The main Attraction Artist from Sarajevo finds hope, inspiration on St. Lawrence Blvd.

The worst seems to be over in former yugoslavia.
The café’s on lower st lawrent Bulevard are full of beautiful people,
squeezing lime into their Bloody Caesars.
and Marina gavanski-Zissis is painting again.
Her oils on canvas, essays on the nude human figure, are beacons
of love and hope for all humankind.
They have become the focal point of many a conversation at what
is arguably the hippest Second Cup in Montreal. and last night she
added some new paintings at her vernissage.
at the corner of St. laurent and guilbault St., the artist on the Main
explained her circumstances that led her to quit painting for 3 years.
from 1992 to 1996 when former yugoslavia fell apart, gavanski-
Zissis was unable to paint. She was shattered by the horrors of the
ethnic wars and subsequent bombing of Serbia. “The bombing was
the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“We all felt that we were personally being bombed, that everybody
hated us.
“We live here in Canada, but part of us is back in the country
where we come from,” said gavanski-Zissis, a Serb who lived in
Sarajevo before immigrating to Canada at the age of 8. In the 1980s
she returned as an adult to complete a five-year, fine-arts degree at
the university of Belgrade.
BaCK To arT
gavanski-Zissis, 44, said she went back to her art after realising
there was little she could do to help her compatriots in Europe.
She then rented a second floor loft on St. lawrence Blvd. and got
back to her first calling.
Being on the Main has been a big help. “This is the meeting of
the East and the West, of young and the old, poor and rich. This is
exactly what Montreal is and what Sarajevo was before the war. It’s
the heart of the city.
“The vibrations rise up and filter into my studio. Even though I
paint in silence, I can feel them coming.”
Inside the café, a Hard Day’s night by the Beatles was on the
speakers as gavanski-Zissis explained her mood in creating portraits
of men and women in love and repose.
“They are paintings of hope. I was looking for something beautiful
and hopeful and the most beautiful thing I could think of was love.
“There are many kinds of love and these paintings are focused on
real relationships, two people who really love each other, deeply.”
a three-part series called Paradise lost, started before the
bombing, is a forboding of horrors to be. Then come the paintings
that speak of rebirth.
a vision of hope is evoked by a work called “Ballet Cosmique”
“In spite of the fact that we may be pulled into a blacj hole, we have
the strength to dance our own dance”, she said.
Gavnski-Zissis’s Through Emotion exhibition is on at Second Cup, 3695
St. Laurent Blvd.

Marina Gavanski-Zissis
Exibitions and Art Related Activities
2012 group exhibition organized by the Embassy of Bosnia and
Hercegovina, Chateau laurier, ottawa
2012 group exhibition, International Women's Day,
Casa D'Italia, Montreal
2012 group exhibition, art for Watercan, Embassy of Serbia, ottawa
2012 Exhibit at the Italian festival, Montreal
2011 unique project featuring the portrait of world number one
tennis player novak Djokovic: unveiling, studio vernissage,
and presentation at the rogers Cup, Montreal
2010 Exhibit at fIMa, Interntional art festival of Montreal
2009 Exhibit at fIMa, International art festival of Montreal
2008 Exhibit at fIMa, International art festival of Montreal
2007 Exhibit at george laoun, gallery, Montreal
2006 Exhibit at the Climate Control Centre during the
u.n.f.C.C.C., Montreal
2005 Exibition “Corpus Illuminatus”
during Montreal High lights festival
2004-05 Interview, Serbian Television program regarding art with a
live portrait demonstration, Vancouver
2004 group exhibition and art auction to benefit
“The Shield of athena” shelter for women, Montreal
2004 Participant of “Synergy art auction” in California
2004 “Colors of the olympics”, group exhibition at the
greek festival, Montreal
2004 “Colors of the olympics” group exhibition at the
greek Community Centre, Montreal
2003 Embassy of Serbia and Montenegro,
21 Blackburn avenue, ottawa
2003 Solo exhibition accompanied by Milan Miletic's video
presentation of Kosovo and Metohija, Embassy of federal
republic of yugoslavia, ottawa
2003 one Woman Show at Second Cup cafe, Montreal
2003 open Studio, St. lawrence Boulevard, Montreal
2001 one Woman Show at Second Cup cafe, Montreal
1999 Interview with CBC newsworld
regarding war and art, Montreal
1998 Interview with global TV as artist of the month, Montreal
1998 Interview with CJnT television in the artist's studio, Montreal
1998 one Woman Show at Cafe Expressions, Montreal
1997 festival orford – art Expo, orford, Quebec
1997 group Exhibition at galerie Harrison, Montreal
1997 one Woman Show at Montreal gallery
1996 group Exhibition ‘les femmeuses 96’,
Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc.
1995 group Exhibition at Holy Trinity Serbian orthodox Church,
Westmount, Montreal
1992-95 Worked in fields of journalism and poetry
1992 group Exhibition ‘les femmeuses 92’, (benefit for shelters for
women and children), Pratt & Whitney, Montreal
1991 one Woman Show to benefit the Quebec Cystic fibrosis
association, Marina gavanski-Zissis Studio, Montreal
1990 one Woman Show to benefit the giant Steps School
(Canadian Institute for neurological Development),
Marina gavanski-Zissis Studio, Montreal, Quebec
1990 one Woman Show accompanied by a piano and violin concert,
Marina gavanski-Zissis Studio, Montreal
1989 one Woman Show at Dawson College, Montreal
1988 group Exhibition to benefit the ladies Hellenic Benevolent
Society, ritz Carlton, Montreal
1988 Private one Woman Show at the greek Consulate, Montreal
1987 Participant at art Sales and rental gallery,
Museum of fine art, Montreal
1986 group Exhibition at robson Square Media Centre, Vancouver
1984 one Woman Show at the greek national Tourist organisation,
Montreal
1983 group Exhibition at the greek Community Centre, Montreal
1981 group Exhibition at robson Square Media Centre, Vancouver
1981 group Exhibition at atelier J. lucacs, Toronto
1981 group Exhibition at Saxe gallery, Toronto
1980 group Exhibition at Tivoli gallery, San francisco, California.
1980 group Exhibition at robson Square Media Centre, Vancouver
1979 group Exhibition at Move gallery, north Vancouver
1979 one Woman Show at MacEwen art Space, Vancouver
1979 Solo exhibition (one Woman Show),
faculty of fine arts, Belgrade