What’s Up with Slovenian Art Scene: Part One!
A short history of Slovenian visual art and grasp of the importance of its most prestigious institutions and artist groups. For those of you readers who may be interested in a specific cultural part of a Central European country that is somehow lost in oblivion. Keep in mind that Slovenia is still a Balkan country and things are bound to get messy.
Although Slovenia is such a small and somehow still predominantly homogeneous country, its branches of art reach beyond its borders, as they did in the past. Since Slovenia was always a part of another larger country or empire, and its people usually studied at the most prestigious academies at the time, the works of Slovenes can still be found all over the place, especially in central and Eastern Europe. Many would say that the Slovenian art scene today is undoubtedly an active field dominated by a chaos of different cultural, economic and artistic strategies and approaches that somehow try to capture our Eastern European contradictions of dramatic history filled with a lot of culture, some resentment and above all the urge to resemble our more western neighbours.
In the following wording, I will try to depict a short history of Slovenian visual art and grasp the importance of its most prestigious institutions and artist groups. For those of you readers who may be interested in a specific cultural part of a Central European country that is somehow lost in oblivion, keep in mind that Slovenia is still a Balkan country and things are bound to get messy.
If I was to describe or even begin to list the artists that today we understand as ‘ours’ I would probably begin in the time of baroque when Slovenia was a part of the Holy Roman Empire and most of Slovenia was under Habsburg rule. Apart from all the basic and endless castles and churches, we are to mention the leading Baroque sculptor of marble statuary in south-eastern Central Europe — Francesco Robba — that also made the so-called The Robba Fountain which’s replica still stands today at Town Square in Ljubljana. The original is exhibited in the National Gallery of Slovenia that was founded in 1918. This gallery is containing the largest visual arts collection from the late medieval period to including the twentieth century. Although Francesco Robba was an Italian artist born in Venice, he spent most of his time in Ljubljana where he worked for the Jesuits order. Noteworthy among the newcomers who settled in Carniola with their workshops was also the painter Fleming Almanach in the third quarter of the 17th century, known only by his nickname. Chronologically speaking other artists worth mentioning would be France Jelovšek, Valentin Metzinger and later after neoclassicism Jožef Tominc and Matevž Langus, who fit in the period of Biedermeier and Romanticism when the predominant genre was mostly portraiture.
The preceding brief abstract of Slovenian fine arts history is probably the bare minimum for a common reader. It is also an important starting point for understanding the following occurrence that took place after the Slovenian nation became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I have to write something about a very much successful painter Ivana Kobilica that created the most important paintings in the 1880s and made an incredible impact on Slovene figural painting, especially portraits of common and domestic folk, portraits of members of middle-class society. Since she was a female artist that became the honorary member of Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, exhibited in the Salon in Paris and overall achieved much more than her contemporary male colleagues — she is considered one of the greatest Yugoslav female painters. Until the introduction of the euro in 2007 her face was portrayed on the 5000 tolar banknote. Next to her, former Slovene notes featured two more artists from the same time; Jože PLečnik and Rihard Jakopič. The first was the most praised architect that built masterpieces in Ljubljana, Vienna and Prague and the latter was the leading impressionist painter.
Speaking of impressionism — this is when Slovene visual art became internationally recognized. At the turn of the twentieth century painters like Rihard Jakopič, Matija Jama, Ivan Grohar and Matej Sternen represented the first truly modern generation of painters that also started to build its way towards national educational institutions for art by building the Jakopič Pavilion that remained the main exhibition place for fine arts until WW2. Their work was not well received or understood at first in their homeland until 1904 when they achieved great success at their exhibition in Vienna at Miethke Salon — the heart of the early Austrian modernism. Until this day, those impressionist artists remain the most sought and most expensive authors on the art market in Slovenia. Only one artist may be the exception and that would be Zoran Mušič who during World War II was taken in the concentration camp of Dachau. It is not surprising this left an enormous mark on him and his art for which sake he also gained recognition in the West and was awarded several prizes at the biennials in Venice.
All of the artists mentioned above are on National Gallery display and many of their works are still either somewhere on the market, in warehouses of various institutions, or perhaps still hidden in people’s homes and basements. Many works of art were recognised as lost altogether after the denationalisation in 1991. As Slovenia is a relatively young country — independent from Yugoslavia since 1991 — the art market is still developing and oscillating between organising profitable businesses in the spirit of Western capitalism and on the other hand ‘’protecting’’ art from privatisation and elitism by depriving young artists the chance to sell for big money.
The other part of exhibited national treasures can be found across the street at Modern Gallery, which was founded in 1947. The initiative to build a space for modern art came from an art historian, critic and writer Izidor Cankar (not to be confused with very much so important and famous writer Ivan Cankar) and was designed by Edvard Ravnikar, one of the most eminent Slovenian architects of the 20th century. Until the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, the gallery exhibited mainly Slovenian production. After gaining independence, the institution became a link between the local and the international, exhibiting pieces mainly from Central and Eastern European nations. Due to limited space, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia decided to expand the Modern Gallery into the former Yugoslav People’s Army Barracks on the other side of the city in Metelkova Street. This became the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (+MSUM).
However, in Modern Gallery, we can find works of art from artists that are still relevant and many of them are still alive working. Apart from sought impressionists I mentioned before, painters like Gojmir Anton Kos, Jože Ciuha, Jože Tisnikar and Metka Kraševec can be found in many homes throughout the country as well as they are being sold at small local galleries. Let’s not forget about sculptors like Drago Tršar, Janez Boljka and Jakov Brdar, whose statuary art can be found in many public places. Quite interesting and for a layman most intriguing sequence would be the arrival of historical avant-garde thanks to painter and graphic author Avgust Černigoj, who studied at German art school Bauhaus where he acquainted himself with constructivism. In the year 1927 international avant-garde magazine called Tank was issued in Ljubljana. Speaking of avant-garde art, neo-avant-garde is the one worth mentioning since it was successful and internationally recognized. I am talking about the OHO artist Group, which was active from 1966 when its members published their manifesto, they criticized the traditional division between art and life and practiced principles of Land Art, Arte Povera, Process Art, Body Art and Conceptual Art. The group exhibited throughout Yugoslavia and also internationally, including at MOMA in New York in 1970.
Before Slovenia gained its independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991, there was another art group that many found a bit controversial. Formed in 1984, the retro-avant-garde political art collective called Neue Slowenische Kunst (better known as NSK) consisted of the music group Laibach, the art group IRWIN and Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre. The very name of the group caused a lot of controversies as it is stated in the German language- it means “new Slovenian art” and many felt that it evoked memories of the Nazi annexation of Slovenia during World War II. Their visual work was full of symbols drawn from totalitarian or extreme nationalist movements. They collectively appropriated the visual style of the Dada movement, kitsch, various posters full of political jokes, and often appropriated famous Nazi paintings or emblems. They worked collectively and often signed their work with stamps or certificate. After 1991, the NSK claimed to be their own state. They issued passports and stamps, incorporated the NSK National Anthem, in 2010 they even held the first NSK Citizens Congress, which was held in Berlin. Of course, things like passports and much more are considered to be political art project. In 2017, as an intervention to the migrant crisis in Europe, NSK set up an unofficial pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale where they focused on rethinking citizenship as an identity marker. They were again producing the passports, issued a book containing assays of philosopher Slavoj Žižek, gave many lectures, accompanied by an installation by Turkish artist Ahmet Öğüt. As part of a state project, the NSK now has a diverse collection of more than 15,000 citizens from around the world. Over the past 20 years, many members have developed a strong sense of collective identity.
This incredibly short summary is a huge step out of an art historian’s comfort zone, as it is too short and quite limited. But since Slovenian art history is probably completely unknown to the average reader, the above text should suffice, or at least be reasonably interesting. It is not easy to talk about the contemporary art scene in a country or about the situation of the art market, the network of galleries and the diversity of styles without a proper foundation or short introduction. To this day, there are countless small galleries to be found throughout Slovenia. Most of them are public, under the commune ownership. Public galleries are funded with public funds and most of them have to constantly compete for various tenders. The same goes for artists and curators when applying their projects and asking for funding. However, there are also some private galleries. At this point, the first private gallery in Yugoslavia should be mentioned, which was founded in 1982 in Ljubljana. Equrna Gallery still exists today and, together with many other smaller galleries, keeps the Slovenian art scene vital and, above all, diverse.
More on Slovenian smaller or independent galleries in part two, where I shall try to describe the contemporary art scene and its expansion to international waters, different fairs and some of the most prominent artist and galleries that have the potential in the art world today. I would also very much like to touch on some issues that are perhaps unique to the Slovenian current situation and problems that the art market and authors are facing the same way they do in other European countries.
Part two
Slovenian art scene remains very centralized and the most visited and most famous galleries and art spaces are stationed in the capital city….
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Text: Maša Žekš — an art historian and culturologist of East Asia who writes reviews of different art exhibitions, makes collages and performs plant pots adaptations.
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Evgeny is an art director and a global citizen based in Hong Kong and working between Asia and Europe.
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