Irena Pejovic (b. 1981, Gevgelija, North Macedonia) is an interdisciplinary artist based in NJ. She received her BFA and MFA from Montclair State University. Pejovic makes events that go beyond the visual realm, choreographing movements that turn the audience into an explorer of a world that is active and becoming—as a set of unfolding relationships—in a way that they have not before. In her work, the audience is moving-sensing, using vision, sound, navigation, feeling texture, color, scale, being both mobile and immobile.

Recent solo exhibitions include KSP Centar Jadro, Skopje, North Macedonia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, Nancy Dryfoos Gallery at Kean University, Union, NJ; Galerija Karas, Zagreb, Croatia; Gallery MC, New York; Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ. Selected group exhibitions include: 2017. Self-Portraits, Fundacion ´ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2016, Transart Triennale, Manila, Philippines and Berlin, Germany, Filmideo, Index Art Center and Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; 2015. Forms of Repetition, Glasshouse Artlifelab, Brooklyn, NY, an evening dedicated to durational performances.; dirt-e, curated by Ben Davis, Central Booking, New York City; 2013. Stars in My Pocket like Grains of Sand, curated by Jayson Keeling, Lower East Side Printshop, New York City.

Irena Pejovic was part of SWIM, a theatre piece by Robert Whitman, presented at the Alexander Kasser Theatre in Montclair (2015) and at Fridman Gallery in New York City, in cooperation with Dia Art Foundation and Julie Martin, Director of Experiments in Art and Technology (2016). She was awarded the 2024 and 2021 Individual Artist Recovery grant award from The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, 2020 Artist Relief Fund Grant, an initiative organized by the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists, 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship Award by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and has received exhibition and publishing grants by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia (2018), Croatian Ministry of Culture (2014) and the City of Gevgelija, North Macedonia (2018, 2015, 2014), UMD John L. N. Bitove, C.M. Macedonian Heritage Scholarship Award (2014) and Step Beyond Travel Grant (2013) by the European Cultural Foundation. In 2012, she served as a member of the Board of Directors at the Printmaking Center of New Jersey. Her work is included in the Contemporary Print Collection of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, Croatia. She has taught at Montclair State University, Kean University and has appeared as a visiting artist at New Jersey City University.

 

 

Achievements

  • 2024 Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Interdisciplinary Art, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts 
  • 2022 Forms of Re-Creation, Solo Exhibition, KSP Centar Jadro, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • 2022 Exhibition Grant, Ministry of Culture, North Macedonia, Program for projects of national interest
  • 2021 Individual Artist Recovery Grant Award, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts
    • 2020 Artist Relief Fund Grant, an initiative by Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists
    • 2018 YOU ARE A MOBILE ARCHITECTURE, Solo Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Photography, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts 
  • 2018 Exhibition Grant, Ministry of Culture, North Macedonia, Program for projects of national interest
  • 2017 Grids are Events of Forming, Solo Exhibition, Nancy Dryfoos Gallery, Kean University, Union, NJ, USA
  • 2016 SWIM, Performer, Theater performance by Robert Whitman, Fridman Gallery, New York, NY, USA
    in cooperation with Dia Art Foundation and Julie Martin, Director of Experiments in Art and Technology
  • 2015 SWIM, Performer, Theater performance by Robert Whitman, Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair, NJ
  • 2015 artnet News, July 6th, 2015, 14 of the Best Summer Gallery Group Shows in New York, by Cait Munro 
  • 2015 dirt-e, Curated by Ben Davis, Central Booking, New York, NY, USA – Catalog, essay by Ben Davis


Selected Solo and Two Artist Exhibitions and Events

  • 2022 Forms of Re-Creation, KSP Centar Jadro, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • 2019 Earth Comb, Montclair Design Week, Montclair, NJ, USA
  • 2018 YOU ARE A MOBILE ARCHITECTURE, Solo Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • 2017 Grids are Events of Forming, Solo Exhibition, Nancy Dryfoos Gallery, Kean University, Union, NJ, USA
  • 2015 YOU ARE A MOBILE ARCHITECTURE, Participatory Event, Artist Talk and Exhibition, People’s Theater,
    Gevgelija, North Macedonia
  • 2015 YOU ARE A MOBILE ARCHITECTURE, 3-hour Participatory Public Event, Rahway Arts District, Downtown Rahway, NJ, USA
  • 2015 When a tree falls, the sky falls, Outdoor Installation, Montclair, NJ, USA
  • 2014 Urban Camping, Indoor Installation, Montclair, NJ, USA
  • 2014 Dance:: Art: A Formula, Solo Exhibition, Gallery AMAM, Gevgelija, North Macedonia, Catalog, essay by Sarah Schmerler
  • 2013 Après Moi, Le Déluge: Solo Series, Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ, USA, Curated by Evonne M. Davis
  • 2013 Two Artist Exhibit, Irena Pejovic/Ana Sladetic, Memory, Between Impression and Imprint, Galerija Karas, Zagreb, Croatia,
      Catalog, essay by Antonia Došen
  • 2012 CORE, Solo Exhibition, Gallery MC, New York, NY, USA
  • 2012 Solo Exhibition, Monroe Arts Center, Hoboken, NJ, USA

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2021 Hindsight,  Marginal Art Project, Lake Charles, LA, USA
  • 2020 Pandemic Projections, Wavelength, NJ, USA
  • 2019 Earth Comb, a one-day event, Montclair Design Week, Montclair, NJ, USA
  • 2018 New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Fellowship Awards in Visual Arts Exhibition, Wheaton Arts Center, NJ, USA
  • 2018 Patem 2017, Academy of Fine Arts, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • 2017 Self-Portrait Project Session #9, Montclair State University, Fundacion ´ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 2016  Transart Triennale 2016: The Imperceptible Self and the 2016 London Biennale MANILA Pollination: Synchronisations-Syncopations
  • 2016  Filmideo, Index Art Center and Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, USA
  • 2015  Glasshouse Artlifelab, Brooklyn, NY, USA, ‘Forms of Repetition’ an evening dedicated to durational performances.
  • 2015 dirt-e, Curated by Ben Davis, Central Booking, New York, NY, USA – Catalog, essay by Ben Davis
  • 2015 A Rising Tide: 4+4, Visceglia Gallery, Caldwell University, Caldwell, NJ, USA
  • 2015 post-EXIT, Gallery MC, New York, NY, USA – Catalog
  • 2015 Armory Show, Gallery MC, New York, NY, USA
  • 2014 Sliver, Index Art Center, Newark, NJ, USA
  • 2013 Roses By Other Names, guest curated by Jaishri Abichandani, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY, USA
  • 2013 Under Pressure, West Windsor Arts Center, Newark, NJ, USA, Curated by Eileen Foti
  • 2013, Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, guest curated by Jayson Keeling, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY, USA
  • 2013 New Print, Bushwick Print Lab, New York, NY, USA
  • 2012 Legacy, curated by Sheila Goloborotko, Printmaking Center of NJ, Branchburg, NJ, USA 
  • 2012 NJ Artists Show, Lana Santorelli Gallery, Hoboken, NJ, USA
  • 2012 Rhythm and Movement, Lana Santorelli Gallery, Hoboken, NJ, USA
  • 2012 Mad Hot Young, Solo Series, curated by Sheila Goloborotko, Printmaking Center of New Jersey, Branchburg, NJ, USA
  • 2012 Juried Theme Exhibition, ART INTER/NATIONAL, HERE AND ABROAD, Box Heart Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA 
  • 2001 Malta Art Biennale 2001, Valletta, Malta

 

Guest Performances

  • 2016 SWIM, Performer, Theater performance by Robert Whitman, Fridman Gallery, New York, NY, USA
    in cooperation with Dia Art Foundation and Julie Martin, Director of Experiments in Art and Technology
  • 2015 SWIM, Performer, Theater performance by Robert Whitman, Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair, NJ

 

Collections

  • Muzej za Umjetnost i Obrt (Museum of Arts and Crafts), Zagreb, Croatia, Contemporary Print Collection

 

Awards and Grants

  • 2024 Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Interdisciplinary Art, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts 
  • 2022 Forms of Re-Creation, Solo Exhibition, KSP Centar Jadro, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • 2022 Exhibition Grant, Ministry of Culture, North Macedonia, Program for projects of national interest
  • 2021 Individual Artist Recovery Grant Award, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts
    • 2020 Artist Relief Fund, Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund,
    National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists
    • 2019 Exhibition Grant, City of Gevgelija, North Macedonia, Program for supporting projects in the arts
  • 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Photography, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts 
  • 2018 Exhibition Grant, Ministry of Culture, North Macedonia, Program for projects of national interest
  • 2018 Exhibition Grant, City of Gevgelija, North Macedonia, Program for supporting projects in the arts
  • 2016 Publishing Grant, City of Gevgelija, North Macedonia, Translation and Publishing of the Monograph “Choreographing With”
  • 2015 Exhibition Grant, City of Gevgelija, North Macedonia and Macedonian Ministry of Culture, Summer Cultural Program
  • 2014 UMD John L. N. Bitove, C.M. Scholarship Award
  • 2014 Graduate Assistantship Award, Montclair State University
  • 2014 Exhibition Grant, City of Gevgelija, North Macedonia, Program for supporting projects in the arts
  • 2013 STEP BEYOND Travel Grant, European Cultural Foundation
  • 2013 Exhibition Grant, Croatian Ministry of Culture, Croatia
  • 2001, 2003 Excellence in Printmaking Award, Montclair State University, School of Arts
  • 2001 Malta Art Biennale 2001, Print Award

 

Publications 

  • 2016 Choreographing With in Macedonian, a monograph by Irena Pejovic, interview with Robert Whitman
  • 2015, Monograph, Choreographing With, Irena Pejovic, interview with Robert Whitman

 

Related Professional Work

  • 2015 – Present; Adjunct Professor, Kean University, Robert Busch School of Design, Union, NJ, USA
    Classes taught: Visual Form 1 (2D): Design introduction studio course exploring the formal qualities of design as they apply to graphics, industrial, and interior design projects.; Introduction to Visual Culture and Design: An introduction to design as an essential human activity and as a primary creator of popular material culture.; Visual Elements: compositional principles, physical materials and functional objectives are addressed in both two and three-dimensional design applications.; Drawing-Beginning 1: Beginning studio course using drawing as a communications skill for applied design disciplines. Emphasis on visualizing concepts for design projects in a wide range of materials and media.; Visual Form 2 (3D): Studio course continuing exploration of elements and principles of visual form including color. Traditional and electronic media are used to investigate the visual impact of communications media, human environments, and utilitarian objects.
  • 2024; Adjunct Professor, Introduction to 2-Dimensional design, Union County College, Cranford, NJ
  • 2018 – Founder, Field Art Fair – an art fair promoting artwork from NY/NJ region
  • 2017; Visiting Artist, Sound to Form-ing, New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ, USA

Lecture on processes of arriving to form from sound. How is sound a form, and what does sound do to a physical space?

  • 2015 – 2016; Adjunct Professor, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
    Classes taught: Intro to Visual Arts: An introduction to the ways in which people have expressed themselves in the visual arts, including painting, sculpture, crafts, architecture, film, photography, and graphic design explored through studio projects, reading, and gallery and museum visits. The focus is on the nature and experience of art across many cultures and its central role in our daily lives.
  • 2012 – 2015; Graduate Assistant, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA

Assisted in Classes: Silkscreen Printing, Book Arts, Printmaking 1, Drawing, BFA Final Project. Held demos on projects and processes in silkscreen, book arts, printmaking, drawing and held critiques for BFA final projects. Reviewed work in progress. Assisted in grading homework. Assisted students during class time and during open studio hours. 

  • 2015; Guest Lecture, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA, on Practice and Career

A lecture on making art practice a career. How to move from a BFA or an MFA student into the art world? What does it mean to be an artist? 

  • 2015; Lecture, Kean University, Union, NJ, USA, Thinking Creatively Conference, on Creativity

A lecture on Creativity? What is Creativity?
• 2011 – 2012; Member of the Board of Directors, Printmaking Center of New Jersey
• 2012; Assistant Instructor, Collagraph with Talleen Hacikyan, The Printmaking Center of NJ, Branchburgh, NJ, USA 

Assisted Canadian-based artist Talleen Hacikyan during a 7 day collagraph printmaking workshop at the Printmaking Center of NJ. 

  • 2011; Instructor, Photo Etching Workshop at Printmaking Workshop Sofija, Bogdanci, North Macedonia

Organized a photo-etching workshop and held lectures on non-toxic printmaking during a Printmaking Workshop Sofija in North Macedonia. 

 


Selected Workshops, Residences and Research

  • 2019 In7, A 7-day video production workshop
  • 2017 Patem Residency, North Macedonia, A research based residency on ongoingness and process art.
  • 2016 Self-Portrait Project Session #9, Montclair State University, Fundacion ´ace
  • 2012 Artist in Residence, London Print Studio, London, UK

 

Selected Bibliography

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-york-summer-group-shows-305598?utm_campaign=artnetnews&utm_source=070615daily&utm_medium= 

  • Zarez, September 12th, 2013, Exhibition review by Feđa Gavrilović, Zagreb, Croatia, page 19; 
  • London Print Studio Blog, 2012, “Artist in Residence – Irena Pejovic”, 
  • Sarah Schmerler, “Studio visit, gallery visit, Agnes DeMille”, July 20, 2011; 
  • Sunday Times, June 24th, 2001, “105 countries represented at this year’s Malta Art Biennale“, Malta, page 44;
  • Torca, June 24th, 2001, “The Malta International Art Biennale 2001”, Malta, page 14;

 

Education 

  • MFA in Studio Art, 2015, Montclair State University
  • BFA in Studio Art, Concentration in Printmaking, 2003, Montclair State University
  • Fine Arts/Studio Concentration in Printmaking, 1999, High School of Fine Arts “Lazar Licenovski”, Skopje, North Macedonia