Jože Barši, Vuk Ćosić, Maja Licul, Marko Peljhan, Alenka Pirman, Tadej Pogačar, Marjetica Potrč, Marija Mojca Pungerčar, Franc Purg, Anja Šmajdek, Nika Špan, Apolonija Šušteršič, Janja Žvegelj

After the opening at the National Museum of Slovenia – Metelkova, we are now opening the exhibitions at the P74 Gallery and the Škuc Gallery. All three set-ups are part of the joint final exhibition of a research and training project, which took place in Ljubljana over several years. The project Second Explosion – the 1990s (2014–2017) takes place simultaneously in Ljubljana and Slovenj Gradec, thus the second part of research on the 1990s will be on display at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška (KGLU) and the Carinthian Regional Museum in Slovenj Gradec (9 Dec 2016 – 23 Feb 2017).

Following the main opening event of the project The Second Explosion — the ’90s at the National Museum of Slovenia – Metelkova in Ljubljana, we are pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition openings in the framework of the project: at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška and the Carinthian Regional Museum in Slovenj Gradec on the 9th December, and at the P74 Gallery and the Škuc Gallery on the 15th December. The Second Explosion – the ’90s (2014–2017) is an educational and research project that spans several years. It is a joint effort between the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška, Slovenj Gradec. It includes a series of public lectures and two exhibitions at the P74 Gallery (2014 and 2015), which were focused on the wider cultural and social context of the 1990s. The project has a twofold nature – its two perspectives of the ‘centre’ and the ‘periphery’ are crucial for understanding and showcasing a more complex, comprehensive image. The exhibition The Second Explosion – the ’90s will feature a first look at the radical practices in Slovenian visual art in the 1990s. It will present works and projects by Jože Barši, Vuk Ćosić, Maja Licul, Marko Peljhan, Alenka Pirman, Tadej Pogačar, Marjetica Potrč, Marija Mojca Pungerčar, Franc Purg, Anja Šmajdek, Nika Špan, Apolonija Šušteršič and Janja Žvegelj. The exhibition will feature concepts, objects, sculptures, installations, video projects, web projects, photos, audio projects, artists’ books and newspapers, print and original documentation. After the explosion of the Neo-avant-garde in the ’60s, primarily heralded in Slovenia by the OHO group, the ’90s brought a second explosion of artistic production, which was, in its own way, a continuation of the radical art practices from the ’60s and ’70s. The exhibitions in Ljubljana showcase a segment of artistic production that we might label as ‘art after post-modernism’. The opening of the exhibition at the National Museum will be followed a few days later by the ones in Slovenj Gradec, at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška and the Carinthian Museum on December 9, and by the exhibitions in the P74 Gallery and the Škuc Gallery in Ljubljana on December 15, 2016. The exhibition New Artistic Practices in the ’90s: Koroška presents the cultural artistic happenings and practices in the 1990s in the Koroška region which looked to new trends and stood out as extraordinary examples of practice. The field of non-institutional culture was particularly prolific for the development of subcultural practices. It was the first time that the emerging youth sub-culture intervened more noticeably in traditionalistic, local-oriented and backward gazing cultural atmosphere and addressed the younger generations with alternative contents that took place in unconventional venues and through new forms of events. The exhibition The Second Explosion – the ’90s links three venues, the National Museum of Slovenia – Metelkova, the P74 Gallery, and the Škuc Gallery, in a unified exhibition project. It strives to offer an insight into the most progressive artistic practices of a decade that takes pride in its exceptionally prolific artistic production. The show is particularly significant in the context of the Škuc Gallery since the vast majority of participating artists played a key role in the 1990s gallery programme and a notable part of the presented works was commissioned by Škuc. Without attempting to provide a comprehensive account of the art of the decade, the show is nevertheless representative of the consistency of Škuc’s exhibition policy, relentlessly supporting experiments and constantly pushing the boundaries of the field of art.

Curated by Tadej Pogačar

The  exhibition at the Škuc Gallery features works by Marko Peljhan, Marija Mojca Pungerčar, Maja Licul and Anje Šmajdek.

To accompany the exhibition, a rich catalogue has been published featuring texts by Božo Repe, Tadej Pogačar, Nina Popič and Polona Poberžnik, Dejan Habicht, Barbara Sterle Vurnik, Vladimir Vidmar in Tjaša Pogačar Podgornik. The catalogue was designed by Ajdin Bašić.

Acompanying events

12th of January and 19 th of January at 6 pm: Guided tour with Vladimir Vidmar

The project was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Municipality of Ljubljana and the Erste Foundation.

The programme of Škuc Gallery is supported by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and Cultural Department of the City of Ljubljana.

photo © Dejan Habicht