Difference between revisions of "Moderna galerija (MG)"

Revision as of 08:36, 22 February 2010

The Moderna galerija (Museum of Modern Art) in Ljubljana is the Slovene national museum of modern and contemporary art, running the main exibiting activity in the recently renovated main building on Tomšičeva 14, next to Tivoli park, re-opened with the retrospective of Zoran Mušič in November 2009. Additionally Moderna galerija manages Mala Gallery as the exhibiting platform for artists' personal presentations and for innovative presentation methods. Moderna galerija will manage also the building on Metelkova 22, recently in the process of renovation.

Development

After the renovation of the edifice at Metelkova 22 the Moderna galerija is going to split into two segments: the location on Tomšičeva 14 will serve as the Museum of Modern Art focused on the art of the 20th century modernism and contemporary works disseminating modernistic ideas, location on Metelkova 22, however, will become the domicile of Museum of Contemporary Art. Beside the actual programme both venues will present collections: first one the collection of Slovene 20th century art and the second the international collection Arteast 2000+.

History

Designed by architect Edvard Ravnikar (1907-1993), before he went to study to Le Courbusier in Paris, stil following the classicist principles of Jože Plečnik, the museum was founded in 1947 on the initiative of art historian, critic, writer and diplomat Dr. Izidor Cankar, following receipt of a generous grant from the heirs of industrialist Dragotin Hribar.

Over the years the Moderna galerija has presented numerous important exhibitions, many of which have been pivotal in the development of Slovene art. These have included Slovene Impressionism exhibition of 1949, which constituted an important victory over extreme ideological dogma; the exhibition of Riko Debenjak and Stane Kregar of 1953, which brought abstract art to a wider audience; the Henry Moore exhibition of 1955, which gave powerful stimulus to modernist tendencies; and the first Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Art of the same year, which began the important tradition of the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana.

Collections

Charged with studying, collecting and presenting 20th century Slovene art, Moderna galerija is responsible for maintaining and constantly developing the national collection of 20th century and 21st century Slovene art. Moderna galerija holdings contained in 2009: 502 sculptures, 1301 paintings, 3079 prints by Slovene and foreign artists, 11.069 drawings, approximately 2.000 photographies and some new media art works, video and internet projects.

Permanent Collection

Before the renovation the permanent collection of Moderna galerija was staged through rooms, each had its focus: Room 1 featured the beginnings and development of Modernist forms in Slovene art since the early 1950s, with a special focus on the traditions of the Intimist and the fantastic figurative art in Slovenia. Room 2 presented fully-developed Modernist art from the 1950s and 1960s, both abstract and figurative. Room 3 presented works from the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, beginning with examples of new figurative art, geometric abstraction and avant garde works, continuing with ‘primal’ and ‘fundamental’ abstract works from the mid-1970s and concluding with Neo-Expressionist and New Image art from the first half of the 1980s. Finally, Room 4 focused on contemporary artistic creativity from the past decade, featuring pieces by several internationally-acclaimed Slovene artists of the younger generation, including Jože Barši, Mirko Bratuša, Vuk Ćosić, Bojan Gorenec, Tomaž Gregorič, Irwin, Bogoslav Kalaš, Žiga Kariž, Dušan Kirbiš, Marko Kovačič, Neue Slowenische Kunst (see Neue Slowenische Kunst - NSK State), Marko Peljhan (see Projekt Atol Institute), Tadej Pogačar and the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art (PMCA), Marjetica Potrč, Zora Stančič, Apolonija Šušteršič, Lujo Vodopivec, VSSD and Žarko Vrezec.

Photography Collection

Since 1991 the Moderna galerija has also collected photographs by Slovene photographers from the period between the two world wars, works by contemporary Slovene photographers and works by some international photographers who have exhibited at the Moderna galerija (Thierry Girard, Timo Kelaranta, Cesare Pietroiusti, Armin Linke, Andres Serrano). Because of their importance and quantity, the works of Fran Krašovec (1892-1969), considered the pioneer of modern photography in Slovenia, represent a large part of the collection. Currently, the whole Photography collection is approximately 2.000 prints strong.

New Media Collection

A collection of new media art is currently taking shape through acquisition of video works, films, moving pictures installations, and Internet projects. It already comprises representative works that are good examples of the development of media art in Slovenia and present, despite their relatively small number, a varied picture in terms of generation, expression and technological approach.

International collections

In the 1990s Moderna galerija began to assemble its international collection Arteast 2000+, a collection of works mainly by Eastern European artists. Its goals are to present Eastern European art, which has been overlooked until now, to establish a dialogue between Eastern and Western European artists and in this way create a new, different view on the development of art in the second half of the 20th century.

Another line of the international collection of the gallery comprise art works from the 1990s: Miroslaw Balka, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Cristina Iglesias, Anish Kapoor and Ulf Rollof and others. The third line of Moderna galerija international collection comprise 136 works of 20th-century artists from the territories of former Yugoslavia, including important works by artists such as Jovan Bijelić, Dusan Džamonja, Oton Gliha, Ljubo Ivančić, Frano Kršinić, Petar Lubarda, Nikola Martinoski, Ivan Meštrović, Pedja Milosavljević, Milo Milunović, Frano Šimunović, Miroslav Šutej, Marino Tartaglia, Rudolf Valdec, Vladimir Veličković and Lazar Vozarević.

Programme

In addition to its role as a museum, Moderna galerija also functions as a temporary exhibition gallery which hosts retrospective exhibitions of work by key Slovene artists of the 20th century, as well as exhibitions of contemporary domestic and international art.

Recently, the significance of the international exhibition programme in the work of the Moderna galerija has grown considerably and major names in the contemporary world art are regularly presented in individual and group exhibitions like Body and the East - From the 1960s to the Present (1998), Form Specific/Arteast Exhibition (2003), 7Sins: Moscow Ljubljana (curated by Zdenka Badovinac, Victor Misiano and Igor Zabel), Interrupted Histories (2006), Every man is a curator/ Jeder Mensh ist ein Kurator! (2007). Since 1994 Moderna galerija organises U3 Triennial of Contemporary Slovene Arts.

During the renovation of Moderna galerija (December 2007 - April 2009) the project Hosting MG! was accomplished on 20 locations around Slovenia. Different kind of activities aimed to mitigate the negative effects of the suspension of the gallery's activities in Slovenia. The project was also a kind of appeal to institutions and individuals working in the field of contemporary art to establish a networking platform to facilitate easier communication and collaboration.

Other activities

Moderna galerija incorporates a Modern Art Archive which collects, processes and publishes documentary and archival material relating to modern and contemporary Slovene art. It also runs a Library which collects books, catalogues and all other relevant publications.

Finally, Moderna galerija performs an important educational function which includes lectures, screenings, guided tours and workshops. It is increasingly involved in work with pre-school children and with students in primary and secondary schools.

External links

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 | telephone    = 386 (0) 1 241 6800, 386 (0) 1 241 6834
 | fax          = 386 (0) 1 251 4120
-| map          = http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=46.053296&lon=14.4989&zoom=18&layers=B000FTF
+| map          = http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=46.053296&lon=14.4989&zoom=17&layers=B000FTF
 | email        = info@mg-lj.si
 | website      = http://www.mg-lj.si/