Tomaž Furlan
The Mother of All Struggles
Tomaž Furlan is an established sculptor and intermedia artist. He has been active in the Slovenian and international art scene for over two decades. Hitherto he has not had a comprehensive presentation of his work, and thus the City Art Gallery Ljubljana will showcase his versatile artistic oeuvre for the first time in one place.
The exhibition will encompass the period from the beginning of his artistic career in the year 2000 to the present day, including the Furlan’s latest production created specifically for the exhibition at the City Art Gallery Ljubljana. During the past two decades, Furlan established himself in the Slovenian and international art scene as the creator of the so-called cynical machines, objects, video works, and performances that are infused with socially critical content and ironic humour. His works have always focused on the issues of human labour in the era of automation and robotization, when humans are becoming increasingly more similar to machines. He addresses behavioural patterns within the context of daily routines and raises questions about the problem of repetitive and senseless tasks and the role of an individual's body in contemporary society. He also stages and comments on various other pathological social conditions. The exhibition will present key phases in the artist’s creative development. Among other works, one of his most renowned and successful multi-year projects, the Wear series that was created from 2005 to 2015, and is a satire of the exploitation of workers in the era of neo-liberal capitalism, will also be presented. The show will encompass the artist’s diverse creative areas, ranging from an expanded field of sculpture, kinetic objects, and installations to video, performance art, and an artist’s book.
Tomaž Furlan graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (ALUO) in Ljubljana. In 2012, he received the OHO Group Award, and in 2017, the Rihard Jakopič Prize. He has presented his work in various exhibitions both in Slovenia and abroad, including Videospotting and Videodocument at Gallery 3,14 in Bergen, Norway; Limited access II at Parkingallery in Tehran; In the Loop: Contemporary EU Video Art in Washington, USA; Manifesta 9 in Genk, Belgium; U3 – 7th Triennial of Contemporary Slovenian Art at MSUM; Sculpture Today at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Celje; Install Yourself, an installation in the permanent collection at MSUM; Biennial Port Izmir 3 – IT’S ENOUGH!, Izmir, Turkey; Tomaž Furlan, Wear Series, Rochechouart Museum of Contemporary Art, France; Sesto Award 2015 in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy; Crises and New Beginnings: Art in Slovenia 2005–2015 at MSUM; Under the Surface at the ARCOMadrid Art Fair in Spain (2020) – in collaboration with Gallery P74.
The exhibition catalog accompanying the exhibition The Mother of All Struggles by internationally acclaimed artist Tomaž Furlan offers the most comprehensive publication on the artist to ...
Colophon
Production: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana Curator: Barbara Sterle VurnikArtist: Tomaž FurlanTexts by: Barbara Sterle Vurnik, Tevž Logar, Nina SkumavcCoordination and production: Maruša MegličTechnical realization: MGML Technical DepartmentThe project was made possible by: City of Ljubljana, Department for Culture
Special thanks
The works of Tomaž Furlan were kindly lent for the exhibition by: Generali Foundation Collection, Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., Ljubljana; Museum of Modern Art (MG+) plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (+MSUM), Ljubljana, Slovenia; Škofja Loka Museum, Škofja Loka, Slovenia
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.
City Art Gallery Ljubljana is a dog-friendly gallery.
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