Mirjana Rukavina: Closeness and other stories

Mirjana Rukavina concluded the study of painting at the Faculty of fine arts in Vienna in 1997. The core of her opus is formed by fashion and art photography, but she often also stretches into the fields of film and performance.

The exhibition Closeness and other stories delves inside two of the fine arts’ fundamental tasks: the portrait, the nude, and the intertwinement of both. The visual organizations of the portrayed persons in front of the camera, who are allowed to dress, undress and express themselves freely, address the issues of self-representation of the individual in a society that is so entirely saturated by visual messages, and at the same time problematize what is often a vague distinction between the artistic and the fashion, highly aestheticized photography. Some of the models, like the Kurd women, were found by chance on the streets of Vienna – in a certain way, they could be characterized as genre models, because they move inside the middle-European Viennese context – and thus pose for the first time in front of a professional photographer. Others again are professional models, accustomed to the camera, but not to the nudity. They are all placed inside a situation where they can freely present themselves, as well as provoke and dare the surroundings and the ever-implicated observer. The situation - facing the dilemma of whether to just pose for the camera, or open up and strip in front of it, both literally and metaphorically – progresses, with an undeniable trust in the photographer, into overwhelming personal stories.

About the exhibition

Supported by Fitnes Klub Pristan Maribor.

March 9th – March 31th 2012
Opening: March 9th 2012 at 8pm
KiBela / KIBLA Maribor

KiBela, space for art, is open on weekdays between 9am and 10pm, Saturdays between 9pm and 10pm, closed on Sundays.

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Support: EU-EACEA, Culture program, Brussels, Ministry of Culture, Municipality of Maribor, Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth.