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Julija Zaharijević (b. 1991, Belgrade; based in Berlin) works primarily in large-scale figurative painting. Her paintings operate on the edge between seduction and unease—investigating how images can attract and disturb at once. She draws on human figures, everyday objects, and unfamiliar forms, often with art historical references, examining the gap between an object’s conceptual significance and its physical appearance.

Engaging the decorative, ornamental, and the notion of beauty, her paintings conceal something unsettling, suggesting layered meanings. She is interested in how the political survives inside an image, and whether it can remain present without being legible. Her compositions often orbit a center, or refuse one, challenging the stability of images and the structures through which they are interpreted.

Upcoming

Education

  • 2024–2025 BPA// Berlin program for artists
  • 2014–2020 Mag.art, Akademie der bildenden Künste Vienna
  • 2013–2014 Beaux-arts de Paris, école nationale superièure, Paris
  • 2010–2013 BFA, Fakultet likovnih umetnosti, Belgrade

Solo and Duo Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

Public Collections

  • Artothek der Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin
  • Artothek des n.b.k. Berlin
  • Artothek of the Austrian federal government at Belvedere 21
  • City of Vienna Collection

Residencies, Prizes and More

  • 2025 Stiftung KUNSTFONDS_Stipendium
  • 2024 Theodor Körner Fond Prize
  • 2023 BMKOES Artist Residency Istanbul
  • 2022 Mentoring Program, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Curatorial Project

  • 2016–2020 Offspace Gärtnergasse, Vienna

Selected Press