Zora Stančič: Out of the loop |
Monfort Gallery, Portorož |
5th of May 2020 – 28th of June 2020
Until the 28th of June 2020, the Monfort Gallery of Portorož will host the exhibition Out of the Loop, a solo exhibition of the established visual artist Zora Stančič. She studied Graphic Arts first in Sarajevo and later at the Ljubljana Academy, focusing on various techniques, such as lithography, linocut, and screen printing.
Drawing is one of the key elements of her artistic production, the starting point of her work and the everlasting proof of how demanding the graphic process is. As a graphic artist, she also developed a recognizable formal code: the outlines of her subjects, mostly human figures and everyday objects, are marked and defined, their representation is flat and stylized, resembling the immediate and direct depictions children spontaneously create.
The inspiration for the multimedia spatial exhibition, which she specifically created for the former salt warehouse, is Batič's bronze sculpture Lepa Vida, about which she wrote: “This portrait has always seemed very poetic to me. It seems that the sculpture is somehow overlooked in the context of Batič's work, and the motif of Lepa Vida is so seldom staged in Slovene fine art. This motif still seems relevant to me, not only as the basic motive of longing for a better life, beauty, knowledge, or something we sometimes can't even put into words, but also because of other social themes that this story unveils. Some of these are particularly relevant today, such as human migration, fear of otherness and diversity , of un uncertain future, of family relationships.”
In the artistic materialization of the idea, Zora Stančič also derives from her own primary classical medium of graphics; some time ago she printed them on various bases (textiles, recycled materials, etc.). But her research spirit opened up new challenges and possibilities for her in the process of creating the project, both in terms of technology and content. The master of computer animation Andrej Kamnik transformed her two-dimensional prints into animation, ie into a new and modern visual medium of moving images, figures and stories. With this animation as a powerful means of communication with the viewer, she achieved another desired goal: an extremely large horizontal projection, which in format can also be associated with an endless sea horizon. The author says: “The format of the projection is similar to the view that opens at the door of the exhibition space. In graphics, size is one of the elements that determine graphics, as you are always limited by the size of the stencil, paper, printing machine… ”. This transformation of images into fleeting images re-inspired her to further explore and upgrade: she was challenged by the interaction of the visual and the auditory. She invited composer and sound designer Mateja Starič, who with her original music subtly revives visual images, and also offers the viewer a sound journey through space and time. Within this sound field, a carefully selected short and strong narrative text (interpreted by Mateja Starič) by the Sarajevo writer and philosopher Predrag Finci echoes suggestively, which merges with the entire work of art in terms of content, expression and message. Zora Stančič therefore with various expressive media and means: with graphics, animation,
Zora Stančič (1956) studied graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo from 1979 to 1984 (Prof. Dževad Hozo) and continued her studies at the Ljubljana Academy, where in 1990 she completed a specialization in graphics with prof. Faithful Apollonius. She continued her studies in Paris, Vienna, the USA and the Czech Republic. He exhibits in Slovenia, Europe and the USA. She is an assistant professor of graphics at the PEF of the University of Ljubljana and as an external collaborator she teaches graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, where she also lives.
