Vladimir Vélickovic

Vladimir Vélickovic was born in 1935 in Yugoslavia (now Serbia). He earned his degree in architecture in Belgrade in 1960 but painting was his true destiny and he presented his first exhibition in 1963. He moved to Paris and has lived there since he was honoured with a prize at The Paris Biennale in 1965. He represented Yugoslavia at The Venice Biennale in 1972, and from 1983 to 2000. He was a senior professor in drawing at The Paris School of Art. He expresses the violence of childhood memories, having witnessed the atrocities committed by Nazis in 1941, followed by the war in Yugoslavia in 1992. In early 1960, he established the themes that would be featured in his life’s work, painting people and animals (mostly dogs and rats) whose bodies were confronted with dramatic and terrifying situations.