Vladimir Kepić, a Jagodina “non-academic” painter, as he liked to call himself, multimedia artist, icon and fresco painter, great friend and benefactor, was born on the Annunciation in 1964, and passed away on the Epiphany in 2025. He lived and worked in his native Jagodina in a harmonious marriage with his wife Slavica, with whom he has two sons, Todor and Filip, and was the proud grandfather of Kosta and Tara.
He has been painting since 1979. He is considered one of the most significant members of contemporary naive artists. He was a participant in a large number of art colonies, where he left his works from year to year and a participant in a large number of group exhibitions, but also a representative of Serbian art at solo exhibitions and the winner of several awards and recognitions in the country and abroad. He participated in the painting of several Orthodox churches and was always happy to respond to charitable and humanitarian auctions of paintings and Easter eggs. Kepić directed his talent, but also his dedication, commitment and thorough approach to everything, to everything he did. He was involved in computer multimedia art and design and created several sets for film and theater, and he enriched everything he came into contact with with authenticity, whether it was a city mural, a painted window pane or a lamp made in the stained glass technique. He worked with various techniques from woodcuts, linocuts, drawings, to oil paintings. He painted on canvas, glass, wood, and walls. He made his own frames for his paintings and woodcuts that adorned his icons.
With his original style and subject matter, rich color, skillfully conceived composition, and meaningfully used symbolism, he achieved what is most important for an artist, to be a recognizable and original painter at first glance. And his icons, following the obligatory canons, become authentic.
The motifs on his canvases are diverse. Picturesque landscapes, the everyday life of a Serbian peasant, customs, traditions, but also centuries-old struggles and the difficult life of the Serbian people. Conveying the atmosphere and conjuring up colors and scents, he painted: ” Chamomile Harvest “, “Sowing”, “Harvest”, but also “View from the Coffin” and “At the Cemetery”. The simplicity of expression and harmony of colors of “Record with a Centennial Oak Tree and a Lonely Woodcutter” attracts exceptional attention, while on the other hand, the complexity of the composition, the richness of details and symbolism of his prophetic painting ” Crucified Serbia “, created in 1991, stands out.
As a friend and collaborator of the museum, Vladimir Kepić participated in several museum activities, from graphic design for the museum catalog “Stone in Prehistory” and posters, to creating illustrations for the exhibition “Biberče”, involvements in creative workshops with curators and organizing a large linocut workshop during the museum week. He regularly visited museum events and supported the work of curators with his advice and creative ideas.
This original, gifted artist, devoted to his calling, and above all a noble and good man, devoted to his family and friends, will be missed by all who knew him, but also by those who encounter his work. He left behind his works, but also sowed seeds and taught many things to the people around him. And as one of his friends said, writing him his last greetings: “… and I didn’t get to tell you that I have earned my living many times around the world, with what I learned from you.” The memory of Vladimir Kepić, a mutineer always and only for a reason, a versatile creative, a top artist, a devoted friend, will live on for the future.
