Printmaking has a long tradition in Slovenia. Artists have been making prints since the turn of the 20th century, and it gained its biggest impetus with the establishment of the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts in 1955. Yet, despite its long-standing popularity at exhibitions and on the market, interest in it declined somewhat after 1991. The central mission of Sreda v sredo is therefore to reintroduce printmaking as an independent artistic expression, with special emphasis on intaglio printing. This traditional, demanding technique, which involves processes such as etching, drypoint, aquatint and vernis mou, is nowadays, in their opinion, increasingly rarely found in contemporary artistic production. The members of the collective are therefore consciously preserving it and combining it with the media of photography, illustration, graffiti and typography.
Sreda v sredo is an artistic collective of three artists (Žiga Artnak, Urban Cerjak and Matic Flajs) who have been collaborating since 2019. Their cooperation is based on working in a shared studio, which was established as a response to the current shortage of production spaces that many local artists are facing. At the same time, its establishment was also motivated by the desire to exchange ideas, technical skills and artistic approaches, combining an individual point of view with a shared creative vision. Although each of the members has their own artistic background, they are united by the common language of printmaking and a desire to develop it further. They work according to the DIY principle, which means a constant search for new possibilities and solutions, and thereby unlimited creative freedom.
Through exhibitions, artistic interventions and workshops, they strive to broaden the understanding of printmaking techniques to a wider circle of people – both artists and the general public – who interact less frequently with such processes. This ambition has also informed the exhibition The Renaissance of Intaglio Printing, which presents a selection of prints made with their largest ever zinc-plate formats, alongside a short video detailing the intaglio printing technique. The collective's emphasis on broadening interest in this medium is also reflected in the graphic plates on display, offering viewers a glimpse behind the scenes of the printmaking process. In doing so, the collective draws attention to the importance of preserving and modernising printmaking practices and to the potential of printing as a contemporary artistic discipline.
Exhibiting artists: Sreda v sredo (Žiga Artnak, Urban Cerjak, Matic Flajs)
MGBS curator: Hana Čeferin
The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
Guided tour with the artists
Tuesday, 29 April at 5 pm
Join the artists on a public guided tour of the exhibition, which will begin in the gallery and continue in their studio, located just a few metres away.
Workshop
Monday and Tuesday, 5 and 6 May, 5 – 8 pm
Sign up for a free two-day workshop in the vernis mou printmaking technique. We will use pencils to draw on zinc plates, which will then be etched and printed. Each participant will be able to take home one print.
The workshop is suitable for ages 12 and up and is limited to 5 places. Registration is open until places are filled at: [email protected]
