Page 47 - The Venice Biennale 2001 issue of World of Art Magazine

49. Biennale di venezia
49. Biennale di venezia
networks, objects that hold a
concealed expansive power within
themselves.
Frozen Everyday Life - ordinary
objects, valued by the artist, who
would like to protect (conserve)
them from the impact of the
environment and the current
moment, and set them free in
better times or keep them as relics. Mozart
The explicitness in expressing
pregnancy, tension, expectation
and uncertainty seems to be a
type of compressed energy
which can be felt in all the
elements of your project: from
expectation to collapse. Does
this imprisoned evil create the
empire of oppressive darkness
at the moment of its release?
The objects of the first group,
the “prisoners” mentioned above,
are exceptionally potent and their
compressed content is certainly a
paraphrase of the empire of
darkness. But their activation in
the project is limited. We have
their dimensions, and the rest
seems to be in a state of
hibernation, and there is also an
atmosphere of expectation. The
honour to press the button... to
break the connection... the
incarcerated evil... so many
times... behind these scenes...
And finally, water as the
illusion of tranquillity?
Water as a reflective surface also
appears in my previous projects.
The water surface appears as the
only platform for the connection
of the seemingly incompatible
elements and atmospheres, and
also for the expression of
imagined tranquillity and genuine
restlessness in the two parts of the
installation. Water as an element is
also rightfully connected with
both the city and space. The
presence of “water” on the scene
does not require additional motifs:
the world was born in water, it
lives there and will most probably
be buried in water. Venice has so
far been the best example of this. several elements, through convex and
Skopje, April 2001
RePubiLC OF MACeDOniA
Macedonian presentation at
the 49th venice biennale
2001
Jovan Šumkovski
night vision
Casa di Wolfgang Amadeus
San Marco 1830, venice
The exhibition will be opened
by Professor Mariano Apa SKOPJe ART gALLeRY
June 8, 2001, 6 p.m. The Skopje Art gallery (1948) is the oldest art
Organizer of the Macedonian institution in the Republic of Macedonia. it
is housed in a rare surviving building of
presentation at the 49th
islamic secular architecture, the Daut Pasha
venice biennale 2001 Turkish baths, from the second half of the
15th century. it boasts a collection of over
1,300 works of art. The gallery’s mission is the
skopje art Gallery affirmation and presentation of Macedonian
Kruševska 1a, 1000 Skopje and international contemporary art. Since
Macedonia 2000 its primary activity has been the
presentation of the national Collection
Tel +389 (0)2 13 31 02 14th-20th Centuries: icons from the mediaeval
Fax +389 (0)2 12 68 56 period and contemporary Macedonian art
e-mail: artgall@mt.net.mk works. in 1997, for the first time the gallery
e-mail: artgall@mol.com.mk organized Macedonia’s participation in the
venice biennale (47th).
in 1948, the Amam was restored and adapted
viktorija vaseva Dimeska to its new function as an art gallery. 49. Biennale Di veneziA
The national Art gallery has performed a very
Director of the Art gallery significant role and historic role, especially
during the early post war years, as the only
Skopje and Commissioner of institution of its kind in Macedonia for the
the project. presentation and affirmation of Macedonian
fine art. Apart from the regular display of
different parts of the collection, the gallery
also presents exhibitions of domestic and
foreign works of fine art. The gallery’s
international standing has been enhanced
JOvAn ŠuMKOvSKi (b. 1962) belongs to through co-operation with important world
the generation of artists who, in the 1980s, centers such as vienna, venice, berlin,
greatly changed the physiognomy of the art istanbul, Dresden, nuremberg, etc.
scene in the republic of macedonia and the in the last couple of years the gallery has
region. Since 1992, Šumkovski has worked extended its basic undertaking by providing
a venue for other cultural activities, such
on spatial installations, based on unique as concerts, scientific lectures, theatrical
transparent and illuminated objects, where chamber performances, book promotions,
etc. in this new role, the Art gallery reaffirms
he examines the concept of spatial and its function as a pillar of Macedonian fine
art and has established itself as a cultural
illumination reflections on several levels, center capable not only of attracting the
referring to specific sociological and social finest modern artists but of expressing the
issues. highest artistic, aesthetic and cultural values.
Menka Karapashovska, art historian
The project night vision was carried out
in January 2000 in Skulpturens Hus, Stockholm,
Sweden. The same project, specially adapted
to the new premises, is now shown in casa
di Wolfgang amadeus mozart, venice. in
transparent plates, five inflating tyres and a
night vision device, the artist aims to capture
the unique atmosphere of life in the Balkans.
WORLD of ART 45