The largest portrait of Novak Djokovic appears in Belgrade: Masterpiece created on clay tennis court

Architect and "street artist" Andrej Josifovski, better known as "Pijanista" ("pianist") has created the largest portrait of Novak Djokovic anywhere in the world, on the clay of the Tennis Club Djukic in Bezanijska Kosa in Belgrade.

The drawing is 24 meters long, 11 meters wide, covers an area of ​​264 square meters, and what's curious about is the fact that this is the first artistic endeavor of this type on red clay of a tennis court ever.

The reason for creating this artwork called "SLJAKAnje terena" (a play on words in Serbian combing "clay" and a jargon term for "work," and "court") and of the entire project, "Let's clean ourselves first, then let's look at others," arose from a desire to support the world's best tennis player and show that there are people in Serbia who value all the things Novak Djokovic is doing for our people, and who aren't forgetting that, despite the challenges our tennis player is facing.

"Novak is a man who has an exceptional sheen to him. He visits our dreams and motivates us all. It's difficult to find words big enough to describe him. On this occasion, I will quote my friend Srdjan Timarov, who said the following: 'All of you who do not have the gift to see his light, will remain there, in the darkness of his shadow'. Well, that's Djokovic," says Josifovski, whom it took six hours of non-stop, but fun work to create this drawing on clay. Namely, from midnight, when he went out on Court Number 2 of the Tennis Club Djukic, until six in the morning, Pijanista worked, paying attention to every detail of this carefully thought-out design.

"I practiced tennis as a child, it was in 1997, which, considering the huge popularity of football and basketball among my peers, was somewhat strange to others. After each training session, it was mandatory to clean up the court and level the ground. I learned then that cleaning up is very important in order to show skill and sporting chivalry, there on the court. For me, sporting fields forever remained a kind of sanctuary, where the sporting spirit reigns and where it fights for victory with honor. Unfortunately, not everyone experiences sports and champions in the same way."

Take a look at a gallery of photos showing the biggest portrait of Novak Djokovic from several angles

"There are those, especially those born in the West, who don't respect results enough and consider themselves worthy of commenting and belittling the best among us. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for us, it just so happened that the small, Balkan Serbia gave birth to one of the great tennis champions, the best in the world, Novak Djokovic, something otherwise only countries that think they have the right to rule the world 'should' have, because the smartest and strongest people are always born there. At least that's what they think. And in their effort to explain that they're are always right about everything, rather than Novak, things have gone too far," says Josifovski, and adds:

"I went out on the clay court, with a brush in hand to work a little, because as I said, sporting fields are magical places, as well as magical mirrors, and when they are polished they tell the truth and only the truth. It was still dark, which can be confirmed by satellite images, when Novak appeared on the court. Soon the sun came out to bow to him. It is true, then, that the planet is ruled by Djokovic, the only and the first, and the stars have known that for a long time. Here's how important brushes can be and the importance of cleaning up, not only for sports. A man who gives his heart to those who boo him. It is not enough to say a winner, an ambassador, a humanitarian, a benefactor and a man who makes his nation proud. Honestly, I feel sorry for those pathetic people who are throwing stones at him. Only dogs know how difficult it is to bark at the stars," adds Josifovski.

The entire process of creating the drawing took place fairly quickly, although time was limited to the period during the night, because of the light coming from floodlights and the fact that such lighting allows for better perception of  nuances and details that make up a portrait on clay.

"Perhaps the most difficult part was drawing the entire space according to a pre-conceived scheme. It took me over an hour to do that. Afterwards, I did the contours, and then turned to the details. The most demanding to draw were the eyes, the nose, the mouth, contouring the face and finally the proud T-shirt. Additional bags of clay had to be used for Novak's hair, in order to shade it as darkly and as noticeably as possible. Everything was done with the help of brushes. Although it was my first time doing something like this, I believed that I would succeed, because Novak is a great inspiration and it's a great honor to be able to do something for him, so it wasn't difficult for me to give it my best and finish my work. I would like to thank the hosts from the Tennis Club Djukic, who provided me with everything I needed, and I especially thank my friends who were with me all night and wholeheartedly supported me," says Andrej.

Josifovski points out that his wish is that the next step of such a project is a conceptual exhibition of portraits on the grounds of Roland Garros in Paris, or some similar large international clay arena, in order to convey the message about the importance of mutual respect and appreciation.

(Telegraf.rs)