“Nikolaj Fedkovic TOUR”. The first exhibition in the native land

An exhibition of paintings by Slovak painter with Uzhgorod roots Nikolaj Fedkovic continues in the Art Centre Ilko Gallery. It opened recently. It is a part of the cycle "Nikolaj Fedkovic TOUR".

The event was opened by the gallery owner Mykhailo Ilko. After that, the Consul General of Slovakia in Uzhgorod Janka Burianova, who assisted in organization of the exhibition in Uzhgorod, thanked Transcarpathia that gave Slovakia this talented artist.

The curators of the exhibition said that Nikolaj Fedkovic is an aristocrat of art, a modern troubadour, an individual, a prominent phenomenon in Slovak and European scene. They also briefly described the biography of the artist. He was born May 13, 1945 in Uzhgorod. Later the family moved to the Slovak city of Michalovce, where Nikolaj grew up. He studied at the school of art in the city of Brno, and in 1972 graduated from the department of applied art at the College of Applied Arts in Prague.

Four years later, he began teaching at the school of applied art in the city of Kosice. 12 years later, he became its director. But in the summer of 1989, the artist ended up in Germany, where he settled in the city of Bergisch Gladbach near Kolíno nad Rýnom where he lived for over 20 years He worked as an assistant at the Berlin Academy of Art (Kunst Academie). Currently, he lives in Kosice.

The artist has had exhibitions in different countries, received many awards. In July 2013, he received the prestigious Miklos Kaplar prize. Last year, for his works featured in the exhibition Nikolaj Fedkovic TOUR, he was nominated for the prestigious Slovak award "Crystal Wing" in the field of culture.

People’s Artist of Ukraine Volodymyr Mykyta said at the opening that he had known the guest for a long time. "Nikolaj stood out for his unique vision of reality, his painting technique" – the artist said. 

In a private conversation, Nikolaj Fedkovic said that this is his first exhibition in the native land. The reason is constant travelling of the world, and it is not so easy to organize the exhibition. Even in now native Slovakia. He knew Transcarpathian masters of painting A.Kashshay, A.Kotska. He says that currently he works in the technique of oil painting, and is a representative of figurative art. "I like to combine in my works realistic and abstract elements. And it’s not about photographic copy of reality, as it seems at first glance. It is rather a combination of my own life and artistic experience with sensations" – the artist explains.

With nostalgia, he shows the painting depicting his father’s brother. "His son worked at local TV, but later the family moved to Hungary," – he says. So now he has no one to visit in Uzhgorod. But he has a small vineyard in Sobrance, which is just a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border…