Skopje, 19 November 2024 (MIA) - An exhibition dedicated to the doyen of contemporary Macedonian painting, Vangel Kodjoman, will open on Tuesday at the Daut Pasha Hamam. The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of North Macedonia on his 120th birth anniversary.  

The showcase will give visitors the opportunity to rediscover Kodjoman's life and work, his portraits and landscapes, the colors and light of his native land. 

Kodjoman belongs to the first generation of educated artists, along with Dimitar Pandilov, Lazar Lichenoski and Nikola Martinoski, and some time later Vasilie Popovikj-Cico, Dimo Todorovski, Tomo Vladimirski and Ljubomir Belogaski, who are considered the founders of Macedonian modern art.

"It is important to revisit the enormous efforts these authors invested in their work to modernize the Macedonian artistic and cultural life, which occurred in the midst of economic and socio-political hardships. They were crating in times when art was not so close to the general public, in a period marked by wars, poverty and insecurity. The works of these authors represent a kind of testimony to those past times, they are marks that remind us of the changes that took place, which the artists experienced in their own deep, emotional, individual way," said the National Gallery. 

Vangel Kodjoman΄s artistic oeuvre is vast. Above all, it is due to his opinion that art should be among people, that it belongs to everyone and that it should not be anyone’s privilege. This is where he derives his perseverance, discipline and dedication to work. The treatment of all the techniques in which he expresses himself have the same importance and value as the themes he worked on during his creative life, which will mark him as a particularly prolific author, recognizable and remembered as a painter of the Macedonian region. He was dedicated to his craft: art and painting, diligently, responsibly and with great love, for the rest of his life (1994). Vangel Kodjoman’s role as one of the founders of Macedonian modern art will remain noted and highly valued in the history of Macedonian art, the National Gallery adds.

The exhibition is curated by Aleksandra Zinovski Vilic, and it will run through December 20, 2024.

Photo: National Gallery of North Macedonia