 |
| home |  |
eastern europe | |
ecology | |
contemporary art history |
|
shows | |
reviews | |
books | |
contact |
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
| Eastern Europe | |
| Loophole to Happiness Muzeum Sztuki Łódź Futura Centre for Contemporary Art Prague AMT Projects Bratislava
Participating artists: Adam Chodzko, Petra Feriancova, Siniša Labrović, Ciprian Muresan, Csaba Nemes, Nada Prlja, Janek Simon, Péter Szabó and Katarina Šević. The group show Loophole to Happiness takes as its starting point the existence of loopholes on the margins of social and economic systems that enhance personal freedom and offer the potential for pleasure and fulfilment. The exhibition examines the possibility of imagining exceptions, finding escape routes and evading the smooth surface of the neo-liberal capitalist order from the particular standpoint of worker’s resistance strategies in socialist Eastern Europe.
Revolutionary Decadence Curated by Maja and Reuben Fowkes Participating artists include: Diana Kingsley, Eike, Dominic Hislop, Katerina Sević, Alexander Schikowski, David Wilkinson, Rudolf Hervé, Allan Siegel, Catherine Bürki, Claudia Martins Revolution I Love You ‘Revolution, I Love You’ is a slogan from May ’68 that recalls the exuberance, deep desire for change and belief in the possibility of freedom illuminating a precious moment of universal revolt. The exhibition investigates 1968 as an interlude of liberty and global resistance, focussing on the interplay between the politics of the street, radical philosophy, and the explosion of creative responses in the period. It considers the modalities of the unrest across Europe against the backdrop of contrasting economic and political systems in East and West...(more) REHAB Labor Gallery They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, "No, no, no." (Amy Winehouse) REHAB is a refuge where we can hide when we want a break from contemporary lifestyles and the damaging influence they have on our mental and physical well-being. In a system in which we're constantly obliged to be socially responsible, in the moments when we want a rest from continuous pressure to conform to social norms, REHAB is an emergency exit. REHAB is also a state of mind, a decision to press pause and unwind, a refusal of ideological conditioning and a rejection of the slavery of political engagement, a shrugging off of the burden of social responsibility and responsible socialising. REHAB purifies us and offers a chance to refresh and recharge our creative energies...(more) 2007 Revolution is not a Garden Party Trafó Gallery Budapest Galerija Miroslav Kraljević Zagreb 2006 Beata Veszely: On the Way to Heaven Galerija Balen Slavonski Brod, 8 September - 7 October 2006 The Hungarian artist Beáta Veszely investigates the experience of the impossible, experience that can only be approached through extreme physical and spiritual endurance at the limits of the possible. The artist practices horse archery, through which she connects a sense of deep spirituality, closeness to animals in the natural landscape, and the old knowledge of the nomads of the Eurasian Steppes...(more) Jane Frost: Living at the Edge Galerija Balen Slavonski Brod, 21 April - 14 May 2006 Jane Frost is the initiator of the international collaborative project Living at the Edge, or L@tE, which deals with communities that live along waterways or fenland, questioning the historical, social, and ecological effects of reclaimed land from the Fenlands of East Anglia to Bangladesh. The workshops in Slavonski Brod and the exhibition in Galerija Balen will form part of the L@tE project. Jane Frost is a researcher at Norwich School of Art, where she is investigating the possibilities in the communication of expressing belonging to a community and an understanding of the history and future of the environment...(more) Endre Koronczi: "Powersave On" Central European University Budapest 30-31 March 2006 Endre Koronczi’s “Powersave On” takes the form of a video loop made up of images collected by the artist from the corridors and classrooms of the environmental studies department of CEU. The film mimics the mode of scientific observation, slowly panning across found objects and scenarios to recreate the atmosphere of life on the seventh floor. The artist’s quasi-anthropological approach is reflected both in his concern to express the specific ambient of the depictions of nature and ecological degradation in the midst of an institutional environment, and his avoidance of direct value judgements of the locale he observes. Nevertheless, we can sense a subtle and non-violent critique of the sustainability of the institutional structures of academia, specifically the carefree use of energy and resources...(more) Liget Galeria Budapest, 28 March – 8 April 2006 The Icelandic artist Ruri, in her series of photographic and sound installations Endangered Waters, archives elements of the natural landscape that are threatened with extinction as a consequence of human intervention. She catalogues the qualities of individual waterfalls in Iceland , preserving their unique sounds and appearance, for a future in which they may have ceased to exist. Her work is dedicated to exposing the huge environmental costs of Iceland’s exploitation of hydroelectric power by highlighting the threat to the survival of Iceland’s waterfalls posed by extensive dam building and the fact that two thirds of the energy produced is used by the multinational aluminium industry at below market rates. Her practice is rooted in conceptual art and challenges traditional landscape categories. Along with installations, she uses sculpture, multi media and performance to produce environmental art on a grand scale with a strong spiritual dimension and a real political edge....(more) Iva Matija Bitanga and Leo Vukelic: Possible Theatre Galerija Balen Slavonski Brod 24 February 26 March 2006 The exhibition focuses on the idea of performativity in the work of these artists, who although they do not deal with classical performance as a form of artistic expression in which the artists carries out an action live in front of a public, in their video works and series of photographs they often use the language of performativity...(more) 2005 Galerija Balen Slavonski Brod March 2005 Alem Korkut emerged as one of the most inventive sculptors of the young generation in Croatia. He has especially attracted critical attention for his use of new media to research the methods and processes of traditional sculpture. For the exhibition Rain, Alem Korkut (1970)showed new works that thematically mark a shift from the human figure and portraits characteristic of the artist's recent production, towards sculptural consideration of the representation of nature...(more) 2004 Heath Bunting: Natural
Reality Superweed The focus of Galerija Balen's annual marking of Earth Day in 2004 was on the issue of art and biotechnology, with a particular stress on food production. To celebrate international Earth Day, Galerija Balen invited British artist Heath Bunting to present his outstanding work 'Natural Reality Superweed' for the first time in Croatia...(more) Unframed Landscapes 2003 Galerija Balen, September-October 2003 Marijan Crtalić, Danko Frisčić,
Denis Krasković, Frane Rogić and Igor Zlobec belong to a wider
circle of artists which began to hang out at the Academy in 2002 Human/Nature Trafo Gallery, Budapest 16 May - 11 June 2002 The intriguing idea of Human/Nature is open to a number of interpretations. It includes the notion of a dichotomy between civilisation and the natural world and holds out the possibility of overcoming it. It also involves the tricky concept of 'human nature' that has divided philosophers for centuries between advocates of a harsh 'law of the jungle' and believers in the intrinsic goodness of the 'noble savage'...(more)
|
2008 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
|
Museum Kiscell / Municipal Picture Gallery Budapest