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2 Jan 2011
17 Apr 2011
Mapping. Hits from the Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Art curated by Lilijana Stepančič in the frame of the 15th Tallinn Print Triennial
In addition to the venue at the Tivoli Mansion, the Biennial of Graphic Arts takes place at several Ljubljana locations, the main ones being the Museum of Modern Art, Cankarjev dom and the Jakopič Gallery, recently also the Švicarija Art Centre. It is also present in various smaller and independent galleries, a range of different urban open air venues, and in the mass media.
Installation of Andy Warhol's Mao wallpaper (1972) and Silver Clouds, in Fundamina, Zoran Mušič, Andy Warhol, and Mimmo Paladino, 24th Biennial of Graphic Arts, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2001.
From the very beginning the aim of the Biennial of Graphic Arts was to exhibit the best works and the largest possible number of graphic artists representing contemporary trends on all continents. In line with this approach, the only selection criterion was the quality of a limited edition print in any printmaking technique. During the Cold War, which cut short virtually every dialogue between the West and the East, the organisers of the Ljubljana Biennial managed to bring together artists not only from the two opposing poles but also from the "Third World", in line with the policies of Non-Aligned Movement (founded in Yugoslavia in 1956).
During the 1990s a new perspective on art which was in favour of reproduction and multiplication techniques gained a foothold. Towards the end of the 1990s a new, more modern organisational approach was adopted. National presentations of artists gave way to individual presentations. The organiser of the biennial appointed curators and the number of selected artists was radically reduced. Participating artists were represented by more works or a project.
A truly radical change occurred with the 24th Biennial of Graphic Arts in 2001. It was marked by certain changes, with emphasis placed on the substance of graphic arts in the context of newly emerging global art and the new internal organisational structure. Each of the 4 sections of the 24th Biennial was curated by one from the group of (inter)national curators. Featured were works of many established artists as Monica Bonvicini, Daniele Buetti, Claude Closky, Izabella Gustowska, Damien Hirst, Tracey Moffat, Thomas Ruff, Kara Walker, Zoran Mušič, Andy Warhol, and others.
Since then each edition has offered a new approach. For example, the 2003 edition, curated by Christophe Cherix, was based on the importance of the multiplied image as a means of communication. The common feature of the exhibited works – artists' books, newspapers and magazines, photocopies, posters, newspaper interventions and projects, and prints – is the fact that they document the artists' ideas about their realised or unrealised, past or future projects. The biennial included works of participating artists Isa Genzken, Liam Gillick, Irwin, Raymond Pettibon, Permanent Food (Maurizio Cattelan & Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster), Tadej Pogačar & P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art and many other established artists.
For the 26th Biennial entitled Thrust [Sunek] aimed to show the wide diversity of views on contemporary graphic arts. The curator invited 18 prestigious institutions from all over the world to present an exhibition that attempted to answer the question: What are the graphic arts today? The involved institutions were: Bharat Bhavan International Print Biennial (Bhopal, India), Bibliotheque nationale de France (Paris, France), Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery (Great Britain), Brooklyn Museum (New York, USA, Calcografía Nacional, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Madrid, Spain), Graphica Creativa kansainvälinen taidegrafiikan triennaali (Jyväskylä, Finland), Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica (Rome, Italy) and others.
Since the beginnings of the Biennial of Graphic Arts, each edition presents regular retrospective exhibitions of prizewinners from the previous event. Many internationally established artists have received the "Grand Prize" and the "Grand Prize of Honour", such as Robert Rauschenberg (1963), Joan Miró and Victor Vasarely (1965), Frank Stella (1993), Günther Uecker (1995), David Hockney (1997), Richard Hamilton (1999), Damien Hirst (2001), Raymond Pettibon (2003), San Juan Poly/Graphic Triennial (2005), Jeon Joonho (2007), Justseeds (2009), Regina José Galindo (2011), María Elena González (2013) and Ištvan Išt Huzjan (2015).
The Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts has gained huge respect and influenced many international scenes and events. In its early stage the biennial became the model for other graphic art events and biennials in the world: in the 1950s in Tokyo and Grenchen (Germany), in the 1960s in Krakow and Florence (Italy 1968) and in the 1970s in Bradford (UK) and Fredrikstad (Norway). Among still-existing graphic biennials such as the Biennial in Krakow, the Triennial in Tallin and Grafika Creativa in Finland, the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts is still the flagship.
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