Irwin
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8 Feb 2024
30 Mar 2024
"IRWIN: Geography of Time (40 Years)" is a retrospective exhibition centering the works of Irwin collective, organised by the Gregor Podnar Gallery and Slovenian Culture and Information Centre, Vienna (SKICA). Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Vienna.
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8 Feb 2024
Opening of the "IRWIN: Geography of Time (40 Years)" exhibit. The conversation with Gregor Podnar and the Irwin group will be led by the co-curator of the exhibit, Hana Ostan Ožbolt.
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9 Sep 2023
28 Jan 2024
Retrospective exhibition of the Slovenian art collective Irwin Was ist Kunst, Irwin?, curated by dr. Inke Arns and Thibaut de Ruyter. This exhibition showcases the Irwin collective's use of black humour and their commentary on current issues like migration by the Neue Slowenische Kunst - NSK State.
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2 Dec 2020
29 Dec 2020
Pro et Contra, the exhibition of posters by Novi kolektivizem (NK), a conversation with Miran Mohar (Irwin), supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Podgorica,
at the Decembarska umetnička scena DEUS
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12 Sep 2019
19 Oct 2019
The exhibition I'm One Only If I'm Many by Irwin, curated by Zdenka Badovinac (Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova supported by the Slovenian Culture and Information Centre, Vienna (SKICA),
at the Curated by
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30 Aug 2019
31 Aug 2019
Performances by Mark Požlep, Maja Smrekar and Nataša Berk and an intervention by Irwin, supported by the Slovenian Culture and Information Centre, Vienna (SKICA),
at the Transborders
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5 Aug 2019
21 Aug 2019
Seminars and lectures by Zdenka Badovinac (Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova), Miran Mohar (Irwin), and Renata Salecl in the frame of the international platform Summer School as School, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Priština,
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27 Jun 2019
10 Oct 2019
The exhibition Dates 9 by Radenko Milak and Roman Uranjek (Irwin, NSK State, Novi kolektivizem (NK)), featuring a talk with artist Radenko Milak, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Budapest,
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11 Oct 2018
25 Nov 2018
NSK Rendez-Vous Grenoble, featuring an opening lecture by Borut Savski, the exhibition NSK State and Time (Slovenian art collective Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK)) by Irwin, screenings of Liberation Day, a documentary about Laibach's 2015 North Korea concerts, co-produced by Staragara, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Paris,
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11 May 2018
30 Jun 2018
Irwin are presenting their Time for a New State: some say you can find happiness there at a group exhibition No Man's Library, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Rome,
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22 Sep 2017
19 Nov 2017
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27 Jun 2017
8 Jan 2018
NSK: From Kapital to Capital, an exhibition of the Slovenian art collective Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK), Irwin, organised in cooperation with Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova
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11 May 2017
15 Jul 2017
NSK State Pavilion, commissioned by Irwin, curated by Zdenka Badovinac and Charles Esche, and directed by Mara Ambrožič, with an inaugural lecture by philosopher Slavoj Žižek, in the context of the 57th Venice Biennale
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10 Mar 2017
11 Mar 2017
Name Readymade by Janez Janša, Janez Janša and Janez Janša (Maska Institute and Aksioma Institute), Psycho Geographic by Irwin, Protestival by Vuk Ćosić, and a screening of My Name Is Janez Janša, produced by Aksioma Institute and co-produced by Maska Institute and Radio-Television Slovenia (RTV Slovenia), at the meeting Strange Correspendences
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28 Feb 2017
15 Jul 2017
Contemporary Artistic Revolutions: An Institutional Perspective, an exhibition featuring works by Irwin, Novi kolektivizem (NK) and Janja Žvegelj and conference attended by Barbara Borčić presenting SCCA-Ljubljana Centre for Contemporary Arts and the Urbanaria projects, as well as Tevž Logar and Vladimir Vidmar (ŠKUC Gallery),
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13 Dec 2016
28 Feb 2017
The Material Body of Art, a group exhibition featuring works by Irwin, the OHO Group, Matej Stupica and Lenka Đorojević presented by Galleria A plus A,
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10 Dec 2016
17 Dec 2016
A group exhibition featuring works by Irwin, the OHO Group, Matej Stupica and Lenka Đorojević presented by Galleria A plus A, and a screening of Ron’s Story, produced by the Aksioma Institute and Video Production Kregar Studio (VPK Studio), at the Venice International Art Performance Week
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11 Nov 2016
14 Jan 2017
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10 Nov 2016
7 May 2017
Cold Front from the Balkans, an exhibition co-curated by Alenka Gregorič (City Art Gallery Ljubljana) also featuring works by Irwin, Laibach, the OHO Group, Jasmina Cibic, and Mark Požlep,
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6 Oct 2016
9 Oct 2016
Gregor Podnar Gallery showcases a number of artists, including Irwin, and The Relations by Jaša at Frieze London Art Fair, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia London,
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13 May 2016
17 Jul 2016
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26 Jan 2016
27 Mar 2016
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16 Jan 2016
4 Mar 2016
Monuments Should Not Be Trusted, an exhibition featuring works by Avgust Černigoj, Lojze Logar, NSK (NSK State), Irwin and OHO (OHO Group Award), curated by Lina Džuverović and supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia London,
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15 Dec 2015
23 Jan 2016
White Screen Black Hole, an exhibition also featuring the documentary Black Square on Red Square by Irwin,
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12 Oct 2015
16 Oct 2015
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27 Sep 2015
10 Jan 2016
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6 Feb 2015
United Through Adversity panel discussion in the scope of the Grammar of Freedom - Five Lessons exhibition, among speakers also Zdenka Badovinac, Bojana Piškur, Igor Španjol and the artists Borut Vogelnik and Roman Uranjek (Irwin group), in collaboration with Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova,
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9 Jan 2015
1 Feb 2015
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20 Nov 2014
28 Feb 2015
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16 Nov 2014
22 Feb 2015
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27 Sep 2014
2 Nov 2014
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1 Aug 2014
21 Sep 2014
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18 Jun 2014
1 Jul 2014
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21 May 2014
Time for a new state – some say you can find happiness there, a lecture by Irwin, in the framework of Wiener Festwochen
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26 Apr 2014
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15 Mar 2014
2 Jun 2014
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8 Mar 2014
22 Jun 2014
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6 Feb 2014
6 Mar 2014
Japonism in Contemporary Art exhibition curated by Kyoko Sato Ono and Emil Memon also featuring works by Tobias Putrih, Irwin and Emil Memon, supported by the JCC Fund (Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York, Inc.) and in cooperation with the Consulate General of Japan in New York, Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Washington, and the Japan Foundation, New York
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18 Jan 2014
15 Feb 2014
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15 Dec 2013
15 Feb 2014
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7 Dec 2013
30 Mar 2014
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30 Nov 2013
2 Feb 2013
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16 Nov 2013
9 Feb 2014
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8 Nov 2013
2 Feb 2014
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16 Oct 2013
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26 Sep 2013
24 Nov 2013
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21 Sep 2013
21 Nov 2013
Was ist Kunst?, a joint exhibition also featuring works by Slovene artists Marina Gržinić/Aina Šmid, Irwin, Laibach, OHO, Marko Pogačnik, and Sašo Sedlaček
at the Steirischer Herbst
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18 Sep 2013
The panel discussion History is not given, please help to construct it also featuring Zdenka Badovinac (Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova), Miran Mohar (Irwin), and Borut Vogelnik (Irwin)
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7 Sep 2013
14 Dec 2013
Corpse of Art, a mixed-media installation by Irwin is presented in the framework of the joint exhibition Other People’s Problems: Conflicts and Paradoxes, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Tel Aviv,
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14 Jun 2013
13 Jul 2013
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23 May 2013
16 Jun 2013
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18 Jan 2013
23 Feb 2013
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14 Nov 2012
1 Apr 2013
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28 Sep 2012
27 Jan 2013
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21 Sep 2012
28 Sep 2012
NAME Readymade project by Janez Janša,Janez Janša, and Janez Janša, produced by Maska Institute and Aksioma Institute, Zdenka Badovinac, and Irwin participating in the 24/7 marathon camp on artistic strategies in politics and political strategies in art
at the Steirischer Herbst
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2 Jun 2012
30 Sep 2012
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1 Jun 2012
Self-historicisation as Artistic Practice: The Case of Irwin, workshop with Saša Nabergoj, SCCA-Ljubljana Centre for Contemporary Arts in collaboration with the History of Art Department, University College London
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13 Apr 2012
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4 Apr 2012
22 Jun 2012
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20 Mar 2012
21 Apr 2012
Neue Slowenische Kunst 1984-1992 exhibition curated by Michele Drascek, presenting Laibach, Irwin, Novi kolektivizem (NK) and Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre
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16 Mar 2012
20 May 2012
Art Histories exhibition curated by Marie-Josée Jean featuring also Marina Gržinić and Aina Šmid, Irwin and Laibach
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1 Feb 2012
3 Feb 2012
IRWIN–NSK Passport Office, New York (printing a limited number of passports) and NSK State Citizens Rendezvous. In conjunction with the exhibition Print/Out and MoMA Print Studio
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22 Oct 2011
27 Nov 2011
Artworks by Irwin, OHO and Marina Gržinić & Aina Šmid at the Kontakt Sofia… Works from the Kontakt Art exhibition
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1 Jun 2011
4 Jun 2011
Italy Trieste/Trst Continental breakfast. place of encounter 2011 by Trieste Contemporanea
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1 Nov 2010
31 Jan 2011
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21 Sep 2010
28 Nov 2010
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6 Feb 2010
10 Apr 2010
IRWIN: The Eye of the State (related to Irwin, Laibach, Novi kolektivizem (NK)) curated by Avi Pitchon, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Tel Aviv
Working procedure
In the work of the group two fundamental approaches may be observed: The emphasis on collective working rather than privileging the individuality of the artist. All the projects are signed Irwin and only for the paintings and smaller projects produced after 2004 it is known who of the members created it. The second important characteristic is the so-called retro-principle, whereby works become a collage of quotations and allusions to various sources, such as past symbols, iconography and philosophical ideas. The group explained the paradoxical position of retroavantgardism in an official statement The Future is the seed of the past in 1987. Irwin’s art is complex and provocative.
Starting in the 1990s, Irwin's art practices have been characterised by parallels between aesthetics and institutional criticism, the creation of discussion platforms and international dialogue. The group has been concentrating on critical examination of the art history pointing out the artificiality of Western art historical structures that continue to exclude contemporary Eastern European art to this day. Irwin's projects intervene in social and historiographical activities and have helped redefine the status of art in Eastern Europe.
Projects
From the 1980s Irwin's most important projects are, for instance Red Districts (1987), a painting that commemorates history and work, art and totalitarianism, Was Ist Kunst (1984), a series on the ideology of art, Four Seasons (1988) etc.
Among the most important projects realised by Irwin during the 1990s there are Retroavantgarda (1994–2000), mapping specific artistic practice on the territories of ex-Yugoslavia, Transnacionala (1996), a journey across along the lines of colonization from west to east across of the United States, NSK Embassy Moscow (1992), Black Square on Red Square (1992), a guerilla action that took place on Moscow's Red Square, Kapital (1991), an exhibition in Clock Tower Gallery in New York, and the East Art Map.
East Art Map(EAM)
The project aims to critically (re)construct the history of contemporary art in Eastern Europe (from 1945 on). The project is based on the idea that the history is not given but has to be constructed and the fact that documentation of contemporary art scene in Eastern Europe has been very poor. In EAM artists are taken out of their national frameworks and presented in a unified scheme of Eastern European art scene. In collaboration with New Moment Irwin invited a group of eminent art critics, curators and artists from different ex-socialist Central, Eastern and South-Eastern countries to create the basic database. It was first published in a New Moment magazine in 2002, than a CD was made and, in 2004 EAM was put on-line as a truly participatory project open for contributions. Since Irwin does not seek to establish some ultimate truth the map is still being upgraded by public proposals. The website is part of the e-flux projects and includes instruction on how to participate. In 2006 a book East Art Map: Contemporary Art and Eastern Europe edited by Irwin was published by Afterall.
Exhibitions
Irwin has realised about 150 projects and solo exhibitions in Europe (most exhibitions held in Germany, Slovenia and Austria), Russia and America. Recently Irwin's solo exhibition Construction Of The Context was on disply in in Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn in September 2012, while Time for a New State was held in London, Pristine and Leipzig in 2012 and a year before in Moscow. The project started in Lagos where Irwin members found signs Time for a new state on advertising hoardings and decided to use it as a ready-made. Among other projects focused on the state there was also IRWIN–NSK Passport Office presented in MoMA Print Studio in New York in 2012, The Eye of the State, an exhibition curated by Avi Pitchon for the Israeli Center for Digital Art staged in cooperation with the Public Movement in 2010 and the first congress of NSK citizens which took place in Berlin in 2010. There it became clear that the NSK citizens are self-organised and can develope their country on their own, for example they started with a series of events Rendez-vous in Lyon, London, New York and Leipzig.
Another of Irwin's most recent projects Was ist Kunst Hugo Ball (2010) was presented in Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich and in Gregor Podnar Gallery in Berlin where Irwin's Monochromes were on display in 2008 as well.
Art collections
Irwin's work is included in 14 important art collections, such as the collection of Museum of Modern Art MoMA in New York, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig MUMOK in Vienna , ESSL MUSEUM in Klosterneuburg, Kunsthalle zu Kiel in Kiel, Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb in Zagreb, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje in Skopje and Moderna galerija in Ljubljana.
International group exhibitions
Since its beginnings Irwin has exhibited at several prestige international exhibitions, for instance After the Wall–Art and culture in post-Communist Europe in Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 1999, Aspect / Positions–50 Years of Art in Central Europe 1949-99 in Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest, at the first Manifesta in Rotterdam in 1996 and at the Manifesta 09 in Genk where Red Districts were on display in 2012. Irwin participated at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003, 9th Istanbul Biennial in 2005, at Eye on Europe in the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2006 etc.
During the last few years Irwin's work was included in over 20 group exhibitions per year, in 2012, for instance, Irwin participated at Collaborations & Interventions in CCA Andratx, Quadratic Equations in Kepes Institut in Budapest, Moving forward, counting backwards in Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo - MUAC in Mexico City, Spirits Of Internationalism in Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst in Antwerpen and many others.
See also
External links
Official websites
General references
On projects and artworks
- NSK citizens' web page
- Public Movement Meets Irwin, project for Israeli Center for Digital Art, 2010 on youtube
- IRWIN artwork at Kalmar Konstmuseum 2009 on youtube
- Lecture on the Red Districts painting by Dr. Tomaž Brejc on VideoLectures.Net (in Slovenian)
- A New Map of the (Contemporary Art) World article by Ginanne Brownell
- interview with Irwin members (in Slovenian)