Wednesday, 6 May 2015
PRESS RELEASE
STOJAN BATIČ: THE MAN AND THE MYTH
Retrospective exhibition
Jakopič Gallery, 12 May – 16 August 2015
Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana
You are warmly invited to attend the opening of the Stojan Batič: The Man and the Myth
exhibition at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 12 May 2015 in the Jakopič Gallery. The opening ceremony
will be honoured by the presence of the artist, and the exhibition will be opened by the
Mayor of the City of Ljubljana, Mr Zoran Janković.
A strong personal touch, classical
understanding of art and a master's sense of
complex sculpting materials are intrinsic to
the work of Stojan Batič, a sculptor of the
first post-WW2 generation of the 20th
century whose retrospect entitled The Man
and the Myth will be on display in the
Jakopič Gallery from 12 May to mid-August.
Dealing with profoundly real personal
myths which offered an opportunity to
investigate the inner moods of the figures
captured in various materials, the artist has
not only strived to achieve art with a human
face but has also, over the decades, created
Stojan Batič, Self-portrait, 1958, bronze, 44 x 42 x 21 cm,
an extensive and remarkably diverse body
Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana (SI)
Photo by: Matevž Paternoster / MGML
of work. Bringing the pinnacles of Batič’s
many series of sculptures to the forefront,
the exhibition was created by the curators Marija Skočir and Barbara Savenc. It is
accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue along with a series of events and meetings
intended for visitors.
“Each of us has his or her own Odyssey”, as Stojan Batič himself once commented; his
Odyssey as a sculptor started 70 years ago when he, as the very first student of the newly
established Academy of Fine Arts, today called ALUO, entered the artistic arena, starting to
enrapture his admirers with a number of series of small-scale sculpture and portraits. In
Slovenian art history he is generally known for his monuments and outdoor sculptures in
Ljubljana, such as Ballet in Tivoli Park and Urška and the Water Man at the Ljubljana
Exhibition and Convention Centre. “Through selected works from the artist’s consistently
and carefully built oeuvre, visitors to this retrospective will be able to observe Stojan Batič as
a sculptor whose creativity has always been based on carefully selected materials and their
sensitive processing. Batič thus continues to seduce viewers into admiring and perceiving all
characteristics of the classic tradition of sculpture; into experiencing the sculptor himself
listening to ‘the hidden’ in material; into imagining the master creating the artwork that has
previously existed in the illusion of the everlasting”, according to the curator Barbara
Savenc.
Starting with clay and stone, the artist soon concentrated on bronze, creating with it the
renowned series featuring miners which he later (1959–1965) developed into a number of
pinnacles; today, we are even more fascinated than before by his cycle executed in lignite in
which he departed from figurativism (which has nevertheless remained his preference until
today), turning to the non-representational, abstract motif. His concluding and, no doubt,
unique series called Explosions was created in co-operation with the Hrastnik Glassworks.
From the early series of small-scale sculptures dedicated to the female figure, and through
the miners mentioned above, Batič then reached for the ancient and immortal myths which
he invoked in the Satyriad series. Through Satyriad, the sculptor retrospectively drew on
mythology, emphasising man’s eternal and basically fundamental aspirations which no new
generation can avoid. Batič’s sculptures offer an opportunity for profound reflection; the
thought emerges and lingers, is created and permutated through the eye attentively and
steadily pursuing the structures either created or retained on the surface of the sculpture,
thereby shadowing their inherent life rhythm.
CATALOGUE
The Stojan Batič: The Man and the Myth exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue containing
introductory remarks by Marija Skočir (MGML), two central texts by Dr Miklavž Komelj, the
art historian, poet and translator, and Barbara Savenc (MGML), along with a detailed
biography of the artist compiled by Nika Perne. Other significant parts of the publication
include a collection of carefully reviewed artist-related documents, a catalogue of
reproductions of selected and exhibited sculptures brought to life on two-dimensional paper
by the photographer Matevž Paternoster, along with a DVD helping us combine our
experience of Batič’s small-scale sculpture by recognising some selected and crucial
monuments as recorded by Tone Stojko. The visual identity of the exhibition and the
catalogue is the work of the designer Bojan Lazarevič.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stojan Batič was born on 2 June 1925 in Trbovlje. Growing up among the children of miners,
he read extensively at an early age. He would knead and shape the clay which was in
abundance around the local brickworks where he and his mother lived. Using chalk, he
would also draw his first drawings. In the period 1941 to 1942 he worked in the Trbovlje
mine as a technical draughtsman. Aged 17, he joined the miners, thereby avoiding being
mobilised into the German army. He joined the partisans on his 19th birthday. He was active
in the cultural section of the Kozjansko Detachment and as a war correspondent. After the
war, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, graduating in 1949 under
Professor Boris Kalin. In 1951, he accomplished his specialist studies under Professor
Frančišek Smerdu.
A Paris scholarship at the end of the 1950s allowed Stojan Batič to become familiar with
contemporary sculpture. He was strongly influenced by Ossip Zadkine in whose studio he
trained. Paris also introduced Post-Cubism to him which later, along with the realist bases,
would mark his oeuvre. Paris offered many theatre performances, with Oresteia profoundly
fascinating the young sculptor; it was the Greek mythology that the artist would later keep
returning to.
Today, Batič’s highly individual expression can be observed in his small-scale, personal
sculpture. His creations in clay, stone, glass, lignite, wood and metal were usually produced
as a series. In the decades to follow, his supremacy – a master builder’s sense of materials
along with a strong personal touch – helped create many public monuments and large-scale
sculptures which remain part of urban centres across Slovenia even today.
PROGRAMME ACCOMPANYING THE EXHIBITION
Guided tours in Slovenian: on Sundays at 4.30 p.m.
Guided tours in English: on Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.
Guided tour for the blind and partially sighted: on Sunday, 14 June at 3 p.m. Free
admission.
Guided tours in Slovenian (sign language interpreter): on Sunday, 14 June at 4.30 p.m.
International Museum Day, 18 May at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.: guided tours with the exhibition
curator. The exhibition can be visited from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; free admission.
Museums on a Summer Night, 20 June: at 4.30 p.m.: a guided tour of the exhibition in
English; at 7 p.m.: a guided tour with the art historian Dr Miklavž Komelj; at 9 p.m.: a guided
tour of the exhibition. The exhibition can be visited from 10 a.m. to midnight; free
admission.
A guided tour with the exhibition curators, Marija Skočir and Barbara Savenc, on Sunday
17 May, 19 July and 16 August at 4.30 p.m.
A guided tour with the curators including a visit to the public monuments in the centre of
Ljubljana on Thursday, 28 May at 6. p.m.
An interactive tour of the exhibition including a creative sculpture workshop for
kindergartens as well as primary and secondary schools subject to advance notice; price €3
per schoolchild.
Tuesday, 2 June, at 6 p.m.: Studying sculpture in the 70-year history of the Academy of Fine
Arts and Design, a discussion with guests from ALUO, Assoc. Prof. Alen Ožbolt, Prof. Matjaž
Počivavšek and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nadja Zgonik.
Friday, 12 June, at 6 p.m.: Art Historian Dr Miklavž Komelj about the work of Stojan Batič, a
lecture
Saturday, 25 July, at 4 p.m.: Become a master sculptor yourself, a family workshop with
Ljuba the Frog
The fees for all guided tours are included in the entry fee.
Appointments for guided tours, tours including a workshop, family and educational
workshops: prijava@mgml.si or +386 1 24 12 506.
CREDITS
STOJAN BATIČ: THE MAN AND THE MYTH
Retrospective Exhibition
Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, represented by: Blaž Peršin, Director
Jakopič Gallery, represented by: Marija Skočir, Art gallery director
Artist: Stojan Batič
Curators: Barbara Savenc, Marija Skočir
Expert assistance: Jerneja Batič, Nika Perne, Petra Radoja
Graphic and exhibition design: Bojan Lazarevič (Agora Proars)
Photos of works: Matevž Paternoster
Photo processing and preparation: Tina Dacar, Ana Guzelj, Mark Jordan, Matevž
Paternoster
Video footage: Tone Stojko (Prodok)
Holographic presentation: Den Baruca (Thenvision)
Conservation service: Maja Banovič, Katarina Toman Kracina, Bojana Zavodnik
Realisation of the exhibition: Aleš Bracovič, O.K. vir, Technical Service MGML (Franci
Lozinšek, Mitja Marc, Andrej Mesarič, Zvone Sečnik, Jernej Volk)
English translations: Urban Belina, Marjana Karer, Polonca Mesec, Alenka Ropret
Slovenian language editing: Katja Paladin, Vlado Motnikar
English language editing: Murray Bales
Public relations: Maja Kovač
Marketing: Tamara Bregar
Programmes for adults: Janja Rebolj
Programmes for youth: Nika Damjanovič, Miha Knez, Petra Peunik Okorn
The exhibition is produced by:
The project was made possible by: