Exhibition:: Instagram Panteon

Gallery::The House of the King’s Guard

Duration:: September 7 – October 6, 2023.

On Thursday, September 7, at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro, in the House of the King’s Guard, at 8 PM, the exhibition “Instagram Panteon” by artist Ana Mitrović was opened.

“In the exhibition Instagram Panteon, twelve photographs are presented, placed in constructions resembling niches. The photographs depict young people, and each of them has been given the identity of a Greek god by the artist, using captions that adopt the semantics of Instagram communication. With this series of staged photographs, in which each figure is carefully placed in a specific scenography, the artist attempts to reinterpret the narratives of distorted contemporary ‘myths’.” wrote exhibition curator Teodora Nikčević.

While in the Renaissance, imperfection was seen as a reflection of character, the twentieth century brought the development of the film and TV industry and promoted icons of popular culture as those whose appearances should be imitated. Today, it has gone a step further, with people even undergoing surgical procedures to look like selfie photos from Snapchat. This latest phenomenon is called Snapchat dysmorphia (the term was first used by aesthetic medicine doctor Tijion Esho based on results obtained during work at the Esho clinic in London and Newcastle),” wrote exhibition curator Teodora Nikčević in the catalog.

Ana Mitrović completed her master’s degree in graphic design at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cetinje, under the mentorship of professor Lazar Pejović. She is an active member of the Fluid Design Forum, as well as part of the design team. During her studies, she participated in numerous competitions, seminars, festivals, group exhibitions, workshops, and residencies both in the country and abroad, and has received several awards: Sarajevo Photography Festival (May 2022), awarded photography from the series Self-Portrait Through Everything I’m Not in the portrait category; Best Student Award in Master’s studies in Graphic Design (May 2022), Faculty of Fine Arts, Cetinje; Third Prize-winning poster at the selected exhibition “30 Years Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall”; First Prize-winning visual identity, Association of Conservators and Restorers of Montenegro; Second Prize-winning book design, PAF – Podgorica Art Festival.