Hidden Messages – Bratsa Bonifacho's paintings from the collection of Belgrade City Museum

  • Location: The Residence of Princess Ljubica, Kneza Sime Markovića 8
  • Date: 7 September – 15 October, 2018
  • Organisation:

    Belgrade City Museum, with the support of the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade

  • Impressum:

    Marija Stošić, curator

The exhibition represents the collection of 24 paintings, which Bratsa Bonifacho, Canadian artist of Serbian origin, has donated to Belgrade City Museum. The paintings will be exhibited for the first time for the audience in Belgrade. The exhibition includes Bonifacho’s works from different phases, created between 1975 and 2015, thus creating a specific cross-section of his artistic career.

Bonifacho’s paintings of large formats were mostly done in the spirit of abstract expressionism, but they are also a specific amalgam of the European abstract art, and North-American pop art. . He often uses in his works the elements of symbolism, and figurative painting, thus expressing various thoughts and emotions, while since his early days he has been fascinated by language, word-play, and the use of letters on canvases. Bonifacho is internationally recognized for his use of letters on canvases. Those texts are confusing for the most of the people, but they are Bratsa’s way of expressing his view of the world. If we start reading written messages we will be amused sometimes, or ponder over some of the statements, but most often we will be unable to discern the meaning of the words, or find hidden messages.


Bratsa Bonifacho is artistic name of the painter Blagoje Srdić, who was born in Belgrade, in 1937. He had graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Department of Drawing and Painting, but he also attended the Faculty of Architecture. After his studies, he went to Krueger Atelier, in Frankfurt, for his specialization. After his studies he lived in France for a while, and in 1973 he moved to Canada. He received Canadian citizenship in 1976, and since then he has been living in Vancouver. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Fine Artists and. As a renowned and recognized artist, he had had more than 50 independent exhibitions, as well as, over 70 joint exhibitions.