The exhibition ‘Binary Ether’ by Petar Popović Piros opens in the exhibition space of the Belgrade City Museum at Vuka Karadžića 2, on Wednesday, 19 November, at 7 p.m.
The curator of the exhibition is Jana Milosavljević.
Visual artist Piros is the author of ‘Cyrifitti’, Cyrillic graffiti that connects Serbian script, street art and calligraphy. His work, developed between the street and the studio, between graffiti and calligraphy, builds a bridge between spontaneity and discipline, movement and contemplation. The ‘Cyrifitti’ cycle opened the question of the letter as an image, where the Cyrillic script is freed from legibility and becomes a sign, rhythm, and energy. From this point, the series ‘Binary Ether (in B minor)’ was born, in which the letter turns into a tone, and color into a vibration.
‘Binary Ether’ is a space of translation, between language and sound, material and immaterial. As an improvised score, these works function like jazz compositions: free, but guided by an inner rhythm. Emptiness becomes as important as the movement, silence as the note. The specific green color – Phthalocyanine Green – that he uses carries the symbolism of permanence, renewal. and digital energy, connecting the Neolithic and the modern, the material and the ether.
‘In this cycle, the Cyrillic alphabet undergoes its final transformation. It becomes a letter deconstructed into an energetic sign – a universal code that pulsates between the cosmic and the local. Just as Bogdan Bogdanović connected stone and the starry sky in architecture, Piros connects cosmic breath and sign in painting. His "binary" principle – 0 and 1, light and shadow, tone and silence – transforms the visual into the rhythmic, and the image into a state. The exhibition “Binary Ether” confirms that art can translate the local into the universal without losing its identity. Piros elevates the Cyrillic sign to an archetype, showing that writing is not just a means of communication, but a living structure, rhythm, and prayer record of modern man. At that point, the wall again becomes ether, and the sign – the language of the cosmos,’ explains curator Milosavljević.
Piros presented part of the works from the series ‘Cyrifitti’ this spring through a solo exhibition as part of EXPO in Osaka, in a country with a deep-rooted calligraphic tradition, and received enormous acclaim from the audience, at whose request the exhibition was extended until the very end of EXPO, for the next five months.
‘This series relies heavily on the previous one – “Cyrifitti”. What is new is the introduction of sound, which I try to translate into a visual language, and smell, which I try to evoke through a careful selection of colors. “Binary Ether” is a more reduced series – both in the color palette, in the treatment of movement, and in the format itself. It was created as a result of years of effort to combine my skills — calligraphy, airbrush technique, love of color and the energy of the street – and translate them into something I can carry with me, which is a composite of the personal and the universal. My idea was to connect these elements with the culture of the space I come from. The Cyrillic alphabet naturally came to me as the most logical channel – it connects us, has a deep historical and symbolic basis, and enormous visual potential. In my works, I integrate shapes, reduced (calmer, with a deeper sound) colors, strokes, techniques and symbols not only of our script, but also of other signs and letters, creating a hybrid, universal structure in which everyone can recognize a part of their own visual memory,’ said Piros.
In addition to paintings and drawings, the exhibition will also feature a sculpture to complete the visual language.
The exhibition ‘Binary Ether’ is realized by CEBEF as part of the ART SESSIONS programme cycle, in cooperation with the Belgrade City Museum, and will be open to visitors until 12 December of this year.
Below are photographs taken by the artist himself.
Artist Biography
Petar Popović Piros (Kruševac, 1989) is a visual artist who combines calligraphy, graffiti, and contemporary design into a unique visual language of signs in his work. From his earliest works on the walls of his hometown to large canvases and murals, Piros develops an artistic expression based on the rhythm of strokes, the structure of the letter, and the energy of the line.
He graduated from the Art School Niš in 2008, where in 2007 he won the first prize in calligraphy, which became the foundation of his further work. He completed his studies in graphic design in Belgrade in 2011, and in parallel with his academic work, he develops his own visual poetics between the street and the studio. In the cycle ‘Cyrifitti’ (Cyrillic graffiti) he unites the discipline of calligraphy and the freedom of spray paint, while in the series ‘Binary Ether (in B minor)’ he moves from sign to tone, from letter to the universal code of the image. In addition to his artistic work, he has achieved notable collaborations with domestic and international brands and institutions – from Coca-Cola, Soko Štark, and Exit Festival, to Foot Locker and Legendary Films in the USA. His design oeuvre includes more than fifty digital projects, including the popular application ‘Slagalica’. As an artist who simultaneously belongs to the street and the gallery, Piros creates works that combine gesture, spirit and technology. He represented Serbia at the EXPO Osaka 2025 world exhibition in Japan, where he achieved notable international success with the series ‘Binary Ether’.
