Šćepanović laureate of the Hercegnov Winter Salon

This year, Hercegno Winter Salon under the motto "Parallel" unites different stories and symbols, said Silva Radić, an artist from Mostar, opening the 52nd edition of one of the oldest art events in the region, with the message that the life cycle of the Salon speaks of continuity and perseverance, as the present moment testifies to the vitality and impulses of modernity.

"Twenty authors tonight leave a mark in time with their symbolic sentences and their works. It will leave a mark in every observer who opens up to the world of symbols", said Radić and pointed out that "art understands only the language of symbols, and the symbolic writing of sentences, stories, novels, scripts prolongs its life and gives it endless life".

"The parallels, which are the theme of this Winter Salon, indicate what is common and what is different. I believe that it is the same in other segments of life - by observing parallel opinions and attitudes, we notice differences, we are given the opportunity to see better and more, directed towards the truth, whatever it may be. That's the only way we improve ourselves," said the President of the Municipality, Stevan Katic, welcoming the attendees, including 18 of the 20 artists exhibiting at this year's Salon.

Selector Senka Subotić, who "selected the participants of the Salon in consultation with colleagues from the Sorbonne and from the New Reality Salon Association in Paris", conceived the exhibition as a synthesis of various artistic expressions with the intention of showing the state of contemporary painting trends in these areas. She decided on artists from Montenegro and from the Mostar and Banja Luka academies.

According to the decision of the three-member jury, the first prize of the 52nd Hercegnov Winter Salon was awarded to the sculptor Miodrag Šćepanović from Kolašin, the second - to the painter Marija Vemić from Nikšić, and the third to the artist Silva Radić from Mostar.

The president of the jury, the painter Radoslav Milošević Atos, said that "the selection of various works is not a reason but a result, an inspiration for humanization through art."

Visitors can see the installation of the Hercegnov Winter Salon in the Josip Bepo Benković Gallery until March 20.

Šćepanović: Surprised by the award

It is a surprise for me that I was invited to exhibit at the Salon, and then that I was awarded, said Miodrag Šćepanović, who received the first prize for the work "Zatišje".

"I only found out about the award when people came to congratulate me," Šćepanović said after the official opening of the Salon.

The award-winning sculpture "Calm" has been exhibited only once so far, in October at the Autumn Salon in Paris. The author recalls that he is the winner of three awards at the Autumn Salon in Paris and the Salon of French Artists, two of the most prestigious events in France.

"Calm has elevated our relationship to stone as a sculptural medium. Through stone, Šćepanović stylizes and idealizes the human face, the face of a woman, which firmly and prophetically unites the ancient and the modern. It nobly resurrects through stone," the jury's decision stated.

"I am always satisfied when I participate in such large salons, that my work was selected at all, without expecting any awards. In Montenegro, before this, I received only one award, in 2003. That's why I'm even more surprised by this recognition," Šćepanović says

Already on February 9, he will travel to France again, where he will present three new stone sculptures at the Salon of French Artists.

Šćepanović finished sculpture at the FLU in Belgrade in the class of prof. Miša Popović in 1983. He has been a member of ULUCG since 1990 and a member of the "Autumn Salon" in Paris since 2008. He is the winner of a large number of domestic and foreign awards, among which the following deserve special attention: The first "Paul Belmondo" award for sculpture at the Autumn Salon in Paris in 2006, the "Michel Dimon" award for sculpture at the Salon of French Artists in Paris in 2012, as well as the bronze medal at the Salon of French Artists, Grand Palais in Paris in 2014.