Festival Ljubljana, Trg francoske revolucije 1, Ljubljana, Castle - Kazemate

THE SEVEN ARTISTS
BETWEEN PAINTED CERAMICS AND CERAMIC SCULPTURE

15. May - 12. July

Opening hours
Every day: 10.00 - 18.00

Curator: Aleksander Bassin

The seven representatives of Slovenian older artistic generation (Sonja Rauter Zelenko, Vlasta Tihec, Sonja Tavčar - Skaberne, Karel Zelenko, Vladimir Makuc, Drago Tršar, Peter Černe), which take caeramics as their parallel if not basic artistic means of expression, show with their artworks the importance of this artistic manner way of expression also in contemporary time.

Festival Ljubljana, Trg francoske revolucije 1, Ljubljana, Castle - Kazemate

THE SEVEN ARTISTS
BETWEEN PAINTED CERAMICS AND CERAMIC SCULPTURE

15. May - 12. July

Opening hours
Every day: 10.00 - 18.00

Curator: Aleksander Bassin
The museum councillor

The presentation of the seven selected artists which are by their basic education sculptors (Sonja Rauter Zelenko, Sonja Tavčar Skaberne, Vlasta Tihec, Karel Zelenko, Drago Tršar, Peter Černe) or painter and graphic artist (Vladimir Makuc, Karel Zelenko), carries in the context of the 1st international ceramic triennial UNICUM 09 at least two messages and admonitions respectively:

to emphasize the presence of this primary artistic means of expression also in Slovenian space, for which we can say it has almost historical extension in our modernism because it began to develop as independent artistic area with the generation that enter the department for ceramics in years 1925/26 in the then Technical secundary school in Ljubljana with first professor František Beram (Sonja Rauter was also a student of this department). Artists that occupied themselves with ceramics or ceramic sculptures were later mostly sculptors from the Academy for fine arts in Ljubljana. At the same time factories for fine ceramics began to operate, so Keramika in Novo mesto, Keramična industrija in Liboje and Dekor in Ljubljana, but they soon lost their specialized departments and after that stoped with authorial artisic production. The market which needed just industrial ceramics and the school reform (the department at Secundary school for design in Ljubljana was abolished) contributed to the loss of continuity in ceramic creativeness.

From among older generation the seven selected authors are certainly those that each in its own way discover with ease the important possibilities of expression in ceramical cultivated sculptural mass including details' fragility and colouring as unavoidable completion.

"Sonja Rauter Zelenko is mistress of projecting on potter's wheel, of modeling the conical anatomy with plastic details and of colour glaze, as well of engobe technique where she flatten initial cone and over plate covered with clay diluted with oxides and water draws the motif which she later finishes with scratching and sgrafitto. Among her most popular motifs is young woman presented as standing figure in rich and heterogeneous clothing, inspired by national costumes which is at the same time starting-point for shinig and decorative fantasy world of figurines. Only in the details heterogeneous pictures are somewhere supplemented with motion or attribute, taken from the world of everyday occupations... Her poetic and decorative art is pervaded with interest for ornaments, colours, rhythmicality and brilliance of the material. As first academic educated sculptress of Slovenian academy she steped on her independent way very fast and decided, with special family stamp where several ideas came into existence…" (Barbara Savenc)

If where among artworks erotism is revealing then these are artworks of Sonja Tavčar Skaberne, which peculiarily lead through almost infantile corporality to mature plenitude. Woman figure seems with this womanliness devoted to meditation and introverness. Integrated mimeticness is at the same time original symbolic connotation especially in sculptress' flower still life with image of woman in nirvana. Sonja Tavčar however also in monumental bloom proves her sculptural talent for punctilious handling and division sculptural mass.
"…and finally self-confident jovial women of Vlasta Zorko which originated and originate as light and poetic part of sculptural creativeness that we force with style and space definitions… Their corporality is so self-sufficient and uniform (head is only equivalent, not more individualized part of this totality), that we are satisfied by the fact that figures are sitting, walking, are raptured, are red-haired… Surely also sculptress Vlasta Zorko is not an exception in this. Connoisseur of her opus should admit her skilfulness of portraiture, regular feeling for plenitude of organic in abstract structures, and at the same time he shouldn't overlook the beauty of her figurines which are like mature fruits offering to eye and touch." (Meta Gabršek Prosenc)

On underglazed painted ceramic plates as conceived, Karel Zelenko developed his own punctilious drawing to original smooth seduction if I apostrophize his nameing (Seduction) also from realization side. Love couples, mostly Harlequin in stylized historical clothing and Susan are persuading us with original anachronic appearance of hidden provocativeness and eroticism. Neoromantical sound of ceramic plate is harmonious with eternity symbolism which we rarely realize or surrender today.

Graphic artist Vladimir Makuc lands with his painting - sketching realization on porcelain plate: the sensation of reflected smootheness of the material enriches stereotypic, characteristically human and animal physiognomy with sublime physical and mental fragility. His ceramic artworks have also characteristic sculptural definition and so supplement his landscapal view of Kras.

Sculptor Drago Tršar found in ceramics original challenge: on one hand because of his punctilious almost graphic surface handling of sculptuaral mass, and on the other hand because of colouring dictated or required by such surface erosion. From elementary in cobalt blue colour diped ceramic sculptures Tršar in continuation dedicated his attention to handling, technology, colouring of heterogeneous effects of colours that today he deliberately subordinate to rising form and his own explicitly intuitive spacial ťwaveŤ manuscript. Tršars' cerami sculpture is surely par excellence in Slovenian plastic modernism.

Painting of a subject (just like that), landscape tectonics, architecture and ornamental, baroque style figuralics which is just arcimboldic grotesque presents original playing with historicistical shapes that produce artists' challenge placed as mirror to our uniform, impersonal everyday. Can we smile at this ceramics today and enjoy in its haughitness?

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