The first of four series of Transfigurative Works by Milovan DeStil Markovic is the Lipstick Paintings. They are a series of portraits of some of the world’s most famous women in their respective fields: politics, philosophy, music, and film. The portraits are monochrome paintings, each portrait using roughly 60 to 100 tubes of lipstick, which is applied to silk velvet enclosed in a heavy golden frame, the names of the portrayed engraved onto an affixed brass plate.
Markovic conducts research into the cultural background of each of the portrayed women in order to determine an adequate lipstick color. He is interested in make-up and all its facets and chooses lipstick as the most stereotypical form of female make-up; however, the heavy golden frame and the engraved brass plate are also part of the make-up, which Markovic doesn’t consider only where it is concerned with enhancing the appearance of a human being, but also the appearance of objects and their façades in general. In this way, the Lipstick Paintings are ironically self-referential. The artist is making-up their surfaces so they are more pleasing to the eye. However this is not a cheap way to attract our attention by satisfying our desire for something beautiful. Markovic is simply coherently applying the content of his work to its outer form.

Benedikt Stegmayer, text fragment from the book: Milovan DeStil Markovic

So far Markovic has realised 15 celebrity portraits. The artist has also produced several private portraits and currently accepts new commissions.

Milovan DeStil Markovic has exhibited extensively in Europe, Asia and in the Americas.
His work was featured in Aperto ‘86 at the 42th Venice Biennial, 4th Istanbul Biennial,
5th Biennial Cetinje, 6th Triennial-India New Delhi, 46th Venice Biennial, Sao Paulo Biennial, 49th October Salon Belgrade, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart Berlin, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center New York, Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, The Artist Museum Lodz, Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Kunstmuseum Duesseldorf, Ludwig Museum for Contemporary Art Budapest, Saarland Museum Saarbruecken, Istanbul Art Museum - Military Museum Istanbul, Landesmuseum Joanneum Graz, Kunstvoreningen Bergen, Kunst-Werke Berlin, Kunstverein Hamburg, nichido contemporary art Tokyo and many others.
For more information: +www.markovic.org + www.transfigurative.com + www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milovan_Destil_Markovic