Whispering with Giants vernissage

Thank you all for coming here tonight, to Whispering with Giants exhibition by Predrag Debevec, my father.

Today is exactly a year since he passed away and this exhibition has been organised in order to commemorate his life. What better way is there to remember someone than to display his work and share an intimate part of his life with the world?

It was very emotional putting something like this together not only because the walls in our flat are completely bare without the paintings that have ‘taken care of us’ for the past year but also because Dad never had a proper exhibition which is why this is so important for us. We didn’t know where to start. Little did we know, he pretty much left us a manual for this exhibition in his blog which he wrote since 2006. Bit by bit, we started to unveil the stories of his paintings and decided to use his text in the exhibition as well, so that when you walk around the gallery, he can speak to you personally – the way he always did. The manual was so complete that he even came up with the title; As soon as I came back to Warsaw, I started something completely new, an adventure that I would later call Whispering with Giants, the future title of my first exhibition in Warsaw. Not only is this an exhibition of his paintings but also of his words, because we had to celebrate all of him including his two mistresses that followed him throughout his life: Art and literature are to me like two vicious but seductive mistresses, who mercilessly drag me away from the other, defying each other whenever they please. I have no strength to resist them or to give my love to only one of them. Therefore today I live in total bigamy.

Around you are a collection of thoughts, feelings and ideas of a man who is no longer with us today but who’s life carries stories that his words and paintings are still able to tell. To me my father was always one of those giants not only because his palms were always bigger than mine and were an endless source of heat, but also because I could listen to his stories for hours and he always had something interesting to say. So as was the case with his fellow giants, this life was just too short for him to say all the wonderful and inspiring things that were on his mind. He created paintings and wrote stories that are able to do that for him instead.

To me my father was always one of those giants and this exhibition is our whisper out to him.

As I look around the room, I see those of you who have met my father and those who didn’t get the chance to.  This is your opportunity to truly get to know him and have a conversation with him. I am very proud to introduce to you Predrag Debevec.

Thank you