3

Contemporary
Equals
Fresh

Contemporary
Slovene Graphic
Arts
Breda Škrjanec MSc

4 Contemporary Equals Fresh

Slovenia has a significant tradition in the
production and promotion of fine art printmaking.
The decisive moment of this tradition lies in the
fact that the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts was
one of the first in Europe to introduce the study
option of printmaking after the Second World
War. The founder of this tradition is the Ljubljana
Biennale of Graphic Arts, which has been held for its
thirty-fourth consecutive edition last year.
The International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC)
is a special museum whose identity is based on
the heritage of the Biennale of Graphic Arts and
the art of printing from the mid-20th century to
the present day. MGLC is also a major producer
of contemporary art with a focus on printmaking.
The exhibition Contemporary Equals Fresh offers
an overview of the latest graphic production by
ten Slovene artists. It shows the latest works by
artists of different generations, created in the last
years. Through their art practice, these ten artists
create images of our time that are not only fluid
and multidisciplinary in their approach, but also
in their language and investigation. Most of them
push the boundaries of the graphic medium in their
practice. The artists use a wide range of technical,
formal and conceptual processes. They do not
merely focus on technical know-how as the works
reveal various stages of the creative process in
the artists' practices. Each artist takes a specific and
interdisciplinary approach, combining traditional
printmaking methods with different media and
presentation strategies.
In selecting the artists and their works, I have
been guided by thematic and conceptual trends

Contemporary Equals Fresh 5

emerging in contemporary printmaking and art in
general. Ten artists are presented with works that
respond to global political upheavals expressed in
militancy and/or the rise of authoritarian regimes,
or which examine, with a particular focus on gender
and difference, how power structures in society
shape identity. Another important theme applies
to landscape, ecology and how people respond
to the ecological challenges of the Anthropocene.
Last but not least, the artists use printing to
create introspective works that explore themes
such as memory, perception, psychological states
and nostalgia.

6 Contemporary Equals Fresh

Vesna Drnovšek and Nataša Mirtič already combined their pictorial
language and approach in 2019 and began creating the series
Two in a Row, which proved to be the only way to maintain contact
between the two artists, connected by generation and friendship,
during the isolation of the Corona period. They exchanged
matrices with each other by post, which each artist in her own
right and with her own feel incorporated into a newly produced
work as an intervention. The combination of two formally different
artistic approaches and techniques proved to be an interesting
complement to two individual art practices. Vesna Drnovšek is
an artist formally bound to the figure and stylised landscape
elements, while Nataša Mirtič is considered an artist closer to
an abstract and symbolic expression. Both make use of intaglio
printmaking techniques, especially etching, in their graphic
practice and use recycled matrices and materials. In this series,
Vesna's work is dominated by collagraphy, which is complemented
by Nataša's etchings, while Nataša's etchings flirt with Vesna's
collagraphy. Nataša's interventions have made Vesna's playful
images more down-to-earth and vice versa, as Nataša's strictly
arranged compositions have become looser and more fun with
Vesna's interventions.

Miha Erič is a representative of the youngest generation of artists

and works between music and visual art. The printmaking medium
predominates in his visual practice. Interestingly, he decided to
explore the oldest classical printmaking techniques, woodcut and
engraving, which he occasionally complements with linocut. That
he is most interested in the classical approach to producing a
graphic print is also evident from his motifs. He draws inspiration
from nature and its picturesque landscapes, old architecture and
ruins, and supplements all this with his pictorial vision so that
the motif becomes more complex, often even mysterious. The
selection of his pieces focuses precisely on these works which,
through their ambiguity, trigger a reflection on the fact that
nothing is as it seems at first glance, something the artist often
refers to in the title. The works reflect the artist's lack of apathy for
the world in which he lives.

Črtomir Frelih entered the history of the Slovene graphic arts in

the second half of the 1980s. He is an extraordinary connoisseur
of printmaking techniques and an excellent caricaturist who has
recently been making the Slovene public laugh with his drawing
diary Foxes, in which he highlights problematic and humorous
social situations. Otherwise, his printmaking practice is mainly
concerned with collagraphy, which he has technically developed
into his own original form, occasionally adding individual elements

Contemporary Equals Fresh 7

in the technique of intaglio. His works are usually created in series
as he is interested in the effect of adding and removing pictorial
elements on the matrix. His experimental way of creating brings
him close to the spirit of the Ljubljana school of graphic arts01.
The series Grmečica, Variations comprises six prints in which the
artist explores the formal possibilities of the landscape motif of
the Grmečica waterfall, to which he often walks from his house.
He adds and takes away pictorial elements, strength of stroke and
printing ink from the motif of the waterfall. In such a way he builds
up the image in a range that extends from a visually recognisable
motif, in which we can even perceive a human figure, through
gestural interventions to an abstract alternation of black tones of
printing ink and empty space.

The works of Matjaž Geder are multi-layered and therefore

complex and more difficult to understand. They are created
according to the principle of collage, quite intuitively, while
technically they find themselves at the intersection of painting
and printmaking. His monoprints seem like a kind of collage of
thoughts and insights about contemporary social situations and
crises. Geder's work is quickly recognisable by the elements
that fill his graphic compositions. These are objects from the
everyday world that he uses as stencils, such as packaging from
the pharmaceutical industry, paper aeroplanes, school stamps
(butterflies, ladybirds, bees), industrial nets, a coat hanger, a plant,
etc. His prints open up themes such as: social systems, especially
education, with which the artist is very familiar as a teacher, social
control and norms that limit the individual's personal freedom,
resistance to the hopelessness of consumerism and the emptiness
of social relationships.

Svetlana Jakimovska - Rodić is an artist who has mastered

the techniques of intaglio printmaking in terms of colour and
technique down to the smallest detail. Her work is guided by
an interdisciplinary approach. This is precisely what has recently
led her to exhibit her work mostly as site-specific installations,
consisting of a series of conceptually thought-out prints
combining printmaking, photography, embroidery, monotype,
video, sound, etc. Lately, she has devoted much of her attention
and research to man's natural environment and his attitude

01
The Ljubljana school of graphic arts is one of the most successful Slovene art brands
that established themselves on the international art scene. The term encompasses
very different artists of several generations who are brought together by a sense of
connection and affinity for the graphic medium as an autonomous artistic expression.
(http://www.pojmovnik.si/koncept/ljubljanska_graficna_sola/)

8 Contemporary Equals Fresh

towards it. She has chosen the forest as a field of research and
creation because the forest is the lungs of humanity, a bulwark
against climate change, the cradle of native flora and fauna,
a place of peace and contemplation, and much more. With the
series Made in the Forest, she put herself in the role of a mediator
between the micro-world of the forest and the viewer. For the
matrix, she used wood gnawed away by bark beetles and created
interesting compositions in many repetitions, or she used the
technique of pyrography to create subtle images nourished by
the patterns of nature. While the first series is more conceptual
in nature, romanticising the forest and emphasising its spiritual
nature, the Man in the Forest series refers to man's relationship
with the forest, which is typically functionalist. The embroidered
patterns over photocopies of photographs highlight man's
still predominant view of nature through the exploitation of its
resources, without regard for the consequences.

In his graphic process, Oliver Pilić combines traditional

printmaking with the modern processes of digital graphics and
digital manipulation in general. He digitally converts images
collected from the internet so that he can process them in the
traditional way, carving them out of wood with graphic tools
and printing them by hand on paper. This way of working can
be understood as the artist's commentary on the contemporary
hyperproduction of digital information, especially since his
works are created in series, which intensifies the power and
social critique of the artwork. In the series Fictional Portraits,
the artist manipulates the image of the wax sculpture Him by
the contemporary Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan from 2001
with the portraits of former American President Donald Trump.
By superimposing and digitally manipulating the two images,
a series of different portraits was created in which the viewer can
see a resemblance to the historical portraits of the leaders of
authoritarian regimes.

Zora Stančič has been working in the field of printmaking for over
30 years and has gained general recognition for her unique way
of working, which combines photography, collage and stencil
printing. Her images are created by transferring elements and
images from various printed materials, her own photographs, prints
and drawings, assembling them into new compositions, which
she prints in silkscreen, lithography, linocut or other techniques.
Her series of works entitled Eternal Beauty was created at a time
when the social isolation caused by COVID-19 made many people
look at their own and society's values from a new perspective. In
the work, the artist juxtaposes the dazzling images from luxurious

Contemporary Equals Fresh 9

fashion magazines with a stylised figure printed in monochrome.
With this simple manoeuvre, she raises the question of the power
of social structures, in this case advertising, on the identity of the
individual and criticises the social differences that are reinforced
by consumer advertising.

Helena Tahir is a representative of the youngest generation of

Slovene artists and works with classical printmaking and drawing.
She is an excellent draughtswoman, which is a prerequisite for
a good graphic artist, especially if, like her, she is devoted to
figurative art and landscape. In printmaking, she works mainly
in the technique of linocut, which, given her attention to detail,
means that she must be both technically very well prepared and
skilled, as well as mentally focused – even more so, as she loves
to work with large formats. The black and white linocut series
entitled In a Whirl was created in 2018. As with most of her work,
the different images are densely interwoven, full of visual details
and associations as well as historical references and, above all,
brimming with imagination. Helena's saturated images invite the
viewer to explore their meanings and individual details, they are
like a kind of riddle that engages us so much that we want to
unravel them.

The selection of works by Sonja Vulpes from the Limbo series

created for the exhibition of the same name at MGLC depicts
the “psycho-physical state of uncertainty and being trapped in
an indefinable intermediate or transitional space”02 by means
of a hand-processed photographic portrait printed on the
instruction leaflet of the drug used to treat depression and various
pathological psychological conditions. The selected works belong
to an extensive series of self-portraits consisting mainly of prints
in the technique of collagraphy, which is also the artist's primary
printmaking technique, just as drawing is her primary artistic
expression. Through stylised but expressive drawing, supported
by the haptic expressiveness of the collagraphy technique in
these self-portraits, as in the silkscreen prints, we feel sadness,
uncertainty, helplessness and the sense of being trapped in
a state from which there seems to be no way out.

02 Božidar Zrinski, http://www.mglc-lj.si/razstave_in_dogodki/sonja_vulpes_limbo/189

10 Contemporary Equals Fresh

The exhibition, which represents a cross-section
of contemporary Slovene graphic arts, in a way
confirms that the preoccupation with classical
printmaking does not exclude experimentation and
combination with new techniques, technologies and
more modern media. Content-wise, thematically and
philosophically, the individual works reach far into
intellectual and cultural concepts, while the artists
show an interesting and penetrating approach to
printmaking as an art genre within the contemporary
visual arts.

Contemporary Equals Fresh 11

Vesna Drnovšek (1973, Trbovlje) graduated received several recognitions and awards for
in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts her work. She lives and works in Ljubljana.
in Ljubljana in 1997 and obtained a master's
degree in Printmaking from the same Nataša Mirtič (1973, Novo mesto) graduated
institution in 2001. She belongs to the in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in
middle generation of Slovenian artists. She Ljubljana in 1997, where she also completed
is self-employed in culture and works in a master's degree in Printmaking in 2001. She
printmaking and restoration. She regularly belongs to the middle generation of Slovene
exhibits in Slovenia and abroad and has artists and works exclusively in the printmaking
received numerous accolades for her medium. She is self-employed in culture. She
work. She lives and works in Ljubljana. regularly exhibits in Slovenia and abroad and
has received numerous awards for her graphic
Miha Erič (1991, Ljubljana) graduated from work. She lives and works in Novo mesto.
the Academy for Fine Arts and Design in
Ljubljana in 2013 with a degree in Visual Oliver Pilić (1978, Ljubljana) graduated
Communications, majoring in Illustration. He from the Academy of Visual Arts (A.V.A.) in
belongs to the younger generation of Slovene Ljubljana in 2012. He belongs to the middle
artists. He is self-employed in culture as generation of Slovene artists. He works in
a printmaker and instrumentalist. He works in the woodcut printmaking technique. He
the techniques of woodcut, linocut and copper regularly exhibits in Slovenia and abroad
engraving and regularly exhibits in Slovenia and has already received several awards for
and abroad. He lives and works in Latkova vas. his work. He lives and works in Kamnik.

Črtomir Frelih (1960, Nomenj) graduated from Zora Stančič (1956, Štrbe, Bosnia and
the Department of Printmaking at the Academy Herzegovina) graduated from the Academy of
of Fine Arts, University of Ljubljana in 1985, Fine Arts in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
where he went on to complete the specialist in 1984 and completed her postgraduate
postgraduate study of Printmaking and obtained studies in Printmaking at the Academy of
an MSc in Art Didactics. He belongs to the Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1990. She undertook
mature generation of Slovene artists. He works further study in Paris (1988), Vienna (1989),
in painting, drawing and printmaking, which the USA (1993) and Czech Republic (2001).
he also teaches at the Faculty of Education, She belongs to the mature generation of
University of Ljubljana. He regularly exhibits Slovene artists. She mainly works in printmaking,
in Slovenia and abroad and has received which she also teaches at the Academy of
numerous national and international accolades Fine Arts in Ljubljana. She regularly exhibits
for his work as an artist and an educator. He in Slovenia and abroad and has received
lives and works in Nomenj and Ljubljana. numerous accolades for her work nationally and
internationally. She lives and works in Ljubljana.
Matjaž Geder (1976, Murska Sobota) completed
his studies at the Secondary School of Design Helena Tahir (1992, Jesenice) graduated
and Photography before continuing his in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts
studies at the Art Department of the Faculty and Design in Ljubljana in 2015, where she
of Education in Maribor, where he graduated completed a master's degree in Printmaking
in 2002. He is employed as an art teacher at in 2019. She also studied at the Academy of
Osnovna šola II Murska Sobota. He belongs Visual Arts (HGB) in Leipzig and the Faculty
to the middle generation of Slovene artists of Fine Arts in Porto, Portugal. She belongs to
and expresses himself through printmaking the younger generation of Slovene artists and
and drawing. He has received several expresses herself mainly through printmaking
accolades for his work at home and abroad. and drawing. She regularly exhibits in
He lives and works in Gornja Radgona. Slovenia and abroad and has received several
recognitions and awards for her work. She lives
Svetlana Jakimovska - Rodić (1965, and works between Jesenice and Ljubljana.
Kumanovo, Macedonia) graduated in Painting
from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje in Sonja Vulpes (real name Sonja Grdina,
1990 and completed her postgraduate 1986, Slovenia) graduated in Art Pedagogy
studies in Printmaking at the Academy of from the Faculty of Education, University
Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1992. She works in of Ljubljana in 2011. She belongs to the
printmaking and painting and teaches Art younger generation of Slovene artists
Theory at the Secondary School for Design and works in printmaking, drawing and
and Photography in Ljubljana. She regularly tattooing. She exhibits regularly. She lives
exhibits in Slovenia and abroad and has and works between Ljubljana and Lukovec.

12 Contemporary Equals Fresh

 Vesna Drnovšek

From Two in a Row series, 2021, Iz serije Dve v vrsto, 2021,

collography and etching kolagrafija in jedkanica
14 (with the intervention of Nataša Mirtič) (z intervencijo Nataše Mirtič)
15
 Miha Erič

16 The Optimist, 2019, handpainted linocut Optimist, 2019, ročno barvan linorez
The Agreement, 2019, Sporazum, 2019,
handpainted linocut ročno barvan linorez 17
 Črtomir Frelih

From Grmečica, Variations, 2021, Iz serije: Grmečica, variacije na temo, 2021,

18 collography and intaglio print on paper kolagrafija in globoki tisk na papir
19
 Matjaž Geder

Dedicated to Jože Tisnikar (Rain of Pills), 2020,

20 monoprint
Supervision, 2019, monoprint Nadzor, 2019, monoprint 21
 Svetlana Jakimovska - Rodić

From Man in Forrest Series, Iz serije Človek v gozdu, 2019/2020,

22 2019/2020, combined techniques kombinirane tehnike
23
 Nataša Mirtič

From Two in a Row Series, 2021, Iz serije Dve v vrsto, 2021,

etching and collography jedkanica in kolagrafija
24 (with the intervention of Vesna Drnovšek) (z intervencijo Vesne Drnovšek)
25
 Oliver Pilić

From Fictional Portraits Series, 2017, Iz serije Fiktivni portreti, 2017,

26 handprinted woodcut on paper, 60 x 50 cm ročno odtisnjen lesorez na papirju, 60 x 50 cm
27
 Zora Stančič

Eternal Beauty Series, 2020/2021, Serija Lepota je večna, 2020/2021,

28 monoprint monoprint
29
 Helena Tahir

In a Whirl Series, 2018, Serija V vrtincu, 2018,

30 linocut on paper linorez na papir
31
 Sonja Vulpes

From Limbo Series, 2021, Iz serije Limbo, 2021,

32 screen print on newsprint sitotisk na časopisni papir
33
Sodobno =
sveže

Sodobna
slovenska grafika

Mag. Breda Škrjanec

36 Sodobno = sveže
Slovenija ima v produkciji in promociji umetniške
grafike pomembno tradicijo, katere odločilni moment
je dejstvo, da je bila ljubljanska Akademija za likovno
umetnost ena prvih v Evropi, ki je po drugi svetovni
vojni uvedla možnost študija grafike. Temeljnik
tradicije pa je Grafični bienale Ljubljana, ki smo ga
lani organizirali že štiriintridesetič po vrsti.
Mednarodni grafični likovni center (MGLC)
je poseben muzej, katerega identiteta izhaja
iz dediščine grafičnega bienala in umetnosti
tiska od sredine 20. stoletja do danes. MGLC je
tudi pomemben producent sodobne umetnosti
s poudarkom na grafiki.
Razstava Sodobno = sveže prinaša pregled
grafične produkcije desetih slovenskih umetnikov
različnih generacij v zadnjih letih. V svojih
umetniških praksah ustvarjajo podobe našega časa,
ki so fluidne in multidisciplinarne tako v pristopu
kot v jeziku in raziskovanju. Večina premika meje
grafičnega medija. Umetniki uporabljajo širok
razpon tehničnih, formalnih in konceptualnih praks.
Ne osredotočajo se le na tehnično znanje, saj dela
razkrivajo različne stopnje njihovega ustvarjalnega
procesa. Vsak ima poseben in interdisciplinaren
pristop, ki združuje tradicionalne metode tiskanja
z različnimi mediji in predstavitvenimi strategijami.
Izbor umetnikov in njihovih del sem oprla na
tematske in konceptualne smernice, ki se pojavljajo
v sodobni grafiki kot tudi v umetnosti na splošno.
Umetnine se odzivajo na globalni politični preobrat,
izražen v militantnosti in/ali vzponu avtoritarnih
režimov, ali pa s posebnim poudarkom na spolu
in drugačnosti raziskujejo, kako strukture moči
v družbi oblikujejo identiteto. Druga pomembna

Sodobno = sveže 37
tema se nanaša na krajino, ekologijo in načine, kako
se ljudje odzivajo na okoljske izzive antropocena.
Ne nazadnje umetniki uporabljajo tisk za ustvarjanje
bolj introspektivnih del, ki raziskujejo teme, kot so
spomin, zaznavanje, psihološka stanja in nostalgija.

38 Sodobno = sveže
Vesna Drnovšek in Nataša Mirtič sta že leta 2019 združili svoji
likovni govorici in umetniška pristopa ter začeli ustvarjati serijo
Dve v vrsto, ki se je v času koronske izolacije izkazala za edini način
vzdrževanja stikov med generacijsko in prijateljsko povezanima
umetnicama. Po pošti sta si izmenjali matrice ter jih, vsaka zase
in po občutku kot intervencijo, vkomponirali v svoje novo delo.
Združevanje formalno različnih likovnih pristopov in tehnik se je
izkazalo za zanimivo dopolnitev dveh individualnih likovnih praks.
Umetnica Vesna Drnovšek je formalno vezana na figuraliko in
stilizirane krajinske elemente, Nataši Mirtič pa je bližje izražanje
v abstrakciji in simbolih. V grafični praksi obe uporabljata tehnike
globokega tiska, zlasti jedkanice, in izvajata reciklažo matric in
materiala. V tej seriji v delu Drnovškove prevladuje kolagrafija,
dopolnjena z jedkanicami Mirtičeve, slednje pa se spogledujejo
s kolagrafijo Drnovškove. Igrive podobe Vesne Drnovšek so z
intervencijami Nataše Mirtič postale bolj prizemljene in obratno,
strogo urejene kompozicije Mirtičeve so z intervencijo Drnovškove
bolj sproščene in zabavne.

Miha Erič je predstavnik najmlajše generacije umetnikov in deluje

med glasbo in vizualno umetnostjo. V njegovi vizualni praksi
prevladuje medij grafike. Zanimivo je, da se je odločil raziskovati
najstarejši klasični grafični tehniki lesorez in visoki bakrorez, ki ju
občasno dopolni z linorezom. Da ga najbolj zanima klasični pristop
k izdelavi grafičnega lista, je razvidno tudi iz njegovih motivov.
Navdihujejo ga narava in njene slikovite krajine, stare arhitekture
in ruševine, vse to pa dopolni s svojo likovno vizijo, tako da motiv
postane bolj kompleksen, pogosto celo skrivnosten. Izbor se
osredotoča prav na ta dela, ki z dvoumnostjo sprožajo razmislek
o tem, da nič ni tako, kot se zdi na prvi pogled, kar avtor pogosto
nakaže že z naslovom. Dela odsevajo njegovo neravnodušnost do
sveta, v katerem živi.

Črtomir Frelih je v zgodovino slovenske grafike vstopil v drugi

polovici osemdesetih let. Je izreden poznavalec grafičnih tehnik in
izvrsten risar, ki v zadnjem času slovensko javnost spravlja v smeh
z risarskim dnevnikom Lisice, v katerem izpostavlja problematične
in humorne družbene situacije. Sicer pa se v svoji grafični praksi
ukvarja predvsem s tehniko kolagrafije, ki jo je tehnično avtorsko
izpopolnil in ji občasno dodaja posamezne elemente iz tehnik
globokega tiska. Njegova dela običajno nastajajo v serijah, saj
ga zanima učinek dodajanja in odstranjevanja likovnih elementov
na matrici. Z eksperimentalnim načinom ustvarjanja je blizu duhu

Sodobno = sveže 39
ljubljanske grafične šole.01 Serija Grmečica, Variacije na temo
prinaša šest listov, na katerih umetnik preizkuša formalne možnosti
krajinskega motiva slapu Grmečica, kamor pogosto odhaja na
sprehod iz svojega doma. Motivu slapu dodaja in odvzema likovne
elemente in moč poteze ter tiskarske barve. Tako podoba gradira
od vizualno prepoznavnega motiva, v katerem lahko zaznamo
celo človeško figuro, prek gestualnih intervencij do abstraktnega
menjavanja odtenkov črne tiskarske barve in praznega prostora.

Dela Matjaža Gederja so večplastna in zato kompleksna ter težje

razumljiva. Nastajajo po principu kolaža, dokaj intuitivno, tehnično
pa se umeščajo na presek med slikarstvom in grafiko. Njegovi
monoprinti delujejo kot nekakšni kolaži razmišljanja in spoznanja
o družbenih situacijah in krizah sodobnega časa. Gederjevo delo
hitro prepoznamo po elementih, ki napolnjujejo njegove grafične
kompozicije. Gre za predmete iz vsakdanjega sveta, ki jih uporablja
kot matrice, kot so embalaža farmacevtske industrije, papirnata
letala, šolski pečati (metuljčki, pikapolonice, čebelice), industrijske
mreže, obešalnik, rastlina ipd. Njegove grafike odpirajo teme, kot
so družbeni sistemi, še zlasti šolstvo, ki ga avtor kot učitelj dobro
pozna, družbeni nadzor in norme, ki omejujejo posameznikovo
osebno svobodo, upor proti brezizhodnosti potrošništva in
vsebinski izpraznjenosti družbenih odnosov.

Svetlana Jakimovska - Rodić je avtorica, ki do potankosti obvlada

barvne grafične tehnike globokega tiska, pri ustvarjanju pa jo vodi
interdisciplinarni pristop. Prav zato svoja dela v zadnjem času
praviloma razstavlja kot site-specific instalacije, sestavljene iz
vrste konceptualno domišljenih tiskov, na katerih kombinira grafiko,
fotografijo, vezenino, monotipijo, video, zvok idr. V zadnjem času
je velik del svoje pozornosti in raziskav posvetila človekovemu
naravnemu okolju in odnosu do njega. Za polje raziskovanja in
ustvarjanja je izbrala gozd, saj so gozdovi človekova pljuča, branik
pred podnebnimi spremembami, zibelka avtohtone favne in flore,
prostor počitka in kontemplacije in še kaj. S serijo Narejeno v
gozdu se je postavila v vlogo posrednika med mikrosvetom gozda
in gledalcem. Za matrico je uporabila od lubadarja najeden les
in v številnih ponovitvah ustvarila zanimive kompozicije ali pa
s tehniko pirografije naredila subtilne podobe, ki se napajajo iz
vzorcev iz narave. Če je prva serija bolj konceptualne narave,

01 Ljubljanska grafična šola je ena najuspešnejših slovenskih umetnostnih blagovnih znamk,

ki so se uveljavile na mednarodnem umetnostnem prizorišču. Pojem zajema zelo različne
ustvarjalce več generacij, ki čutijo medsebojno povezanost in afiniteto do grafičnega medija kot
avtonomnega likovnega izražanja. (http://www.pojmovnik.si/koncept/ljubljanska_graficna_sola/)

40 Sodobno = sveže
nekako romantizira gozd in poudarja njegovo duhovno naravo, se
serija Človek v gozdu nanaša na človekov odnos do gozda, ki je
praviloma funkcionalističen. Vezeni vzorci čez fotokopije fotografij
poudarjajo še vedno prevladujoči človekov pogled na naravo ob
izkoriščanju njenih virov, ne glede na posledice.

Oliver Pilić v svojem grafičnem procesu povezuje tradicionalno

grafiko s sodobnimi postopki digitalne grafike in digitalne
manipulacije na splošno. Na internetu nabrane podobe digitalno
toliko preoblikuje, da jih lahko obdela na tradicionalen način,
tako da jih z grafičnimi orodji izdolbe iz lesa in jih ročno
odtisne na papir. Tak način dela lahko razumemo kot umetnikov
komentar sodobne hiperprodukcije digitalnih informacij še
zlasti zato, ker njegova dela nastajajo v serijah, kar potencira
moč in družbeno kritičnost umetniškega dela. V seriji Fiktivni
portreti je avtor zmanipuliral podobo voščene skulpture Him
sodobnega italijanskega umetnika Maurizia Cattelana iz leta
2001 s portreti nekdanjega predsednika ZDA Donalda Trumpa. S
prekrivanjem in digitalno manipulacijo dveh podob je nastala vrsta
različnih portretov, v katerih gledalec lahko najde podobnost z
zgodovinskimi portreti voditeljev avtoritarnih režimov.

Zora Stančič že več kot 30 let deluje na polju grafike, v kateri si

je s sebi lastnim načinom dela, pri katerem kombinira fotografijo,
kolaž in stensil grafiko, ustvarila splošno prepoznavnost. Njene
podobe nastajajo tako, da po kolažnem principu vanje prenaša
elemente iz raznih tiskovin, lastnih fotografij, grafik, risb ter jih
sestavi v nove kompozicije in odtisne v sitotisku, litografiji, linorezu
ali kateri drugi tehniki. Njena serija z naslovom Lepota je večna je
nastala v času, ko je socialna izolacija, ki jo je povzročil covid-19,
marsikaterega posameznika pripravila do tega, da je z novega
zornega kota pogledal na svoje in družbene vrednote. Avtorica
sopostavlja bleščave podobe iz luksuznih modnih revij s stilizirano
figuro, odtisnjeno v eni barvi. S tem preprostim manevrom sproža
vprašanje moči družbenih struktur, v tem primeru oglaševanja, ki
vplivajo na posameznikovo identiteto, in je kritična do družbenih
razlik, ki jih vzpodbujanje potrošništva še bolj poudarja.

Helena Tahir je predstavnica najmlajše generacije slovenskih

umetnikov in se ukvarja s klasično grafiko in risbo. Je izvrstna
risarka, kar je prvi pogoj za dobrega grafika, še zlasti če je, tako
kot ona, zavezan figuraliki in krajini. Ukvarja se predvsem s tehniko
linoreza, kar glede na njeno zavezanost detajlom pomeni, da
mora biti tehnično zelo dobro pripravljena in spretna ter psihično
skoncentrirana, sploh ker ima rada velike formate. Črno-bela serija
linorezov z naslovom V vrtincu je nastala leta 2018, v njej se, kot

Sodobno = sveže 41
v večini njenih del, gosto prepletajo različne podobe, polna je
vizualnih detajlov in asociacij pa tudi zgodovinskih referenc in
predvsem bogate domišljije. Nasičene podobe gledalca vabijo
k raziskovanju pomenov in posameznih detajlov, so kot uganke,
ki nas tako prevzamejo, da jih želimo razvozlati.

Dela Sonje Vulpes iz serije Limbo, ki je nastala za istoimensko

razstavo v MGLC, z ročno predelanim fotografskim portretom,
odtisnjenim na navodilih za uporabo tablet, ki zdravijo depresijo
in različna patološka psihološka stanja, prikazujejo »psihofizično
stanje negotovosti in ujetosti v nedoločljiv prehodni prostor«.02
Izbrana dela sodijo v obsežno serijo avtoportretov, ki jo sestavljajo
predvsem grafike v tehniki kolagrafije, ki je tudi avtoričina primarna
grafična tehnika, tako kot je risba njeno primarno likovno izražanje.
Zaradi stilizirane, a ekspresivne risbe, ki jo podpira haptična
ekspresivnost kolagrafske tehnike, v teh avtoportretih, tako kot
v sitotiskih, začutimo žalost, negotovost, nemoč in ujetost v stanje,
iz katerega ni videti izhoda.

02 Božidar Zrinski, http://www.mglc-lj.si/razstave_in_dogodki/sonja_vulpes_limbo/189

42 Sodobno = sveže
Razstava, ki je presek sodobne slovenske grafike,
na eni strani potrjuje, da ukvarjanje s klasično
grafiko niti po naključju ne izključuje eksperimenta
ter kombinacij z novimi tehnikami, tehnologijami in
sodobnejšimi mediji. Vsebinski, tematski in filozofski
razmisleki o posameznih delih na široko segajo
po mentalnih in kulturnih konceptih, umetnice in
umetniki pa izkazujejo zanimiv in prodoren pristop
h grafiki kot umetniški zvrsti v sodobni vizualni
umetnosti.

Sodobno = sveže 43
Vesna Drnovšek (1973, Trbovlje) je leta generacijo slovenskih umetnic in ustvarja
1997 diplomirala iz slikarstva na ljubljanski izključno v grafičnem mediju. Je samozaposlena
Akademiji za likovno umetnost v Ljubljani, leta v kulturi. Redno razstavlja po Sloveniji in v tujini
2001 pa je tam končala tudi magistrski študij in je za svoje grafično ustvarjanje je prejela
grafike Sodi v srednjo generacijo slovenskih več nagrad. Živi in ustvarja v Novem mestu.
umetnic. Je samozaposlena v kulturi in se
ukvarja z grafiko in restavriranjem. Redno Oliver Pilić (1978, Ljubljana) je leta 2012
razstavlja v Sloveniji in v tujini in je prejela diplomiral na Akademiji za vizualne
več priznanj. Živi in ustvarja v Ljubljani. umetnosti (A.V.A.) v Ljubljani. Sodi v srednjo
generacijo slovenskih umetnikov, ustvarja
Miha Erič (1991, Ljubljana) je leta 2013 je v lesorezu. Redno razstavlja v Sloveniji in
diplomiral na Akademiji za likovno umetnost v tujini in je za svoje delo prejel že nekaj
in oblikovanje v Ljubljani kot diplomirani priznanj. Živi in ustvarja v Kamniku.
oblikovalec vizualnih komunikacij smer
ilustracija. Sodi v mlajšo generacijo Zora Stančič (1956 Štrbe, Bosna in
slovenskih umetnikov. Je samozaposlen Hercegovina) je leta 1984 diplomirala na
v kulturi kot grafik in instrumentalist. Ustvarja Akademiji za likovno umetnost v Sarajevu,
v tehnikah  lesoreza, linoreza in visokega Bosna in Hercegovin, podiplomski študij
bakroreza. Redno razstavlja v Sloveniji in grafike pa je končala leta 1990 na Akademiji
v tujini. Živi in ustvarja v Latkovi vasi. za likovno umetnost v Ljubljani. Študijsko se
je izobraževala še v Parizu (1988), na Dunaju
Črtomir Frelih (1960, Nomenj) je leta 1985 je (1989), v ZDA (1993) in na Češkem (2001).
diplomiral na Oddelku za grafiko na Akademiji Sodi v zrelo generacijo slovenskih umetnic.
za likovno umetnost Univerze v Ljubljani, kjer je Ukvarja se pretežno z grafiko, ki jo tudi
nato zaključil še grafično specialko in pridobil poučuje na Akademiji za likovno umetnost
magisterij znanosti s področja likovne didaktike. v Ljubljani. Redno razstavlja v Sloveniji in v
Sodi v zrelo generacijo slovenskih umetnikov. tujini in je za svoja dela je dobila več priznanj
Ukvarja se s slikarstvom, risbo in grafiko, ki jo doma in na tujem. Živi in ustvarja v Ljubljani.
tudi poučuje na Pedagoški Fakulteti Univerze
v Ljubljani. Redno razstavlja v Sloveniji in Helena Tahir (1992 Jesenice) je leta 2015
v tujini in je za svoje umetniško in pedagoško diplomirala iz slikarstva na Akademiji za
delo prejel več domačih in mednarodnih likovno umetnost in oblikovanje v Ljubljani,
nagrad. Živi in ustvarja v Nomenju in Ljubljani. leta 2019 pa je tam končala tudi magistrski
študij grafike. Študijsko se je izobraževala še
Matjaž Geder (1976, Murska Sobota) je po na Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB)
Srednji šoli za oblikovanje in fotografijo v Leipzigu, Nemčija in Faculty of fine arts Porto,
nadaljeval študij na likovnem oddelku Portugalska. Sodi v mlajšo generacijo slovenskih
Pedagoške fakultete v Mariboru, kjer je leta umetnic in se pretežno izraža z grafiko in risbo.
2002 diplomiral. Zaposlen je na Osnovni Redno razstavlja v Sloveniji in v tujini in je za
šoli II Murska Sobota kot likovni pedagog. svoje delo prejela že nekaj priznanj in nagrad.
Sodi v srednjo generacijo slovenskih Živi in ustvarja med Jesenicami in Ljubljano.
umetnikov, izraža se z grafiko in risbo. Za
svoje delo je prejel nekaj priznanj doma in Sonja Vulpes (pravo ime Sonja Grdina,
v tujini. Živi in ustvarja v Gornji Radgoni. 1986, Slovenija) je leta 2011 diplomirala iz
likovne pedagogike na Pedagoški fakulteti
Svetlana Jakimovska - Rodić (1965 Kumanovo, Univerze v Ljubljani. Sodi v mlajšo generacijo
Makedonija) je leta 1990 diplomirala iz slovenskih umetnic in se ukvarja z grafiko,
slikarstva na Fakulteti za likovno umetnost risbo in tetoviranjem. Redno razstavlja. Živi
v Skopju, podiplomski študij grafike pa je in ustvarja med Ljubljano in Lukovcem.
leta 1992 končala na Akademiji za likovno
umetnost v Ljubljani. Ukvarja se z grafiko
in slikarstvom in poučuje likovno teorijo
na Srednji šoli za oblikovanje in fotografijo
v Ljubljani. Redno razstavlja v Sloveniji in
v tujini, za svoja dela je prejela več priznanj
in nagrad. Živi in dela v Ljubljani.

Nataša Mirtič (1973, Novo mesto) je leta 1997

diplomirala iz slikarstva na Akademiji za likovno
umetnost v Ljubljani, leta 2001 pa je tam končala
tudi magistrski študij grafike. Sodi v srednjo

44 Sodobno = sveže
46
Contemporary Equals Fresh Sodobno = sveže
Contemporary Slovene Graphic Arts Sodobna slovenska grafika
Travelling Exhibition potujoča razstava

Published by: Izdal in založil:

Mednarodni grafični likovni center Mednarodni grafični likovni center
Represented by: Nevenka Šivavec Zanj: Nevenka Šivavec

Edited by: Breda Škrjanec Uredila: Breda Škrjanec

Texts: Breda Škrjanec Besedila: Breda Škrjanec
Translated By: Arven Šakti Kralj Szomi Prevod: Arven Šakti Kralj Szomi
Slovene language editing: Postulat Lektura: Postulat
Photography: Jaka Babnik Fotografija: Jaka Babnik
Design: Ivian Kan Mujezinović Oblikovanje: Ivian Kan Mujezinović
Printing: Matformat Tisk: Matformat
Edition: 300 copies Naklada: 300 izvodov

Ljubljana, May 2022 Ljubljana, maj 2022

Mednarodni grafični likovni center financirata

The International Centre of Graphic Arts is supported by

Unescovo
kreativno mesto
znanost in kulturo od 2015