Alptraum
UGM Studio
Leon Štukelj Square 2, Maribor
opening: Friday, 30 May 2014, at 19:00
UGM | Maribor Art Gallery presents a wandering exhibition Alptraum, conceived by artist Marcus Sendlinger (Berlin). It has been traveling the world since 2010, with one aim only – to build a collection of artists' visions of a nightmare (Alptraum). In each stopover city around 15 new artists are added to the exhibition, exploring the relationship between the individual, the national and the global collective subconscious. The exhibition has thus far travelled through Washington, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, Cape Town and Manila, among others. There are 116 artists from 13 countries participating in the wandering exhibition, joined by 17 new artists from around Slovenia for the occasion of the exhibition in Maribor.
»Like George Orwell’s Room 101, in his predictive tale, 1984, we all have our own version of what constitutes a nightmare, and for this reason, the project has been opened to a large number of artists whose many and varied personal nightmare versions, or visions, act to reflect this hugely variable human state of fears and phobias, pain and panic.« (Marcus Sendlinger) The nightmare motif has a longstanding tradition in visual arts with its intertwining of the fantastical, the horrifying and the elusive. The theme has long fascinated artists – from the hellish landscapes of Hieronymus Bosch, Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare (1781), Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (c. 1798), right through to the 20th Century, when nightmares became one of the central concerns of the surrealist movement.
But are nightmares individual to all? Like dreams, which have become synonymous with individual ambition? Or are nightmares perhaps expressions of the undesirable unconscious - that common denominator of a community? Do they indicate national archetypes? Or do they simply remain in the grips of the global fears of present age? These are the questions at the centre of the Alptraum exhibition, suggesting answers through the various repetitions of the same theme.
UGM | Maribor Art Gallery and artist Marcus Sendlinger have invited a group of Slovenian artists to experiment within the frames of the given theme, without further direction. The artists were asked only to submit a work which has their direct hand in it, so physical contact and mark making on the surface of the material is implied and the works have been restricted in size and material in order to facilitate the low cost transportation of the show from country to country.
Curators: Marcus Sendlinger and Jure Kirbiš
Artists from Slovenia joining the exhibition: Boris Beja | Viktor Bernik | Nenad Cizl | Mina Fina | Samuel Grajfoner | Polona Maher | Mark Požlep | Arjan Pregl | Katarina Sočan | Natalija Šeruga | Miha Štrukelj | Simona Šuc | Nina Šulin | Žiga Tomori | Luka Uršič | Sašo Vrabič | Urša Vidic
Participating artists: Pio Abad (Philippines) | Christian Achenbach (Germany) | Sanell Aggenbach (South Africa) | Sonja Alhäuser (Germany) | Pablo Alonso (Germany-Spain) | Deniz Alt (Germany) | Axel Anklam (Germany) | Nina Ansari (Iran) | Salvatore Arancio (Italy) | Alexandra Baumgartner (Austria) | Matthias Beckmann (Germany) | Marc Bijl (The Netherlands) | Zander Blom (South Africa) | Armin Boehm (Germany) | Jan-Henri Booyens (South Africa) | Wim Botha (South Africa) | Lutz Braun (Germany) | Stuart Cairns (United Kingdom) | Ellen Cantor (U.S.A.) | Il-Jin Atem Choi (Germany) | Ben Cottrell (United Kingdom) | Keith Coventry (United Kingdom) | Eric Decastro (France) | Jos Diegel (Germany) | Ulrich Diezman (Germany) | Thomas Draschan (Austria) | Sven Drühl (Germany) | Peter Duka (Germany) | Nils Daniel Ebert (Germany) | C. van Eeden (South Africa) | Elisophie Eulenburg (Austria) | Heiner Franzen (Germany) | Jonathan Garnham (South Africa) | Stephen Gibson (U.S.A.) | Andrew Gilbert (United Kingdom) | Georgina Gratrix (South Africa) | Liza Grobler (South Africa) | Ian Grose (South Africa ) | Florian Heinke (Germany) | Trasi Henen (South Africa) | Lori Hersberger (Switzerland) | Gregor Hildebrandt (Germany) | Stefan Hirsig (Germany) | Johannes Hueppi (Germany) | Adam Jankowski (Austria) | Birgit Jensen (Germany) | Lisa Junghanss (Germany) | Katrin Kampmann (Germany) | Isabel Kerkermeier (Germany) | Clemens Krauss (Austria) | Edgar Leciejewski (Germany) | Xenia Lesniewski (Germany) | Cedar Lewisohn (United Kingdom) | Joep van Liefland (The Netherlands) | Simone van de Loo (Germany) | Catherine Lorent (Luxembourg) | Christoph von Löw (Germany) | René Luckhardt (Germany) | Ernie Luley Superstar (Germany) | Jörg Mandernach (Germany) | Sandra Mann (Germany) | Nomthunzi Mashalaba (South Africa) | Sandra Meisel (Germany) | Mohau Modisakeng (South Africa) | Virginie Mossé (France) | Jan Muche (Germany) | Elena Muti (Italy) | Robyn Nesbitt (South Africa) | Mario Neugebauer (Austria) | Wolfgang Neumann (Germany) | Rainer Neumeier (Germany) | Beatrix Opolka (Germany) | Jurgen Ostarhild (Germany) | Manfred Peckl (Austria) | Mick Peter (Germany) | Christian Pilz (Germany) | Richard Priestley (United Kingdom) | Clunie Reid (United Kingdom) | Tanja Rochelmeyer (Germany) | Anke Röhrscheid (Germany) | Römer + Römer (Germany Russia) | Jenny Rosemeyer (Germany) | Dennis Rudolph (Germany) | Ruth Sacks (South Africa) | Jaco van Schalkwyk (South Africa) | Maik Schierloh (Germany) | Andreas Schlaegel (Germany) | Sebastiaan Schlicher (The Netherlands) | Bettina Scholz (Germany) | Bettina Sellmann (Germany) | Marcus Sendlinger (Germany) | Claudia Shneider (South Africa) | Heidi Sill (Germany) | Diana Sirianni (Italy) | Linda Stupart (South Africa) | Caro Suerkemper (Germany) | Alex Tennigkeit (Germany) | Peter Thol (Germany) | Klaus-Martin Treder (Germany) | Tamzyn Varney (South Africa) | Martin Westwood (United Kingdom) | Maik Wolf (Germany) | Renate Wolff (Germany) | Michael Wutz (Germany) | Ed Young (South Africa) | Phillip Zaiser (Germany) | Frank Michael Zeidler (Germany) | Thomas Zipp (Germany)
