Landscape & Memory

Jernej Forbici, Marika Vicari
Krajina in spomin / Landscape & Memory
6 November–23 November 2019

As the world finds itself close to the point of no return and all thoughts are directed towards environmental issues and nature protection; as scientists describe apocalyptic scenarios about what could, or what is going to happen if the current average temperature rises for a degree or two, artists Jernej Forbici and Marika Vicari, each in their own way, express their attitudes towards landscape.

For the first time, Marika Vicari reveals a new series of works on paper, which she began creating this summer during her residency stay in Paris. She introduces color to the series, which is rare in terms of her otherwise mostly black-and-white visual language, as well as light objects, to which she has been dedicated over the past few years, next to drawing. Jernej Forbici on the other hand, though primarily a painter, has selected objects of 'dead' nature, deposited in resin, which form a part of his collection of plants. In addition, he presents himself with a series of photographs Instax, as well as smaller painting works from the series Documents.

INVITATION (PDF)

________

Marika Vicari was born in Vicenza, Italy in 1979. She graduated with honors under the mentorship of Prof. Carlo Di Raco at the Department of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice in 2003, and completed her MA in Visual Arts in 2005 at the Design and Arts Faculty of Venice. She has studied and worked on site-specific projects with artists, curators and international photographers, among which: Hans Ulrich Obrist, Lewis Baltz, Guido Guidi, Mona Hatoum, Antoni Muntadas, Armin Linke and Angela Vettese. Since 2000 she has been selected for many solo and group exhibitions in Europe, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Canada and China. In 2008, she met Ermanno Olmi, for whom she made a graphic folder. One of the works has been chosen and presented to Olmi by the city of Asiago, as a gift marking his receipt of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Marika Vicari's most notable exhibition projects/series include As I Walk (l'Occhio Gallery, Venice, 2011; Tenzor Gallery, Ptuj, 2013) and the project Populus Tremula (solo exhibition at the Kro Art Gallery, Vienna, 2008), followed by notable group shows such as Nature.PUR.2010 (Kunstlerhaus, Klagenfurt, 2010) and the exhibition series Jahr des Waldes (ZS Art Gallery, Vienna; Landesmuseum Niederösterreich, Sankt Pölten; and Klosterneuburg, 2010). In 2012, she began collaborating with the Punto Sull'Arte Gallery, having exhibited in two solo and numerous group exhibitions to this day. In 2015, the Romberg Gallery from Latina, Italy, organized a major presentation of Marika's work as part of the exhibition Nothing Is Yelling At You at the Officina delle Zattere in Venice. In 2016, her works have been shown in a solo exhibition at Palazzo Gromo Losa in Biella, as part of Selvatica, a major Italian contemporary art festival. Her works form part of public and private collections in Europe, Canada, USA and UAE. She constantly takes part in art fairs across Europe and Canada. Marika Vicari currently lives and works in Vicenza, Italy.

Jernej Forbici was born in Maribor, Slovenia in 1980. He completed a degree in painting (with honors) under Prof. Carlo Di Raco at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and then a MA in visual and performing arts. From 1999, his work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions in various European countries, the United States, Canada, Argentina, and China. Forbici has been invited to participate in the following Biennales: Hicetnunc, Pordenone (2003); International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Prague, German pavilion (2005); Accade, 52nd Venice Biennale (2007); and 54th Venice Biennale, Arsenale pavilion (2011). In 2009, the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice organized a retrospective of Forbici’s works at the Magazzini del Sale, curated by Carlo Di Raco. In 2011, after having published his first monograph and presented five retrospectives in Italy and Slovenia, he was invited to participate in the exhibition Il Fuoco della Natura in Trieste. In 2012, he won a scholarship from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture and took up residency in London to study the English masters. From 2013 to 2018, he realized various projects in private galleries and public institutions in Italy and abroad (Venice, Varese, Milan, Latina, Piacenza, Montesarchio, Vienna, Maribor, and Luxembourg). In 2017, he created the project Before It Comes Next, exhibited at the Romberg Gallery in Latina, and in 2018 the project Welcome to the Final Show at the Punto Sull'Arte Gallery in Varese and later at the Ptuj City Gallery in Slovenia. In 2019, his works were shown in Long Gone, a solo exhibition curated by Reco Sturgis at the Hugo Gallery in New York, and in The Tremendus World I have Inside my Head, a group exhibition curated by Marko Košan at the The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška (KGLU) in Slovenj Gradec. Today, his works are shown in numerous exhibitions, fairs, institutions and form part of collections around the world. He currently lives and works between Strnišče, Slovenia, and Vicenza, Italy.