Artur Żmijewski – 1966, Warsaw, Poland / Paweł Althamer, 1967, Warsaw, Poland
Untitled (from the series Polish School of Collage), 2022
Collage and acrylic on cardboard, 100 x 70 cm
Acquisition: Gift by the artists
Reference: 05260
In their personal artistic careers, Artur Żmijewski and Paweł Althamer, are among the most renowned Polish artists. During a joint residency in Japan in 2017, they began to work occasionally on joint projects of a similar nature, which involved making spontaneously generated collages using various illustrated art, medical, historical, and other magazines or books. The collaborative project “Polish School of Collage”, was realized as a residency from July 1 to 15, 2022, and took place in one of the gallery spaces of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje, according to the already established hourly schedule, as in the rest of their projects, i.e. every day from 2 pm until around midnight and most of the time with the presence of museum visitors. During those two weeks of working together, the artists created multiple collages on cardboard using acrylic paints and photo-cuts. Visitors were invited to bring some of these materials, thereby contributing to the creation of the works. The result of this process is a series of 30 collages with clippings from history books, art magazines, geographic atlases, maps, posters, photographs, educational charts, medical illustrations etc. These thickly layered images can be seen as references to the theme of the medieval “dance macabre” and to events or some general significance absorbed from the local (historical) context. The works were finally exhibited at the same gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje from 14. July to 25. August 2022: msu.mk/exhibition/artur-zmijewski
Biographies
Artur Żmijewski (1966) is a visual artist based in Warsaw, with a rich artistic career, who is focused on creating installations, composed of photography, film and video. In his works, he exposes the world of “others”, who often go unnoticed, insisting on the conscious participation of art in social life. He records their everyday life, showing how physical and mental limitations condemn these people to be marginalized in society. Through experiments with the participation of selected groups, he tries to understand difficult experiences and taboo topics. He has exhibited at some of the most important art events, such as the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel, and he was the curator of the Berlin Biennale in 2012. His works are included in the collections of some of the most renowned art institutions in the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, and the Neue Pinakothek in Munich.
Paweł Althamer (1967) is a visual artist based in Warsaw. He works in different media such as sculpture, performance, installation, video, and apart from the media, his works are also diverse in terms of form. He creates sculptural self-portraits, appears in performance and video, seeking to experience the materiality of the body and define his own mental boundaries. Through actions involving entire communities, he wants to create social communities, confronting people through art. He questions the meaning of monumental monuments according to the scale of his works and the randomness of his materials. In his works he also references Beuys’ social sculpture and the legacy of Oskar Hansen’s ‘Open Form. He can also be described as an artist with an affinity for ‘relational aesthetics’. He participated in the most important art exhibitions, including Documenta 10 (1997), the Venice Biennale (2003, 2013), the Berlin Biennale (2012), Skulptur Projekte Münster (2017). He has also won numerous awards, such as the biennial Vincent van Gogh Prize for Contemporary Art in Europe in 2004.
1983, Skopje, Macedonia
Portrait of a Roma Man, 2016
Pastel on paper, 110 x 75 cm
Acquisition: Gift by the artist
Reference: 05276
1898, Lawton, United States – 1976, New York, United States
Red Polygon, 1961
Metal, red flat oil paint
Mobile sculpture with variable dimensions
Acquisition: Donated by the artist, 1964
Reference: 00999
In 1964 Boris Petkovski, the first director of the MoCA Skopje, addressed Calder, and in the letter, he stated a request to receive his work as a gift to newly established Museum of Contemporary Art. The answer came promptly and included in it was the artist’s wish to meet and choose the work in person. At their meeting in Calder’s atelier in Saché, village in France, Calder’s decision was to donate one of his mobiles. Additionally, surprised by the modesty of Boris Petkovski, the artist decided to donate another work, a gouache which he dedicated to the city of Skopje.
Biography
Alexander Calder (July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static “stabiles”, and his monumental public sculptures. Calder preferred not to analyze his work, saying, “Theories may be all very well for the artist himself, but they shouldn’t be broadcast to other people.”
This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.
The full article is on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Calder
Tome Adzievski
1958, Strumica, Macedonia
From the cycle Places, 1993
Wood, synthetic resin, set of 4 sculptures: 174 х 22 х 20; 148 х 20 х 20; 154 х 22 х 21;158 х 21 х 18 cm
Acquisition: Purchased
Reference: 03830
1940, Zelino, Greece – 2006, Skopje, Macedonia
Untitled, 1984
Acrylic on canvas, 100 х 100 сm
Acquisition: Purchased
Reference: 04799
1939, Zhelin, Greece – 2023, Skopje, North Macedonia
Painted Sunset, 1984
Oil on canvas, 105 x 146 cm
Acquisition: Purchased
Reference: 03577
1934 – 1997, Skopje, Macedonia
Morbid Nucleus, 1966/67
Metal, 190 x 62 x 15 cm
Acquisition: Purchased
Reference: 04286
1950, Bitola, Macedonia
Clash, 1979
Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 80 cm
Acquisition: Purchased
Reference: 02921
1941, Kavadarci, Macedonia
Snottily Child, 1971
Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm
Acquisition: Purchase
Reference: 02348
* The collection of works from Simon Shemov in total includes 29 paintings, objects from paper, drawings, and prints
Biography
Simon Šemov (born 1 December 1941 in Kavadarci) is a Macedonian painter and graphic artist, as well as a university professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje.
He is one of the first researchers of alternative directions in fine arts, with a commitment to expanding and interweaving media
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1964. He became a full professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje.
He affirmed Macedonian art outside the country as well. Interest in natural phenomena is present in painting, graphics, installations, objects, interventions in natural and urban space and especially in works made of handmade paper (Panteist, 1967; Children’s Games, 1972; the Angels cycle, 1990; Forest, 2003).
Translated from Wikipedia in Macedonian language under the Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License
Available at: https://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Симон_Шемов
1933, Prilep, Macedonia – 1989, Skopje, Macedonia
Painting 81/68, 1968
Mixed media on canvas, 160 x 130 cm
Acquisition: Purchased
Reference: 01711
Biography
Risto Kalchevski (April 29, 1933 in Prilep – August 7, 1989 in Skopje) – Macedonian painter and professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje, the most characteristic representative of abstract painting.
Career
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1953. He was a member of the Mugri group. He exhibited independently in Skopje, Ljubljana, Paris and Kranj.
Style
Associative elements appear even in his earliest paintings (“Figures in Green”, 1959), which later transition into completely non-figurative representations (“Steam”, 1961).
Towards the end of the sixties, he introduced non-painterly materials into his work with unobtrusive geometricism, freeing the path of the painting towards the object. The latest works, inspired like the previous ones by the Macedonian cultural and geographical climate, contain a more cheerful color and a more emphasized liveliness.
The biography is translated from Wikipedia in Macedonian Language under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.
The link to the article from Wikipedia in Macedonian language: https://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ристо_Калчевски
