JOVAN JOSIFOVSKI

THE ALIBI OF THE LONELY SANDWICHES
 

May 28th - June 4th 2025

exhibition opening: Wednesday, May 28th at 8PM

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Jovan Josifovski is one of the finalists of Denes Award, which has been awarded to the best young Macedonian artists since 2002, and from 2024 one of the finalists of this award receives a one-month residency and opportunity to show their work through the exhibition in Prostor.

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​In The Alibi of the Lonely Sandwiches, Josifovski confronts the absurd rituals of political spectacle in Serbia and North Macedonia, where something as mundane as a sandwich becomes a token of allegiance, a bribe wrapped in cellophane. Drawing from the mid 2010s populist tactics in Macedonia, revived in present-day Serbia, the exhibition transforms the sandwich into a satirical monument to political manipulation. These works serve as a critique of how power seduces the public with crumbs of comfort while masking deeper fractures in society. Through irony, repetition, and absurdity, Josifovski lays bare the hollow theatrics of control, questioning what we are really consuming, and what we are willing to trade for it.

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Jovan Josifovski is a Macedonian queer artist based in Skopje. His artistic practice and research delve into the vulnerabilities of queer life in the post-Yugoslav context, with a particular focus on the violence and complexities within families of queer children, examining the delicate and often strained parent-child relationship. His work critically addresses local politics, exploring the clash between the church, the state, and the anti-gender movement, and their effects on social dynamics and community life. Josifovski incorporates various media in his work, including installation, sculpture, textiles, drawing, collage, performance, video art, and text. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje. Among his participation in group exhibitions and collaborative performances, most notably with Julie Tolentino at the Skopje Pride Weekend Festival, he has had four solo exhibitions, published two artistic books, and created one short film.