#12
The opening of the exhibition
Commentary
The chronicle writer has noted:
“… That he should caress me, and think of someone else, or to love me for one night only…”
These were the introductory lines recited by Emilija Andreevska, an actress of the Macedonian National Theater, and that is how the first exhibition of this kind in Skopje was opened.
The location: the center of culture and information
Time: 19:17
This is what the people had to say about this “wicked game”:
Skalovska (name unknown, about 50): Ha, ha, I’ve no idea what to say! You know, even in the most “non-erotic” artists, or artists where a different genre is dominant, there is always something erotic, and even in the genre they pursue…
Ruža Todorovska (19): I like exhibitions, but why does it have to be me? (Two-minute– persuasion): Well, OK! I like realism, and it seems to me that it is dominant in these erotic expressions. In these exhibits I see certain tenderness, and others have a dose of harshness.
People laughed, paused for thought, but they weren’t inferior about their feelings.
Still, was it really necessary for so many years to pass so that we finally get an organized erotic orientation of this kind?
And, why, out of sixty authors, only seven are women?
And, finally, are we free enough and educated enough to understand and love an erotic truth? (Goran Veličkovski, To be naked, or not to be!? MB, Skopje, 08.10.1986)
The exhibition was opened in Salon 1 in the Center of culture and information and covered 118 works by 80 authors. They date from 1928 to 1986 (and some have been made for the purpose of the exhibition). The stylistic approaches or directions moved from variants of realism, through expressionism, cubism and surrealism all up some new trends. The means and techniques in painting included painting, sketches, sculpture, graphics, caricature and comics. The exhibition, even with its title has already aroused the curiosity and the yearning; but the reactions and the reviews of the critics ranged from the expected to the disappointments, by labeling the works of the “painted erotica” as shy, wrong or harnessed erotica. That was the spirit of the opening of the exhibition: the lights went on and off three times in a row. This kind of “breaking the ice” marked the beginning of the artistic narration of the few Macedonian erotic stories. The actress tried to emphasize some of the “stronger points” with proper intonation and figurative use, leaving it then to the works to arouse an erotic aesthetic sensation themselves.
Critical reviews
Paskal Gilevski: “… That besides the willingness of the author of the selection, the target aim has been missed and this can confuse and disorient the audience which can definitely tell the difference between the basic concepts and values”. (Missed eroticism, VEČER 24.09.1986)
Zlatko Teodosievski: “… The exposition offers a variety of stylistic directions: academic realism, expressionism, etc, which all have as an inherent component the individual artistic poetics, mood and (erotic) feeling, often given indirectly, with hesitation, as a hidden element or in a more explicit manner… This kind of eroticism can be placed within the context of cultural development, in the relation between the individual and the society and the present frustrations and taboos, as well as the inevitable hypothesis of the possible auto-censorship…partly under the influence of the general breakthrough of free sex in the other media (film, TV, theater etc), and certainly because of determined biological principles, several of the artists from the younger generation treat the subject with a different and bolder sensitivity– from sneering to grotesque, from shocking fantasy to open challenge… The exhibition includes only seven artists from the weaker sex– is their interest in the erotic really inferior to that extent, or is it a more complex issue?” (Shy Erotica, Nova Makedonija, 4.10.1986)
Eftim Kletnikov: “… Where the concept of eroticism is taken in the broader sense, and spreads from sensuality and poetics in the nude and the landscape up to the erotic games and the pure natural erotic forms” (In the sign of Eros, The Prosvetena žena, November, 1986)
Jovica Trajković: “Everyone could find something for themselves in the offer, but if an overall impression is needed, then the evaluation can not help stating that it was more of a miss rather than a happening. And not due to the organizer, but mainly to the authors themselves… Veličkovski, in the catalogue admits that, in preparing of the exhibition he came across apathy and closed hearts among the artists! The break of taboos and prejudices is never an easy thing to do, but they still hold a stronghold with the artists, which is very surprising… This shyness or castrated erotica is present with the elderly… The witnesses of the sexual revolution, or the younger authors, are bolder, or better still, more drastic in their vision of the erotic…” (Castrated eroticism, Erotica, Zagreb, no.18, December, 1986).