CENTRAL

PRETTY DIRTY
Group exhibition by the the Course for curators of contemporary Arts
(SCCA, Center for Contemporaty Arts — Ljubljana)

24 June - 22 July 2005
Opening on Friday 24 June at 8pm

During the last eight years SCCA, Center for Contemporary Arts — Ljubljana has been organizing the yearly programme of The World of Art, School for Contemporary Arts. The programme of The World of Art consists of the Course for Curators of Contemporary Arts with accompanying group exhibition, a series of public lectures, the Seminar on Writing about Contemporary Arts and "The World of Art Anthology" publication. Through the Course for Curator's programme - consisting of regular sessions with mentors, discussions with artists and curators, visiting exhibitions, studying theoretical literature and completing various research assignments - the course participants get aquainted with, primarily Slovene, contemporary art, as well as with theoretical and practical issues of curatorial work. Following a ten-month long and intensive research of contemporary art, this year's course will close with the exhibition at the ŠKUC Gallery in Ljubljana, which will be held from June 24 to July 22, 2005.

The course participants, i.e. the curators of the exhibition are: Ivana Bago, student of art history and English in Zagreb, Miha Colner, final year student of art history, Ida Hiršenfelder, final year student of sinology, Monika Ivančič, art historian and cultural sociologist, Nina Kodrič, final year student of cultural studies, Mojca Manček, culturologist and Tanja Pavlič, art history student (in Ljubljana). They conceived the final exhibition on the basis of research of the Slovene art territory over the last ten years, followed by discussions, perfectioning, argumentation, agreement and contribution of their own views and attitudes, as a result of their different backgrounds and knowledge. Nevenka Šivavec, curator at the Celje Art Salon and Alen Ožbolt, artist and publicist, are the course mentors, guiding and supporting the whole process.

The title of this year's exhibition is Pretty Dirty. The title itself points to ambiguities and paradoxes, indicated by the underlying concept of personal hygiene.

"On the surface a simple concept, it becomes strongly suggestive, if we consider it with greater attention. We are dealing with bodily, moral or mental hygiene which resists cleansing and purification of the physical, spiritual and social body. It is interesting to question the borders between the intimate and sociocultural construction in relation to these various types of hygiene and the norms governing them. Multi-layered is also the metaphorical power of the words cleanliness and dirt. We wash our hands, our brains, we brush our teeth, we delete our memories. We easily find that a great part of man's everyday existence, as well as of philosophical reflection, is preoccupied with this issue. It is, therefore, not unusual to find the exploration of the theme of hygiene also in art, whether it is approached directly or in more subtle ways." The reflections above represent some of the main starting points for young, future curators of this exhibition.

The works by the following Slovene contemporary artists will be shown at the exhibition: Martin Bricelj, Damijan Kracina, Maja Licul in Metod Vidic, Mirjam Marussig, Alenka Pirman, Tadej Pogačar, Lada Cerar in Sašo Sedlaček, Primož Seliškar, Alenka Spacal, Tanja Vujinović in Zvonka Simčić, Polona Tratnik .The diversity of participating artists and works reflects the diversity of the relations towards cleanliness and dirt, our own bodies, other living creatures, natural, natural, cultural and political surroundings.

List of authors and works:

Martin Bricelj: Fake up, urban media action (Ljubljana, October-November 2003), part of the Billboart project (Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, Iasi, Prague, Warsaw, January 2004), digital prints, 2003.
Fake up is a multidisciplinary project, related to the sphere of visual communications, urban action, Ťpublic artť, media terrorism, pseudo-documentary photography. The project deals with an imaginary Ťcatastropheť - the media construction of an unpredictible reality, fear in the face of the Ťunknownť.

Alenka Pirman: Arcticae horulae, dictionary, 1995-1998
Arcticae horulae is a project based on the private (author's) collection of words of German origin in Slovene language. It was first exhibited as an installation in the National and University Library (1995) and was later published as an artist book, in the form of a dictionary. The project connects the artistic and scientific fields and includes numerous reactions by the media, the public and experts. It concluded on January 8, 1998 with Snoj's publication of a review in ŤKnjiževni listiť.

Lada Cerar and Sašo Sedlaček: Made in India, 2004
When travelling, toilet seats, just like continental breakfasts, are a special luxury, and have become symbols of civilization in the 20th century. The toilet seat has become a national icon, not only in the hygienic, but also in the national sense.

Damijan Kracina: The Ant, video, 1997
The video installation Ant is presented on a mini screen, built into the gallery wall. The ant is trying to avoid the sticky mass he got caught in. With its efforts to escape we witness the last moments of life in the face of unavoidable death.

Maja Licul and Metod Vidic, mimikrija: Efficient credit rate, 2005
The reconstruction of perspective on the 1992 project of cleaning a bank by Maja Licul inspires many thoughts. These are summarized in a graphicon and result in promotion and advertising of the Pretty Dirty exhibition.

Mirjam Marussig: Intimacies, acrilic on canvas, 2004
The painting deals with the gap between the intimate and the public, when it comes to the question of moral hygiene.

Tadej Pogačar: Golden Shoes of Times Square, video, 2002
In 1990 New York's mayor Rudy Giuliani imposed a series of restrictive laws, with the purpose to, in the name of health and hygiene, Ťcleanť the city's center, previously the symbol of sex industry. Pogacar's video is the result of his public action in which he dragged a pair of women's high-heel, golden shoes around Times Square in New York. In a very subtle way he points to a specific, erotic perception of the city and indirectly also he deals with prostitution and the problem of trafficking.

Sašo Sedlaček: Picnic on a dump, video, 2004
Art action on the Ljubljana rubbish dump. Exploring the waste and its creative potentials. The problem of polluting the environment with products serving hedonist human needs.

Primož Seliškar: Bather, installation, 2005
Just like any other bather, standing under the shower, Seliskar's Bather is quietly observing the passers-by, untroubled by his undefined sex. He sees himself as he truly is. But something seems to be wrong, he is fading in front of the eyes of the audience, his original image is but a reflection of what he used to be.

Alenka Spacal: Self-portraits, 2002
The author uses the autobiographical method of self-portraiture in order to question and purify her own subjectivity, using numerous identities, transforming them through time and varying moods.

Polona Tratnik: In-time, installation in process, 2005
The installation represents personal objects belonging to curators of the exhibition, exposing their bacteria. The work questions and erases the differences in the artist curator relations.

Tanja Vujinović and Zvonka Simčić: Plasma by Stigmata, posters, perfumes, Cryo.Plasma, perfume samples, self-adherent vinil inscription, 2003
Deals with the imaginary pleasures, which the spectacular impact of agressive campaigns imposes on the consumers.

For further information please contact:
Monika Ivančič: GSM: 041 904 616, E-mail: monika.ivancic1@guest.arnes.si
Tanja Pavlič: GSM: 051 359 344, E-mail: tanjica@inwind.it