Moderna galerija (MG)

Infobox Organization

The Moderna galerija (Museum of Modern Art) in Ljubljana is the Slovene national museum of modern and contemporary art. Charged with studying, collecting and presenting 20th-century Slovene art, it is responsible for maintaining and constantly developing the national collection of 20th-century Slovene art.

History

Designed by architect Edvard Ravnikar (1907-1993), 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. 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.

Permanent Collection

Closed to the public for renovation at the time of writing, the museum’s permanent collection comprises selected works of Slovene artists from the museum collection from 1950 to the present day.

Room 1 surveys 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 presents fully-developed Modernist art from the 1950s and 1960s, both abstract and figurative. Room 3 presents 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 focuses 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, Janez Janša (formerly known as 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.

In the international collection of the gallery from the 1990s, Miroslaw Balka, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Cristina Iglesias, Anish Kapoor and Ulf Rollof and others are represented, all of them exhibited in the gallery. The Moderna galerija also houses a collection of the work 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 Mestrović, Pedja Milosavljević, Milo Milunović, Frano Šimunović, Miroslav Šutej, Marino Tartaglia, Rudolf Valdec, Vladimir Veličković and Lazar Vozarević.

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. For more information please see [[1]].

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.

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 foreign art.

NB the Moderna galerija's exhibition premises are currently closed for extensive renovation works. with a planned reopening date in mid 2009, however its staff may be reached from 8am-4pm Monday-Friday and the Mala Galerija remains open.

Moderna galerija incorporates a Documentation Department which collects, processes and publishes documentary and archival material relating to modern Slovene art. It also runs an Information Centre which functions as an important resource for modern and contemporary Slovene art, and 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.

More information about the Moderna galerija Ljubljana is available from the Museum's Documentation Department, the Moderna galerija Ljubljana Library and Mala Galerija.

Venues

Mala Galerija

Projects

? U3 Triennial of Contemporary Slovene Arts

See also

• U3 Triennial of Contemporary Slovene Arts
• MJ Manifesta Journal
• Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory

External links

• Moderna galerija - official website
• Arteast 2000+ - permanent collection's official website