~ Milica Puric ~

Giorgie Cpajak at Monterrey, City in Nuevo Leon Mexico

Academic sculptor Giorgie Cpajak is a rare artist whose sculptures are placed worldwide, including in China, Japan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, England, and all the way to Mexico. Winner of many prizes and accolades, Cpajak is an active and committed artist recognized in the entire world.

We last spoke about his art and his work two years ago. He had just finished a successful exhibition in Greece. After that he participated in the international sculpture symposium “Oro nero dell’Etna” in Sicily, then the International Outdoor Sculpture Festival in Taiwan, the Stone Statues International Symposium in Tabriz, Iran, and two events in China — the Zhishang Qingdao International Sculpture Creation Camp and Changsha Sculpture Symposium. He said he had a very nice time on Greek island Crete, not only because of famous the Greek hospitability, but because he was with his 18-year-old son, Georgije, who helped him perform.

Work in progress – that’s how sculptors make their sculptures

Giorgie Cpajak recently became a professor at the Faculty of fine arts in Belgrade, Serbia, teaching stone sculpture. He said the new generation of students has enthusiasm typical for the young and a desire to be successful and to go further.

“It was the same with my generation,” he said. “On the other hand, this is a new time, a modern, computerized time. … While we were sitting in the university library, reading and exploring sculptors such as Michelangelo, Mestrovic, Bernini, for today’s students everything is approachable. That’s why it is important not to be seduced by the abundance of examples, not to be misled from their personal and original way of expression. It’s nice to rely on masterpieces, but art seeks distinctive and personal expression that separates you from the others.”

Giorgie is talking about his sculpture

It is interesting that Giorgie Cpajak has been to China 14 times! He’s been making huge monuments there and has been rewarded at many of their competitions. At the end of last year, he was there at the large Festival of World Sculpture with another 11 participants. Coming from the former Yugoslavia, he said Chinese people have a special relationship with Yugoslavians because of their ex-President Tito and the Yugoslav movie war hero Valter.

As we all know China was poor in the past, but not anymore… “Since 1997, many things have changed in China. … Almost no one ride bicycles on the streets like in the past. People drive modern cars, they developed the technique, the cities are more organized, and there are many shopping malls like in London or New York. That is prosperity, and you can see everything is changing and all changes are for the better.”

In order to remove one of his sculptures many people need to help

What separates China and other Asian countries he’s visited like Japan or Korea from the rest of the world is the fact that nobody is privileged. There are no differences in religion or background. “Their art juries are not corrupt, and the only important thing is that your art has a high quality and originality,” he said. “They value work and enthusiasm, and artists feel like the ‘first-class people,’ pleased with the fact that their profession is valued. They even organize interesting events for artists: visits to museums, national parks, and spectacles, a special celebrations with fireworks. … The last time I’ve been there they have been also good hosts, and I left them, for memory, the sculpture ‘Endless Wave’ (dimensions over 16 feet) in black granite that has been placed in the park and symbolizes the infinity of life and humanity.’

Making sculptures is real, hard work 

Cpajak said that in the future he will work on new sculptures and participate in art events all around the world. “The only thing I know for sure is that I will enjoy working with my students! I will feel lucky if I give them even a small piece of my enthusiasm, energy, and love toward sculpture I have in myself for more than 30 years.”

Throughout his life, Cpajak has participated in seven solos and about 100 group exhibitions. As a representative of Serbia, he has worked on many international projects. Since 1989, he has worked on more than 50 monumental sculptures all around the world. His works have been published in various French, Italian, Swiss, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese magazines, and famous Italian critic Lodovico Gierut wrote about him in two editions of the book “La Versilia e l’Arte.”

Giorgie beside his own monument in China 

~ Biography ~

Originally from the small Serbian town Prijepolje, Giorgie Cpajak left at 15 for Split in what is today Croatia. There he attended art school, where he and his brother Goran, who is today also a sculptor and professor, studied stone sculpture. After art high school he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. Later he lived in Italy and visited more than 50 countries. From 1992 to 1994 he taught at the Konstfack Academy in Stockholm, where he was a stone sculpture lecturer. Six years ago, as a part of international exchange, he was a guest lecturer at the University of Tokyo. Today he is a university professor at the Faculty of fine arts. He also continues working with other sculptors around the world.

~ Milica Puric ~

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~ Milica Puric ~

Beskrajni talas života

Djordje Čpajak pored svoje velike skulpture

Akademski vajar Djordje Čpajak, jedan je od retkih umetnika čije se skulpture nalaze širom sveta, počev od  Kine, Japana, Sirije, Saudisjkih Emirata, Turske, Danske, Francuske, Nemačke, Španije, Engleske, pa sve do Meksika. Dobitnik brojnih nagrada i priznanja, Djordje Čpajak veoma je aktivan, angažovan i tražen u celom svetu. Kada smo, pre dve godine, takodje pravili intervju, Djordje je upravo završavao uspešnu izložbu u Grčkoj. U medjuvremenu je učestvovao na interacionalnom simpozijumu skulpture ‘Oro nero del Etna’ na Siciliji, zatim na Medjunarodnom festivalu skulpture u Tajvanu, bio dva puta u u Kini – na Gingdao Zhishang sculpture creation camp, a onda na simpozijumu Ćangsha Sculpture. ‘Pomenuo bih posetu divnoj i drevnoj Persiji ( Iranu) gde sam bio pozvan na Medjunarodni simpozijum u Tabriz , grad na krajnjem zapadu zemlje. Naročito zadovoljstvo mi je bio boravak na Kritu ( Heraklionu) ne samo zbog uživanju u divnom gostoprimstvu komšija Grka, vec i zbog toga sto mi je na izvedbi velike skulpture konja ovaj put pomagao stariji sin Georgije (18)’.

Sin Djordja Čpajaka, Georgije (18) počeo je da mu pomaže u pravljenju skulptura 

Pre izvesnog vremena Djodrje Čpajak je postao profesor na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu gde na Odseku skulpture predaje Skulpturu u kamenu (to je njegova uža specijalnost). Govoreći o novim generacijama studenata kaže da oni imaju entuzijazam koji prati mlade, želju za prodorom i uspehom. ‘To je postojalo i kod moje generacije, a zadržalo se i danas… S druge strane, ovo je novo vreme, moderno, kompjuterizovano, studenti su drugačiji… Dok smo mi sedeli u Univerzitetskoj biblioteci i tu trazili uzore u Mesctroviću, Mikelandjelu, Berniniju, njima je sve to danas široko dostupno. Jedino je bitno da ih to obilje primera ne zavede od njihovog lično izdefinisanog puta i izraza u umetnosti…  Lepo je oslanjati se na remek dela, ali umetnost traži osoben i ličan izraz koji vas odvaja od drugih!’

Interesantno je da je Djodrdje Čpajak boravio u Kini čak 14 puta. Tamo je pravio velike monumente i bio nagradjivan na njihovim takmičenjima. Poslednji put je bio tamo sa ostalih 11 učesnika prošle godine na velikom Festivalu svetske skulpture.

Bronzana skulptura spavača

‘Kineski narod ima poseban odnos prema nama, prijateljski i prisan, a Valter i Tito su i dalje magične reci!’, kaže on. ‘U Kini se osećam kao kod kuće. Takodje, od te 1997. mnogo toga se promenilo u Kini… Skoro da više nema bicikala na ulicama. Ljudi voze najmodernije automobile, razvijena je tehnika, gradovi su uredjeniji, kao pečurke niču shoping centri koji zasenjuju londonske ili njujorske. To je prosperitet koji vam potvrdjuje da vreme teče i da se sve menja nabolje…’

On kaže da nikada nije pričao sa kineskim kolegama koliko njihova država daje za kulturu, ali dovoljno je videti na stotine modernih, velikih skulptura po gradovima i parkovima. ‘Ono što odvaja Kinu (ali i ostale azijske zemlje gde sam bio, kao što su Japan i Koreja) od ostatka sveta je to što nema privilegovanih, nema razlike u religiji, odakle dolazite… Njihovi  umetnički žiriji nisu korumpirani, jedino je važno da je vaša umetnost visokog dometa i originalna. Oni cene rad i entuzijazam pre svega. U Kini se umetnik oseca kao čovek prog reda, zadovoljan je što se njegova profesija vrednuje i zavredjuje pažnju. Za umetnike se organizuju posete muzejima, nacionalnim parkovima, specijalnim svečanostima sa vatrometima, horovima, igračkim spektaklima, prijemi sa vodećim ljudima iz tog grada… Kinezi su i ovaj zadnji put bili dobri domaćini, a ja sam im za uspomenu ostavio skulpturu ‘Beskrajni talas’ (dimenzije preko 5 metara) u crnom granitu koja je postavljena u parku i simboluzije beskraj života i čovečanstva.

Djordje radi na novoj skulpturi

Djodrje kaže da će i ubuduće raditi na novim skulpturama i učestvovati na svetskim manifestacijama. ‘Jedino zasigurno znam da ću uživati u radu sa svojim studentima! Biću srećan ako im prenesem i delić svog entuzijama, energije i ljubavi prema skulpturi koji nosim u sebi vec 30 godina. Na mladjima svet ostaje… I od njih, budući svet, i zavisi!’

Pomenimo na kraju da je Djordje Čpajak učestvovao je na sedam samostalnih  i oko 100 grupnih izlozbi. Kao predstavnik Srbije radio je na mnogim medjunarodnim projektima. Od 1989. pa do današnjih dana izveo je preko 50 monumentalnih skulptura u gradovima širom sveta. Radovi su mu publikovani u raznim francuskim, italijanskim, švajcarskim, japanskim, koreanskim, kineskim časopisima. Italijanski kritičar Lodovik Giuderura uvrstio ga je u dva izdanja knjige ‘Versilija i umetnost’ (“La Versilia e l’arte”)

I konačno – predah! 

Biografija

Djordje Čpajak, poreklom iz Prijepolja, vec je u 15. godini otisao u Split i tamo, zajedno sa bratom Goranom (danas poznatim vajarem i univerzitetskim profesorom) upisao Školu za odgoj u umetnosti i kulturi, odsek – Izrada skulpture u kamenu. Kasnije je upisao Fakultet likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu i posle završenih postdiplomskih studija njegov životni put je išao preko Italije – u preko 50 zemalja gde je izvodio svoje radove. Dve godine, od 1992. do 1994. sardjivao je sa Konstfact akademijom iz Stokholma u Švedskoj gde je bio predavač skulpture u kamenu, a pre šest godina je u sklopu internacionalne razmene bio gost predavač na Univerzitetu u Tokiju. Danas je profesor na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti.

~ Milica Puric ~