Beli sladoled

The Winner's Podium, an installation that won first prize in OHO Group Award competition, by artists Miha Perne and Leon Zuodar, working as Beli sladoled [White ice cream], 2011

Beli sladoled (meaning, "White ice cream") is a painting group consisting of two academic painters: Miha Perne from Ljubljana and Leon Zuodar from Postojna. They are primarily interested in drawing and use the element of surprise when preparing exhibitions where they always avoid showing things twice.

Beli sladoled develops drawing in a wider context. The group considers drawings as living forms that set off visible reactions in contact with the viewer, mostly laughter. The drawings are usually on smaller formats and with various motifs that are a result of artistic experiment and development of a context.

Background

The members of Beli sladoled met in 1998 at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. They created the group and had their first exhibition in Slovenske Konjice, Kulturni dom in 2006. The group claims its name Beli sladoled was chosen by chance.

The work of Miha Perne focuses on the mythological register of Western society, ranging from historical facts to futuristic projections, while Leon Zuodar uses references to subculture movements. Their work is multilayered, saturated, stylised, and repetitive. Both of them demonstrate iconographic heterogeneity and a unique way of remodelling and combining elements.

Awards

Beli sladoled won the first prize in OHO Group Award competition in 2011. On the exhibition of the nominees in the Vžigalica Gallery in May 2011 Beli sladoled presented an unconventional artwork The Winner's Podium, an installation of wood, bolts, paint, plastic grass, metal numbers, and two human beings. The artwork can be understood as a part of a parallel universe that opposes the competition.

Self-publishing

The publications of Beli sladoled are an important part of the group's production and are also often used as promotion material. Beli sladoled generally uses low-budget funds and does not sell the publications but gives them to people who are interested in drawing. Print-runs are usually about 100 copies. Beli sladoled has independently published a comic strip album ANTIŠALCE (123 pages/A5) and several drawing compilations: 10 O'CLOCK drawings (76 pages/A6), IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON – relationships drawings (24 pages/A6) and MY MSN DRAWINGS – mouse drawings (62pages/A6).

BELI SLADOLED and FRIENDS is an international drawing compilation that Beli sladoled worked on for over a year. It was published in 2008 and includes drawings of 25 excellent drawers from all Europe: Beli sladoled, Foco, Sergej, Koco, Vasja Lebarič, Matej Lavrenčič, Milanka Fabjančič, Rone84, Puma34, Oko, Pas, Ioke42, Jaka Vatovec, Nina Slejko, Conny Blom, Luka Česnik, Matjaž Bertoncelj, Dulait, Anne-May, Finsta, Aorta, Uroš Weinberger, Klemen Gorup.

Exhibitions and projects

Beli sladoled has been exhibited in Ljubljana (Ganes Pratt Gallery, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana), Alkatraz Gallery, Novo mesto (Simulaker Gallery), Celje (Likovni salon Celje), and abroad (Stuttgart). Among their most important exhibitions are the Biennial of Graphic Arts in 2007 where they presented Anti Liquid Staircase and Galeri Rotor 2, Göteborg, Sweden in 2007 where they presented I Like Volvo Tattooz Show.

External links

Beli sladoled website
Beli sladoled blog (since 2008)
Portrait photographs of Beli sladoled by Borut Peterlin
pdf Beli sladoled, Schwarz Gallery

Gallery

My New Mercedes Shoes painted by Leon Zuodar of Beli sladoled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 cm, 2008

Piramidko by Miha Perne of Beli sladoled, various techniques on canvas, 55,5 x 65,2 cm, 2010

Artists Miha Perne and Leon Zuodar, who work as Beli sladoled ("White Ice Cream"), taking drawing in a wider context, not just as a framed picture, but with a broader meaning of the word; explored through various life situations (2010).