FOR MY EYES ONLY: VJP of Contemporary Art and Design
11 April–12 May 2013
UGM Maribor Art Gallery
Slavija No 11
Ulica Vita Kraigherja 3, Maribor, Slovenija
Artists: Ignasi Aballi / Ricci Albenda / John Armleder / David Byrne / Alejandro Cesarco / Nina Beier / Braco Dimitrijević / Angus Fairhurst / Bernard Frize / Thomas Grünfeld / Alexander Gutke / Jeppe Hein / James Hopkins / Chris Johanson / Martin Kippenberger / Alicja Kwade / Oliver Laric / Homas Locher / Kris Martin / Jonathan Monk / Sirous Namazi / Wilfredo Prieto / Dan Rees / Thomas Ruff / David Shrigley / Bob and Roberta Smith / Do Ho Suh / Ignacio Uriarte / Fredrik Vaerslev / Johannes Wohnseifer / Cerith Wyn Evans / Remy Zaugg
Designers: Sergio Asti / Gijs Bakker / Ward Bennett / Andera Branzi / Campana brothers / Pierre Charpin / Anne Marie Geurink / Johanna Grawunder / Ineke Hans / Shiro Kuramata / Dom Hans van der Laan / Lucas Maassen / Enzo Mari / Ingo Maurer / Jasper Morrison / Pierre Paulin / Gerrit Rietveld / Ettore Sottsass / Peter Traag / Robert Willson
Curators: Simona Vidmar / Maja Vardjan
The VJP Collection of Contemporary Art and Design has been compiled over the last 20 years and includes the global names of visual art and design from the 1970s to present. It contains works by over 150 authors from Europe, USA, South America and Asia. The collection is very private and highly unusual, yet without the tendency to be eccentric and exaggerated. With its design and artworks it offers a possible scenography for a 21st-century monastic order: meditative, intelligent, strict and slightly erotic.
VJP art collection includes mainly concise acquisitions from the last ten years, focused on very fresh works, rarely more than a few years old. They mostly belong to the field of neo-conceptual art with lots of white space, sharp humour and clear forms. The collection includes big names like the Neue Wilde Martin Kippenberger; a whole range of humorous interventions by the YBAs (Young British Artists), such as Bob and Roberta Smith, Angus Fairhurst and David Shrigley; international stars from other continents, for instance, the Korean artist Do Hu Suh and the founding member of Talking Heads, David Byrne; as well as several rising stars of the contemporary art scene, such as Alejandro Cesarco (Uruguay), Kris Martin (Belgium), Alexander Gutke (Sweden) or the Polish/German artist Alicja Kwade. The collection contains works that either intentionally or instinctively create a kind of fragmented narrative and guide us towards specific readings—to examination of modern issues, observations and suggestions. The collection of contemporary art meets the design collection, which consists of various products, ranging from small objects to larger pieces of furniture. These objects do not belong to the rational world of industrial design; instead they are marked by a clear concept as the Zeitgeist commentary. To a large extent, they have been created as limited series for specific projects or as experimental, often hand-made pieces of furniture. The collection includes works by Dutch modernists, such as Gerrit Rietveld and Dom van der Laan, objects by Ettore Sottsass, Andrea Branzi and other protagonists of the 1980s Italian design, contemporary avant-garde Dutch and Belgian design by Peter Traag, Gijs Bakker and Lucas Maassen as well as the classic authors Shiro Kuramata and Pierre Charpin. The design collection items are not seen as priceless objects placed on pedestal, but are part of life intended for everyday use.
The exhibition held on the top floor of the former Slavija Hotel as part of UGM temporary exhibition space is set up as a private scenography or a labyrinth through personal obsessions.
For press inquiries and orders, please contact info [at] ugm.si
UGM Maribor Art Gallery
Andreja Rakovec
Strossmayerjeva 6
2000 Maribor, Slovenija
andreja.rakovec [at] ugm.si
With the kind support of Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia, Municipality of the city of Maribor.
Media partners: Magazine AMBIENT, Magazine HIŠE, Magazine ORIS, Magazine DELO IN DOM.
