Modesty at Galerija Skuc
26/03/2003 - 03/05/2003
Galerija Skuc
Stari trg 21
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Tel: (+386-1) 251 65 40
Fax: (+386-1) 421 31 40
galerija.skuc@guest.arnes.si
www.galerija.skuc-dru
Opening reception at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, 25 March
image: Leif Elggren, As if I was my father, 2002, still from dvd, 10
min
MODESTY
Jože Barši, Attila Csörgõ, 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.