mednarodni grafični likovni center
international centre of graphic arts
pod turnom 3, grad tivoli
1000 ljubljana, slovenia
Press release
9+9
Artists’ Books and Artists
23 November 2010–8 February 2011
Nine Slovene artists – Andrejka Čufer, Tanja Lažetić, Marko A. Kovačič, Eva Petrič, Petra
Petančič, Alenka Pirman, Tadej Pogačar, Sašo Sedlaček, and Mladen Stropnik – have created
nine new projects, installations, and gallery environments in nine exhibition rooms at the
International Centre of Graphic Arts. They took as their starting point works chosen from the
Centre’s collection of original publications and artists’ books that started forming in 2001 with a
donation from the French Cultural Centre; today it consists of 3,782 objects. The collection
encompasses artists’ books, book objects, artist-made newspapers and magazines, newspaper
projects, ephemera such as artist-designed posters and invitations, photographic publications,
postcards, stamps, stickers, graphic works (other than fine art prints), photocopies, sound art,
and related literature. It contains works by a number of important representatives of the avantgarde of the 1960s and 1970s and later. Artists and writers in the collection include Vito
Acconci, Ben, Christian Boltanski, Daniel Buren, Hanne Darboven, Alfredo Jaar, Lucy Lippard,
Mangelos, Annette Messager, the OHO group, Iztok Osojnik, Vesna Črnivec, Dušan Pirih Hup,
Zora Stančič, and others. The 25th Biennial of Graphic Arts, in 2003, which focused on the
concept of the artist-produced publication, contributed greatly to the expansion of the collection,
as did several donated archives (the FV archive, Milena Kosec’s Scarecrow Statelet archive,
publications from the group museum in progress, the hybrid periodical Point d’ironie, and
others).
The twentieth-century phenomenon of the artist’s book, which developed in the ideological
context of the 1960s, became a major democratic project for artists, since convenient and
inexpensive book publications were a good way to embody the dematerialization of art projects,
promote new creative forms, and spread new ideas. The idea of the book, its form,
communicative ability, and reproducibility are attractive to artists; also, the book offers artists
numerous colourful and diverse ways to approach it: photography, film, assemblage, print,
drawing, sound recording, etc. But how does one separate books that are works of art from all
other books and publications that, in one way or another, have been authorized by artists? The
history of the artist’s book is marked by many explanations and efforts to find suitable definitions
for the phenomenon. The artist’s book introduces a new model of interaction between the artist,
the book, and the public; it creates an active reader/viewer. It is a means of expression for the
artist, a work of visual art, a disseminator of ideas, and an object of communication.
Through their art projects, reactions, interpretations, new art production, and gallery and
museum installations, the invited artists have created new meaningful groupings of works
chosen from the Centre’s collection of original publications and artists’ books. Each artist, after
researching and examining the Centre’s holdings, chose one or more artworks, which then
became the basis for their thinking about what they wanted to do in the gallery space; at the
same time, these works gave rise to reinterpretation by the artists’ own projects, which were
realized exclusively for this exhibition. The invited artists have been placed in the role of
designers of installations of museum objects. What has emerged are new starting points, in
terms of both content and theory, for understanding not only the artist’s book, but also museum
and gallery work, the presentation of exhibits, their interpretation, and the actualization of
museum collections .
Exhibition curators: Božidar Zrinski, Breda Škrjanec
Accompanying the exhibition is a 70-page illustrated catalogue in Slovene, with texts by Božidar
Zrinski (“With Artists on the Collection”) and Breda Škrjanec (“Is This a Book? A Brief Stroll
through the History of the Artist’s Book”), a list of works from the collection, and statements by
the participating artists.
Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of
Ljubljana. The exhibition is part of the programme Ljubljana, The World Book Capital City 2010.
Exhibition sponsor: Lek, d. d.
The exhibition is on view at the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Tivoli Mansion, Pod turnom
3, Ljubljana, from 24 November 2010 (the opening takes place 23 November at 7 p.m.) to 8
February 2011, from Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; for groups by appointment.
Closed: Mondays, Tuesdays, 25 December 2010, and 1 January 2011. Admission is free on
This Happy Day of Culture, 3 December 2010, and Slovene Culture Day, 8 February 2011.
Photographs with appropriate resolution for printing are available at http://www.mglclj.si/slo/index-press.htm