ART STUDIO DADA BIOGRAPHY – ALEKSANDAR AND ĐORĐE MASNIKOVIĆ

BIOGRAPHY

Art Studio DADA was founded by Aleksandar Masniković (1963), a graduate in interior architecture, and Đorđe Masniković (1969), a visual artist and designer. They were guided by the idea of breathing new life and purpose into old, worn-out and discarded objects.

The studio emerged from a desire to prevent materials that have lost their original function from ending up as waste, instead transforming them into new works of art. Through artistic intervention, assembly, combination and the fusion of seemingly incompatible materials, they create sculptures and art objects that represent a unique synthesis of art, design and industrial heritage.

Their inspiration comes from the past, particularly the era of the Industrial Revolution, steam engines and technological inventions. The aesthetics of Victorian England, along with the steampunk and dieselpunk movements, have had a particular influence on their artistic practice, and elements of these styles can be recognised in most of their works.

Their creations form an imaginative fusion of the organic and mechanical worlds, inviting viewers into a distinctive universe that brings together constructivism, industrial archaeology and the visionary world of Jules Verne’s novels. Each work preserves traces of the material’s previous life while acquiring a new identity and meaning.

Guided by the belief that art can be found in everything around us, the artists explore the possibilities of reshaping matter and bringing it back to life through the artistic process. Their work represents a distinctive example of contemporary artistic recycling, in which the past becomes the foundation for creating the future.

They work in the Belgrade Design District, an artistic quarter in the centre of Belgrade. Đorđe Masniković is a member of the international art group Steampunk Tendencies, which brings together prominent steampunk artists from around the world.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibition, ULUS Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia, 2015.

Serbia Meets Belgium, Galerie Sabine Van Paemel, Leke, Belgium, 2017.

Devet Festival, Ciglana – Club of Heavy Industry Enthusiasts, Belgrade, Serbia, 2019.

Devet Festival – The Pendulum Exhibition, Ciglana – Club of Heavy Industry Enthusiasts, Belgrade, Serbia, 2021.

Solo Exhibition Retrofuturism, Artium Cultural Club, Kragujevac, Serbia, 2021.

Flight Recorder Exhibition, Gallery A, Belgrade, Serbia, 2023.

Exhibition, Art Mundi Gallery, Place des Vosges, Paris, France, 2023.

Nikola Tesla Days Exhibition, Nikola Radošević Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia, 2026.

CRITICAL REVIEW

Sanja Živanović, Art Critic

The works of Art Studio DADA represent a unique synthesis of sculpture, design and industrial recycling. Through the skilful composition of mechanical and organic forms, Aleksandar and Đorđe Masniković create a distinctive world in which the industrial civilisation of the past is transformed into a poetic vision of the future.

Their works are not merely objects made from found materials, but complex visual narratives exploring transformation, permanence and the continuous cycle of creation. It is precisely this combination of craftsmanship, artistic imagination and a philosophy of renewal that makes Art Studio DADA one of the most original presences on the contemporary Serbian art scene.