Epic Heroes and the City of the Future
In France, where comic strip drawing has acquired the status of the "ninth art", equal to other recognized art forms, Belgrade-born Aleksa Gajić has earned himself an exceptionally high standing with his originality and talent.
By Ivana Kladarin Panić
Photo by Courtesy of Institut Français
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There is not a comic strip fan who doesn’t know about Aleksa Gajić, the famous author of the serial "The Scourge of God" and "Drakko", which he drew together with the screenwriter Valerie Mangen for publishing houses Soleil and Quadrants. In drawing an epic that can be compared to Hodorovski’s "Saga of the Metabarons", Gajić has created a characteristic, original and very intricate style.
The comic strip "Technotise", with which Gajić graduated at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, was made, more than ten years later, in 1998, into the first Serb full-length animated movie "Edith and I", thanks to the great perseverance of the author and a small group of dedicated cartoonists. To this we can add the collection of short comic strips "In the Screws" and an extensive illustrator’s portfolio, featuring the author’s cooperation with the magazine "Politikin Zabavnik". Gajić is the author of several commercial and musical video spots, a series of advertising pamphlets, flyers, newspaper advertisements, commercials, calendars, posters, etc.
I can safely say I’ve been drawing all my life and it’s incredible that I never once doubted that was the right thing for me to do, and I still don’t. I tried my hand at various forms of media art and then I got tired of that. The contract with the French publisher Soleil came as a relief, said Gajić.
The French showed their appreciation of this artist’s excellent work through the French Institute in Belgrade by organizing the exhibition "Epic Heroes and the City of the Future". The exhibition includes a selection of original comic strip panels showing, in addition to the famous characters, the artist’s view of the city and its development. Aleksa Gajić demonstrates his perspective of a futuristic Belgrade, illustrated in comic strip panels and story boards from his animated film but also in some of his unpublished works.
In all the works it is the city, whether in outer space or on Earth, that presents a special challenge which Gajić seems to overcome with ease. And, just like in Enki Bilal’s works, there will always be place among the futuristic buildings for details reminiscent of the past, those creating continuity and forming a bond with reality, and emphasizing their fantastic forms", the comic strip author, Pavle Zelić, pointed out in his recent critique.
