Bratsa Bonifacho | In Memoriam | 1937-2024
It is with great sadness that Bau-Xi Gallery announces the passing of Bratsa Bonifacho, the renowned Belgrade-born, Vancouver-based artist, on December 12, 2024 at the age of 87. Internationally recognized for his deeply layered abstract paintings, Bonifacho held intense interest in technology, communication and the effects of war as the forefront of his artistic practice. He was an important and integral part of Bau-Xi Gallery for almost 30 years.
The artist in his Vancouver studio, 2023
Bratsa Bonifacho was born on February 10, 1937 as World War II was starting to spread over Europe - as a child he was caught in the middle of the bombed and burning inferno of Belgrade, former Yugoslavia. His experience of the fury of war and the irrefutable knowledge of mankind's self-destructive tendencies are inextricably bound up in his paintings.
In the mid-1960s, after achieving his degree from the University of Belgrade, Bonifacho attracted a large measure of media attention by painting bold shapes in bright colours on the rooftops of Belgrade. This came to be popularly referred to as "Eyes Over Belgrade." Media crews arrived from all over Europe and circled the city in planes in order to view the full effect of the rooftop paintings.
The artist creating Eyes Over Belgrade, circa 1960s
During his time living and working in many European cities including Paris, Brussels, Geneva, Frankfurt, Rome, Milan, Lausanne and Amsterdam, Bonifacho became increasingly recognized in Europe for his art. In 1973 he moved to Vancouver and established what would be his permanent home for over 50 years, eventually taking Canadian citizenship.
Over subsequent years he developed his now iconic technique of laying letters, numbers, and symbols. He has utilized this to imitate the effects of computer viruses and worms by scrambling letters and messages. In his most recent series, he further fractured and fragmented them to the point of indiscernibility, suggesting the depth of chaos and confusion caused by digital, physical and mental conflict and crisis.
These intense and difficult subjects were countered most often with the optimistic balm of bright, bold colour.
Bonifacho, Din Bak, 2011 and Verba Ex Ore, 2023
Over the course of his long career Bonifacho had over sixty solo exhibitions, some showing in multiple cities and countries around the world, and as many group exhibitions. In the summer of 2008, 800 colourful street banners of his design were unveiled at City Hall and displayed in Vancouver. His work is found in collections spanning Europe, Asia, and North America, and he is featured in reference texts profiling artists of international repute. In 2000, he was honoured with a 25-year retrospective exhibition in Belgrade, and 2023 marked the release of his twelfth art book, Celebration.
Vancouver street banners designed by Bonifacho, 2008
Bonifacho leaves a tremendous body of work with critical reflections on war, propaganda and the evolution - and devolution - of communication. His work boldly challenges us to consider what art stands for in an age of nuclear warfare, digital communities and alternative truth.
