Radenko Milak: Post-Millennium Tension

When we see one of Radenko Milak's (*1980 Travnik near Banja Luka) watercolours for the first time, we think we "recognise" it, because there is always a before and an after, as in a film loop, and that is a unique quality of this work, writes Udo Kittelmann in his article. In front of a picture by Radenko Milak, we believe we see a section of something larger, a greater whole, of the world, the universe, just as a photograph is always a section of a theoretically endless picture. In addition, almost every one of his motifs draws on an image that we already know because we have already seen and memorised it. Many factors therefore play a role in his work, the change of medium, from photography to watercolour, the question of original and reproduction, the choice of subjects, the way in which his pictures appeal to our own and the collective subconscious, because our memory is not only determined by language, but above all by images. It is this congenial mastery of the medium, the illusion that arises when looking at photographs, but above all the experience of witnessing a change of medium. The original photograph becomes a watercolour, which is first perceived by the human eye as a photograph and only then as a painting. We want to grasp its creation, see it for ourselves, and always step so close that we are directly in front of it: in front of stroke, gesture, abstraction, craft. Over the years, Radenko Milak has developed various series: Architectural and urban views, technologies of the future, key moments in music history, feminism, surveillance, big data, loneliness and isolation during the corona pandemic, film stills. Radenko Milak has been working asymmetrically on these watercolour series for 20 years and by always using the same black ink on white paper, the pictures develop a serial form that gives them something absolutely timeless.

Exhibition:
Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, 16/1 – 8/3/2026

Artist talk and book presentation: 27/2/2026, 7 PM
Conversation with Udo Kittelmann: 03/06/2026, 7 PM