Interview: Viktor Mitic
Viktor Mitic is a Serbian-born Canadian painter and sculptor living in Toronto. He is known for the use of firearms in creating his art, a skill he acquired during national service in his native Yugoslavia. Mitic's 2008 work Hole Jesus, a portrait of Jesus created by firing 22-calibre bullets at canvas from an M14 rifle, was displayed at Toronto's Trias Gallery and attracted media coverage. Mitic had said that that he was inspired to create the work after an art dealer told him his work ought to be more 'penetrating'.Mitic was asked to showcase his painting of Amitabh Bachchan, in honor of the upcoming 2011 International Indian Film Academy Weekend and Awards, that is being held in Toronto from June 23rd to 25th, 2011.Artist Viktor Mitic had made headlines with his controversial gunshot paintings, which feature portraits of celebrities, famous figures from history and politics, and religious icons, as well as famous works of art outlined in bullet holes. Shocked by incidences of defacement of sacred works of art by fanatics like the destruction of Buddhas of Bamiyan Mitic's goal was to use weapons in his art to create rather than to destroy. The image of an artist shooting a painting carries an intense psychological impact. Here is an interview with Viktor about how he sees his own art.
AB: How do you choose your subjects? Why the interest in South Asia culture?Viktor Mitic: I work on pop stars, iconic images that we are constantly bombarded with in the media. Ambitah Bachchan is sort of godfather of Bollywood - reminds me of Al Pachino. You know it all started with my trip to Penang, Malaysia a few years back. There is a very large East Indian community there, very lively, loud and vibrant. I just loved it - bought some Bollywood cd’s and had a lot of roti and tea. The whole concept of multiple gods and religion combined with the extreme revolution in high tech developments and media was just fascinating to me.AB: Why ammunition? Isn’t that a bit gimmicky? Or is it to be the first one in this field?
Viktor Mitic: I felt that a gun is a sign of the 21st century - there is so much weapons and there are more wars out there than ever before. For me this is an attempt to step away from the conceptual take on the issues and make it more of a process oriented, hands on approach. It all started when I saw videos of Afghani soliders destroying an ancient sculpture of Buddha a fews years back. It was well broadcasted and the whole world knew about it but nobody did anything to stop it - sort of like watching a video game. I wanted to get the same felling brought back on canvas, the felling of loss but at the same time to get the public to be as close as possible to the gunshot wound on canvas. I used all kinds of firearms and various types of ammo to get the desired effect on canvas - there was a lot of experiments and lots of paintings that I had to destroy in the process. To answer the question about being the first in the field - I have to no idea if that is the case - for me it’s a tool, who is first or second in using the tool is not important at all - it’s the message and the content that matter. Yes a lot of people would on a first glance react negatively to the use of a gun on a painting - even though the use of firearms in other art forms is generally accepted and no longer seen as shocking (music videos, tv, movies..). The question for me was - would I be able to transcribe the feeling of tranquility to the surface and at the same time bring the war and pain to the canvas. Most people get a bit uneasy when they found out that all these beautiful gray, metallic concentric circle are done by shooting a gun through the canvas.
AB: Which is the hardest medium to work with? Viktor Mitic: This particular series was the hardest for me - it involves trips to gun ranges in the US and dealing with people who have no interest in art whatsoever - it is a bit dangerous too as bullets can ricochet and come back to you.AB: How do you go about creating a portrait?
Viktor Mitic: I search for my “targets” online, check the news, blogs and other sources - Then I project the image onto the canvas, trace the elements using a pen, marker or whatever I have with me. I simplify the forms, and paint the area with acrylic or oil, add a gold leaf certain areas if the composition requires it. Then in some cases I take the canvas off the wood stretcher, roll it up and take it to the range and shoot it up - sometimes 1000-2000 rounds go through it. For the record I didn’t shoot the portrait of Amitabh Bachchan - there was no need, I managed to capture the essence of his persona with glitter instead. Working on Gandhi was a separate issue - he was shot and he represented a time of war - a symbol of peace. Same went for the "Gun-esh" painting - the god that was born in extreme violence (head being chopped off by another god and replaced with a head taken off from a young elephant) and he represents arts.