
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, I love the full moon!, 2016
mixed media on paper, 28.8 x 35.4 cm (11.3 x 13.9 x 1 inch)
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, You don’t have eyes to see, 2015
mixed media on paper, 25 x 36.5 cm (9.8 x 14.4 x 1 inch)
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, Weightlessness (SOLARIS), 1988
tempera on paper, 49.9 x 70 cm (19.6 x 27.6 x 1 inch)
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, No title (front side), 2018
mixed media on wood, 15.8 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm (6.2 x 6.2 x 1 inch)
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, No title (back side), 2018
mixed media on wood, 15.8 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm (6.2 x 6.2 x 1 inch)
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, No title (the view from above), 2018
mixed media on wood, 15.8 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm (6.2 x 6.2 x 1 inch)
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, Hello darkness my old friend, 2018
soft pastel on paper, 34 x 44 cm (13.4 x 17.3 x 1 inch)
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, Hurray, you can see everything!, 2018
mixed media on paper, 11.5 x 14.8 cm (4.5 x 5.8 x 1 inch)
Inquire
, L’ Oiseau de feu, 2018
acrylic on unstretched canvas, 234.5 x 247 cm (92.3 x 97.2 x 1 inch)
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Efimija Topolski (born 1965 in Belgrade as Jasna Topolski) through her drawings conveys archaic and existential experiences between conception and death. Her artistic world inhabits animals and plants, agents for the expression of existential feelings which challenge us to make a connection through them to our own inner world. There is the pain of loneliness, the yearning for relationships and for shelter and safety, the exhilarating feeling of freedom, the danger of feeling exposed and lost without these safe places.
The featured works were created over a three-decade-long creative career that largely took place away from the public eye. A Serbian artist Jasna Topolski had already enjoyed many years of success and completed a Masters at the Academy of Fine Arts, when in 1992, aged 26 and with a promising art career ahead of her, she retreated from society and entered the Christian-orthodox Monastery of Gradac, becoming Mother Efimija.
Even away from the world Efimija never ceased to be an artist. In Gradac, she found life-affirming forms for the otherworldly Byzantine icon painting. At the same time, she painted walls and iconostases of famous churches or monasteries. She also sketched and painted ceaselessly in notebooks, diaries and on paper of every kind, and in doing so reflected not only her life in the deeply traditional context of the monastery but also reacted to the modern, urban world outside.
As her work to date encompasses both pieces anchored in religion as well as these works which project existential feelings beyond a location in the monastic or worldly spheres, the artist defies standard categorisations.
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EFIMIJA TOPOLSKI
1965 born in Belgrade, YU, as Jasna Topolski
1979-1991 artistic education
1992 becomes a novice in the Gradac Monastery
1996 becomes a nun and changes her name to Efimija
Since 2016 lives in the Monastery of St. Ilarion and Saint John of Damascus in Uchon, France
EDUCATION
1991 MA degree, Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade, YU
1988 BA degree, Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade, YU
1983 Diploma in Graphic Design, School of Design, Belgrade, YU
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
“Intimate and Public” – Book&Art Gallery, Belgrade, RS
“Svetlosti tiha” (Silent Light), icons, Church of St. Sava – Parish house, Belgrade, RS
2019
“LUMIÈRE CLÉMENTE” (Silent Light), drawings, Cultural Centre of Serbia, Paris, FR
2018
“Thinking, Searching, Waiting II”, curated by ds art Binningen within the framework of an artistic project “From Intimate to Public”, Basel, CH
2017
“Thinking, Searching, Waiting I”, Gallery 73, Belgrade, RS
“Love hurts”, drawings, festival “Yefimiya’s Days”, Trstenik, RS
2010
“Praise the Lord “, The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Mostar, BA
“All that breathes should praise the Lord”, Gallery 73, Belgrade, RS
2007
“Svetlopis” (The Light), Banski dvori, Banja Luka, BA
1991
Paintings, Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery, Belgrade, YU
1990
Paintings, Dom omladine Gallery, Belgrade, YU
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1990
YU Palette of Youth, Likovna galerija, Titov Vrbas, YU
„White” (curator Dejan Sretenović), “Milica Zorić i Rodoljub Čolaković Gallery-Legacy”, Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU), Belgrade, YU
ULUS Spring Exhibition, Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzorić”, Belgrade, YU
1989
The 1st Biennial of Yugoslav Miniature Art, Regional Museum, Gornji Milanovac, YU
Presentation of Yugoslavian Drawing, Museum of Comtemporary Art, Tampere, FI
The 30th October Salon, Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzorić”, Belgrade, YU
The 15th Biennial of Young Yugoslav Artists, Modern Gallery, Museum of Modern Art, Rijeka, HR
1988
The 29th October Salon, Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzorić”, Belgrade, YU
Drawings and small plastic, Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzorić”, Belgrade, YU
International Exhibition of Original Drawings, Modern Gallery, Museum of Modern Art, Rijeka, HR
1987
The 28th October Salon, Art Pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzorić”, Belgrade, YU
Exhibition of awarded students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, 50 Years of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Art gallery “Stara Kapetanija”, Zemun, YU
The Youth Salon, Contemporary Arts Gallery, National Museum, Kikinda, YU
The 11th May exhibition, Association of Fine Arts creators Šabac, Gallery of The National Museum, Šabac, YU
Exhibition of awarded students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery, Belgrade, YU
1986
Exhibition of awarded students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery, Belgrade, YU
AWARDS
1999
Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 57th Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival (“In Front of God’s Face” by Ivica Vidanović), Belgrade, RS
1989
15th Yugoslavian Youth Biennale, Modern Gallery, Museum of Modern Art, Rijeka, HR – Young Artist Award
1987
Award for painting “Nikola Graovac, painter”, Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade, YU
1986
Award for painting “Ljubica Sokić, painter and professor ALU”, Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade, YU
INTERNATIONAL ART COLONIES
1990
International Artist’s Colony Riviera, Poreč, HR
1991
XXVI International Weeks of Painting, Graz, AT
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
1989
Association of Fine Artists of Serbia, ULUS
2012
Society of Serbian Artists, LADA
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2018
Ellenberger, Denise. “From intimate to Public (Intimität und Öffentlichkeit)“, exhibition catalogue, Basel, 2018, pp. 34-52
Schäfer, Theo. “THINKING SEARCHING WAITING”, exhibition catalogue, Basel, 2018, pp. 9-18
2017
Prodanović, Mileta. “EFIMIA’S FRAGILE TESTAMENTS”, exhibition catalogue, THINKING SEARCHING WAITING, Gallery 73, Belgrade, 2017, pp. 86-101
Đurić, Aleksandar. “Only when we meet God, we can be fully awake”, exhibition catalogue, THINKING SEARCHING WAITING, Gallery 73; Belgrade, 2017, pp. 86-101
2015
Rastegorac, Jana. “CANON IN CONTEMPORARY ICONOGRAPHY, analysis of three examples of creative practice – Stamatis Skliris, Abbess Efimija and Srdjan Radojkovic (KANON U SAVREMENOM IKONOPISU, analiza tri primera stvaralačke prakse — Stamatis Skliris, igumanija Efimija i Srđan Radojković)“, ART AND THEORY, Review of The Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Art Theory, 2, Belgrade, 2015, pp. 86-101
2011
Bogdanović, Kosta. “MYSTIC TOUCH (MISTIČNI DODIR)”, exhibition catalogue, Icon of the sisterhood of the Gradac monastery, Progres Gallery, Belgrade, 2011, pp. 24-31
1991
Despotović, Jovan., Moment (visual media magazine), 22, Belgrade, 1991, pp. 85
1990
Sretenović, Dejan., exhibition catalogue, Belgrade Youth Centre Gallery, Belgrade, 1990
mislim tražim čekam
EFIMIJA TOPOLSKI mislim tražim čekam
ds books, Basel, 2019
48 pages, Serbian, cyrillic
ISBN: 978-3-907135-01-3
Texts by Denise Ellenberger, Theo Schäfer
Translation from German: Bojana Denić
Serbian translation of the exhibition catalogue “Thinking Searching Waiting”, issued in May 2018, in the German along with English translation, on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition of Efimija Topolski that was held in Basel. Exhibition was curated by ds art and within the project „From Intimate to Public“.
THINKING SEARCHING WAITING
Efimija Topolski THINKING SEARCHING WAITING
ds books, Basel, 2018, 2nd edition
136 pages, German and English
ISBN: 978-3-907135-00-6
Texts by Denise Ellenberger and Theo Schäfer.
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition of Efimija Topolski that was held in Basel. Exhibition was curated by ds art Binningen and within the project “From Intimate to Public”.
THINKING SEARCHING WAITING
Efimija Topolski THINKING SEARCHING WAITING
ds books, Basel, 2018, 1st edition
136 pages, German and English
ISBN: 978-3-907135-00-6
Texts by Denise Ellenberger, Theo Schäfer
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition of Efimija Topolski that was held in Basel. Exhibition was curated by ds art Binningen and within the project “From Intimate to Public”.