Jelena Telecki

Hear no evil, speak no evil and you’ll never be invited to a party.
– Oscar Wilde

House party, office party, birthday party, special birthday party, farewell party, engagement party, big success party, arty party, reunion party, Christmas party, opening party and any other type of party includes or excludes, delights or terrifies, results in joy and pleasure or irritation, boredom, embarrassment and regret. 

The latter has been examined in this series, somewhat nostalgically titled ŽUR, as many years ago, when I was a young Yugoslav, I first became aware of how earnestness can render one as a poor party guest. Luckily (or regretfully), I have since gained skills Wilde recognised as a party get-in and had slightly more success regarding invitations to join-in social gatherings and to observe and experience joys of social faux-pas, a wide variety of anxieties dancing with a misuse of substances, failures to perform well in a group, and numerous clumsy attempts to charm and entertain.

From representations of failed party-tricks to those aimed at capturing botched grand arrivals, the paintings in ŽUR embody the morning-afters dripping with hazy recollections of one’s embarrassment and a recognition of yet another social failure. 

Fortunately, there will always be another Žur, and by then we will surely know better.

– Jelena Telecki, October 2024


*Žur, translation from Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian: Party