Leif Elggren, As if I was my father, 2002,
still from dvd, 10 min |
|
26 March – 3 May, 2003
MODESTY
Jože Barši, Attila Csörgő, Tacita Dean,
Jimmie Durham & Maria Thereza Alves, Leif Elggren, Vadim
Fiškin, Ceal Floyer, Alexander Gutke, CM von Hausswolff, Rivane
Neuenschwander, Goran Petercol, Werner Reiterer, John Wood &
Paul Harrison
Curated by Lívia
Páldi and Gregor
Podnar
Galerija Škuc, Stari trg 21 / Mala galerija, Slovenska 35 –
Ljubljana
Opening reception at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, 25
March, at both sites Modesty
is an exhibition and publication project that derives, in part,
from already existing collaborations between the participating
artists and the curators, which developed in smaller group shows
and solo exhibitions over the last few years. Functioning not
as a theme but an umbrella term, Modesty gives space to
diverse artistic practices that nevertheless connect with each
other on various levels in a way that sometimes reveals unexpected
similarities. By tracing the appearance of modesty – as
decency, unpretentiousness and quietness, but also as understatement
– the show inquires into the current position of the (art)
object, in its formal, stylistic, social and institutional aspects,
within the selected practices.
These artists do not abandon the “classical”
concept of the artwork; on the contrary, they very much operate
with this notion, with either slight or significant modifications.
None of them is confined to a specific medium: their work ranges
from the production of incorporeal and thoroughly mirage-like
optical effects to the employment or creation of technical devices.
Art in the 90s was focused more on the social
context and participatory practices of art, its interactive and
instrumental potential for grasping the “real.” A
wider engagement with different social strata and the prevailing
conditions of the cultural industry have again raised the issue
of the materialization of the artwork and led to a re-contextualization
of aesthetics. Modesty operates within these parameters
as it presents work of a transient character dealing with various
models of perception, the transcription of everyday phenomena
into formal (visual) language, various self-referential aspects
and, last but not least, poetic intimations. Modesty makes
room for the personal, as well as for a more imagistic and, in
many cases, quite playful engagement with form.
The show, which includes drawings, sound installations,
video, painting, sculpture and photographic works, seeks to develop
and transform itself with each new presentation. The current exhibition,
which presents selected works by 14 artists at Galerija Škuc and
Mala galerija, is the second manifestation of Modesty,
which was first mounted at Pavel House in Laafeld, Austria, as
part of steirischer herbst 2002. A related publication, with contributions
by the artists and invited international writers, is scheduled
to be released for the show’s next presentation, at the
Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb at the beginning of 2004.
About
the artists and their work
Modesty is a Galerija Škuc project in collaboration
with: Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Pavel-House Laafeld/Potrna,
Muzej suvreme umjetnosti Zagreb
Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia,
Cultural Department of the City of Ljubljana, IASPIS – Stockholm,
Cultural Department of the Austrian Embassy in Ljubljana
For further information please contact Ms. Alenka Gregorič, program
coordinator, phone/fax: +386 1 421 31 40, galerija.skuc@guest.arnes.si
Special thanks
We would like to thank the artists.
Zdenka Badovinac, Sofia Bertilsson, Dr. Maximilian Eichinger,
Galerie Nordenhake – Berlin, Galeria Fortes Vilaça –
São Paulo, Galerie Eugen Lendl – Graz, Galerija Kapelica
– Ljubljana, Jurij Krpan, Eugen Lendl, Christoph Loidl,
Margarethe Makovec, Michael Petrowitsch, Snježana Pintarić.
up