Biografija Vojka Gašperuta
I have been painting for more than fifty years. I received my art training in various courses and at the Community School of Painting and Drawing in Ljubljana. My tutors were Professors Milan Erič and Mladen Jernejc, the painter Uroš Žitnik, and the academy-trained painters Dušan Podgornik and Janez Kovačič. Painting means everything to me; it fills me with life and energy. Painting means everything to me; it fills me with life and energy.
Exhibitions
I have held more than 140 solo exhibitions and taken part in nearly 450 group exhibitions both in Slovenia and abroad—in Vienna, Madrid, Prague, Budapest, Lisbon, at the Zappeion Hall in Athens, in Barcelona, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg (in October 2013, at the invitation of former MEP Jelko Kacin), and elsewhere.
In 2019, I had a solo exhibition in the gallery of St. Cyril’s Church in Manhattan, New York (12 May–15 June), which was then transferred to the Slovene embassy in Washington, where it was inaugurated on 20 June 2019 to mark Slovenia’s Statehood Day.
My most significant achievement was my participation in the 155th international exhibition Le Salon des Beaux-Arts, organised by the SNBA (Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts) in Paris in December 2016, where I exhibited at the Carrousel du Louvre gallery alongside ten other members of the Slovene delegation. It was a great honour, made all the more meaningful by the fact that, until then, Ivana Kobilca had been the only Slovenian to exhibit at the Paris Salon, in 1892.
Honours and Awards
My work has been recognised with around sixty honours and awards, including:
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1984
Ex Tempore Marezige – 4th Prize
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1986-2014
Multiple awards at Ex Tempore Koper – in 1986, 1st Prize; in 1987, 2nd Prize; in 2014, 2nd Prize from the Expert Jury and, for the same painting, 1st Prize from fellow painters
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1988
Ex Tempore Rogaška Slatina – Purchase Prize
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1993
Recognition with a plaque from the Municipality of Koper for preserving the cultural heritage
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1993, 1994, 1996
Ex Tempore Izola – Purchase Prize
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1996-2015
Multiple awards at the international Ex Tempore Piran – Purchase Prizes in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2010; Major Purchase Prizes in 2013 and 2015
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1998
Ex Tempore Barcolana – Recognition
Golden Palette Award competitions
(Slovene Association of Fine Arts Societies)
Recipient of four certificates of quality for drawing, two for graphic art, and several honours for realistic and abstract painting
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2009 in 2010
Ex Tempore Bologna – 2nd Prize
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2009
Ex Tempore Coseano, Italy – 1st Prize for my painting Soline (Salt Works), chosen from among 250 painters
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2010
Ex Tempore Ferrara, Italy – Plaque
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2016
Ex Tempore Coseano, Italy – 1st Prize for Painting by a Foreigner
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2016 (October)
Recognition from the Municipality of Kobarid for my depiction of the cultural heritage of Breginjski Kot in the field of painting
However, is my membership of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World, a recognition of both my creative and high-quality work in painting and other areas of life.
Publications
2019 Vojko Gašperut Gašper, monograph published on the occasion of my 70th birthday (self-published).
Community Involvement
I am actively involved in many art workshops and charitable initiatives, organised by Caritas and others, especially those benefiting children. I often demonstrate mouth painting in primary schools, nurseries, retirement homes, and other community venues.
Philosophy of Life
Above all, I have made a conscious decision always to remain positive, and I try to inspire the same in others. Nothing is ever so bad that one should give up. Each day we must strive, seize every lifeline, find a way forward, and give something of ourselves.
When you cannot walk, strive to soar!