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ZORA STANČIČ
CUT
June 1– 20, 2010
You are cordially invited to the opening of the exhibition on
Tuesday, 1 June at 8 pm in Galerija ©kuc.
It
has been almost twenty years since Zora Stančič had her first solo
exhibition in ©kuc Gallery. Since the distant year of 1991, she has
regularly presented her work in Slovenia, with exhibitions mostly
focusing on her recognisable series of linocuts. This, particularly
together with the urge of the professional public to formally
categorise individual artistic practices, led to Zora Stančič being
labelled a graphic artist. Categorisation based on formal qualities
is always problematic, as it pushes the artist as a person - and
particularly their exploration of content into the background -
where, as a rule, they remain. This background served as a starting
point for the preparation of the current exhibition in ©kuc Gallery,
which formally still showcases her print work; however, it seeks to
present what is usually hidden from the spectator – the process of
creation of an art work. The exhibition also offers a reflection on
the role of the traditional graphic arts, its connection with new
media and technologies, and the accompanying new possibilities in
the context of reproducibility and manipulation. Consequently,
materials which are usually discarded and used only to make the
final product (with Zora Stančič, this is most often a graphic
image) are presented as artefacts, as “proof” of the process. These
generally reveal the essence of an artistic practice. In any case,
the intent of this exhibition is not to showcase the scope and
variety of graphic art techniques used by Zora Stančič, but to
present the personal histories which she experienced in the span of
almost two decades - a kind of personal and confessional archaeology
through which the artist can be recognised – her shyness, traumas,
humour, sadness, vivaciousness and particularly her strong obsession
with the element of the cut. The only constant which has followed
her every step of the way, through every period, enabling her to
fully express herself. Perhaps the constant presence of the “cut” is
best described by the artist herself, when she writes in an e-mail
about how the French nouvelle vague cinema strongly affected her
thinking, particularly in the sense that the films may seem
light-hearted, whereas in reality they follow you for years. The
same effect can be traced to Zora Stančič, who is constantly and
obsessively returning to the cut as some sort of moment of
liberation. Every cut brings with it a narrative, be it the artist’s
personal story or a story originating from the world around her –
this is often the street, but always there are places where people
are constantly moving together with their stories. In this case, the
figure is not only the basis visual element, but also speaks from
another context, seeking to convey more. The exhibition reveals more
about this through the relationship of the most dominant graphic
images that are also opposites in terms of form (positive–negative)
and content (personal story–surroundings), on which the artist based
her reflection on her art. In addition, every moment is tirelessly
followed by the “cut”, which due to human nature is the never
perfect element, revealing it through art. Thus the error becomes an
integral, sometimes even the essential part of an art work. The cut
is an act, a gesture, which cannot and should not be ignored, as
this would mean ignoring oneself. In this perspective, one cannot
but think of Lucio Fontana, who introduced the dimension of space
into painting by slashing the canvas, thereby annihilating the
‘myth’ about the two-dimensional nature of the painting surface. The
revolutionary thinking of Lucio Fontana is a strong reference for
Zora Stančič, because his act made her think about the third
dimension in graphic arts and the limit they entail as a genre. It
should be emphasised that Zora Stančič does not mimic Fontana, nor
are the gestures conceptually related, but the reference is highly
significant in terms of expanding the concept of a genre and
reshaping the tradition of highly codified printing techniques.
The
exhibition takes the spectator through the thinking and stories
following Zora Stančič. Mostly, they convey her reflection on art
and how it related to different situations in life – sometimes
vivacious and playful, sometimes more bitter. But the stories cut by
Zora Stančič are always unrelenting and sincere, and therefore feel
close to the viewer. The entirety of the art work is visually
completed by short and sharp cuts, which are not visually rich;
however, as a whole, they address the viewers to complete the motif
based on their own on their experience. Cut.
Curator: Tev¾ Logar
Guided tour of the exhibition with the
artist and curator
will take place on Thursday,
3 June at 6 pm at Galerija ©kuc.
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Museums on a Summer Night, June 19 at
Galerija ©kuc:
Linocut workshop with mentor Zora Stančič at 17.00.
Guided tour of the exhibition
with the artist at 19.00.
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Film screening:
»Dve ali
tri stvari, ki jih vem o njej«;
Director:
Damjan Kozole; Production: Vertigo/Emotionfilm, RTV Slovenija
Wednesday, June 9, at 20.00 at Galerija ©kuc.
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