Mladen Stropnik / exhibition opening
Mladen Stropnik / Pristava–Gaberke–Veleje
with Nataša Berk, Bojan Mijatović, and Dominik Štibernik
UGM Studio, Trg Leona Štuklja 2
Friday, 8 December 2023, 19:00
You are invited to the UGM Studio for the opening of the exhibition Pristava-Gaberke-Veleje by Mladen Stropnik, who began his artistic career by exploring the expanded field of painting, and today his intriguing oeuvre encompasses paintings, works on paper and canvas, collages, drawings, videos, performances and objects.
Stropnik's intimate experience is transposed into the collective space and becomes a kind of social commentary that cannot always be verbalized. In this exhibition and building on the fact that work is everywhere and everything is work, Stropnik focuses on work that is and remains invisible, i.e. work in the context of the artistic process. Presented here are "facts" or works of art that show his work and reveal his methods, procedures, and thought process, i.e. how and what the artist actually arrives at in his creative process.
By recording "vivid and exceptional scenes from everyday life", as the artist himself puts it, Stropnik presents humorous situations, spontaneous quirks, and an array of moods to the viewer. The drawings, short texts or words that he has been posting regularly on social media for several years now in the form of photographs or short videos reveal the artist's dedication to detailed, in-depth observations of life in all its spontaneity and banality.
The exhibition also includes a work entitled kevin, which exists in both physical and digital form (digital art collectible) and can be purchased as such. In the exhibition space, the work, which is exhibited as a photograph, can be accessed in its entirety using the artevive.com app. The work in augmented reality and the art object titled NOTHING, which was created especially for this exhibition and is also available for purchase, further testify to the artist's exploration of space, his play with different artistic media, and his reflections on the physical and financial accessibility of contemporary art. Alongside the digital works, Stropnik has also concived a performance entitled Jaspers, which will take place at the opening of the exhibition.
Mladen Stropnik lives and works in Ljubljana. His work has been presented in various solo and group exhibitions in Slovenia and internationally, including at the Niles Essanay Museum of Silent Film (Fremont, California, 2018), DUM Project Space (Ljubljana, 2018), Richter Collection - Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb (2017), Apoteka Gallery (Vodnjan, 2015), ŠKUC Gallery (Ljubljana, 2014; 2013), Gregor Podnar (Ljubljana, 2013; 2009, Berlin, 2020), Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (Ljubljana, 2015) and International Centre of Graphic Arts (Ljubljana, 2016; 2014; 2012).
The exhibition is made collaboration with Gregor Podnar, Vienna.
