Vlado Martek
Art Mon Amour
This Poetry is Better than Ideal Poetry
Exhibition with a Flaw
Looking at My Gaze
Offering a comprehensive overview of Vlado Martek’s work from the 1970s to the present, the retrospective Exhibition with Many Titles continues and complements the edition, staged last year at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka. The Ljubljana exhibition, differing in content from the Croatian show to some extent, is the first in-depth presentation of this internationally renowned Croatian artist in Slovenia. Martek’s oeuvre may seem familiar through the numerous texts about him, but thanks to his exceptionally prolific creative output, whose abundance is almost his trademark, we can always find new works that have seldom or never left his studio. Martek’s artistic beginnings go back to the time of the Group of Six Artists (Grupa šestorice autora, 1975–1979), which pursued its activities outside gallery spaces, mainly in the streets of Zagreb, seeking contact and dialogue with random passersby. Holding degrees in comparative literature and philosophy, Martek lucidly translated his wide knowledge of philosophy and poetry into art with his verbally and artistically poetic and socially critical statements.
More than 300 selected works present the wide diversity of Martek’s artistic production: the material supports vary (although paper predominates, in different dimensions, but most frequently in the artist’s favourite A4 format) as do the techniques of execution: from drawing, collage, assemblage, painting and photography to copying, drawing over, tearing, punching, stapling, nailing, plastering and pasting. In content, the works present the artist’s so-called pre-poetry stage (reflections on poetry and its elementary processes, sonnets), his actions and agitations in urban environments (with documentary material thereof), his book production (poetic objects, artist’s books, samizdats, lyrical folios), his pictogram alphabet works (featuring a 40-pictogram alphabet of his own invention), his maps, his statements on glass and mirrors, and his reflections on photography. The exhibition design alludes to Martek’s studio, which is a Gesamtkunstwerk of sorts, with every part of it – the walls, table, chairs, wardrobe, stove, bathroom, radiators, doors, windows – serving (also) as a base for presenting art or else being in itself a work of art. Opening and perusing the contents of one or another of the countless folders, boxes, bags, envelopes, packages, jars and all manner of other containers, and the subsequent conversation with the artist this inevitably instigates, always provides another striking insight into his multilayered artistic expression. The only way to truly fathom this abundant and highly elaborate and original oeuvre is to delve right in and – read Martek!
"Exhibition with Many Titles" was accompanied by the publication of the volume titled Ta knjiga je boljša od idealne (This Book is Better than Ideal). The 300 pages long volume contains ...
Colophon
Production: Museum and Galleries of LjubljanaIn collaboration with: MMSU RijekaExhibition curator: Alenka Gregorič & Ksenija OreljArtist: Vlado MartekText: Alenka GregoričDesign: Ajdin BašićInstallation photos: Andrej Peunik / MGMLCoordination: Lenka ĐorojevićPublic relations: Alja GogalaProduction of promotional materials: Eva BolhaRealisation of the exhibition: Technical services of MGMLThe exhibition was made possible by: City of Ljubljana, Department for Culture
Exhibition was organized in collaboration with MMSU Rijeka as part of the Rijeka 2020 program.
Exhibition is held as part of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2020.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue which is supported by Kontakt. The Art Collection of Erste Group and ERSTE Foundation.
Thanks to: Darko Šimičić and Marinko Sudac Collection.
Location
Mestni trg 5
1000 Ljubljana
General information:
T +386 1 24 11 785
E mestna.galerija@mgml.si
School programs:
T +386 1 24 12 506
E prijava@mgml.si
Public relations:
T +386 41 669 599
E mateja.dimnik@mgml.si
Opening hours
Tuesday–Sunday: 11:00–19:00
Monday: Closed
1 January, 1 November, 25 December: Closed
24 and 31 December: 11:00–14:00
Tickets
Free entry.
Groups with more than 10 visitors are kindly requested to announce their visit at: pedagoska.mestnagalerija@mgml.si
Due to the specific nature of the exhibition, the number of visitors allowed in each room is limited.
City Art Gallery Ljubljana is a dog-friendly gallery.
News
"Exhibition with Many Titles", which remains on view in the City Art Gallery of Ljubljana until Sunday, 24 May, was accompanied by the publication of the volume titled Ta knjiga je boljša od idealne (This Book is Better than Ideal). The 300 pages long volume contains texts contributed by eight authors as well as over 240 reproductions of Vlado Martek’s works. You can get your copy on the ground floor of the City Art Gallery of Ljubljana.
In the desire to make “Exhibition with Many Titles” by the outstanding Croatian conceptual artist Vlado Martek more accessible, we have decided to present it to you through private guided tours which will be given by Alenka Gregorič, the art director of the City Art Gallery Ljubljana and the curator of the exhibition.
“I am a ten percent artist, a ten percent neighbour, a ten percent father, a ten percent husband, a ten percent patriot, a ten percent friend… I divided one hundred percent into ten percent for each area. This gives me the freedom to be one hundred percent in the ten percent of art,” stated the Croatian conceptual artist Vlado Martek in the programme Osmi dan on Slovenian National Television, who is currently presenting himself with a retrospective exhibition at the City Art Gallery Ljubljana.
Offering a comprehensive overview of Vlado Martek’s work from the 1970s to the present, the retrospective "Exhibition with Many Titles" continues and complements the edition staged last year at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka. The Ljubljana exhibition, differing in content from the Croatian show to some extent, is the first in-depth presentation of this internationally renowned Croatian artist in Slovenia.