Samuel Grajfoner and students of the Department of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor BETWEEN THE INVISIBLE AND PRESENT IMPRINT

Samuel Grajfoner and students of the Department of Fine Arts
at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor
BETWEEN THE INVISIBLE AND PRESENT IMPRINT
Opening: Thursday, April 11, at 20:00
KiBela, space for art / KIBLA Maribor

Artistic address to the urban interspaces of the city of Maribor
Project Umetnost: ZDAJ – Eksterier (Art: NOW – Exterier)

“The difference between subjective impressions and objective imprinting into the world has been experienced by the students of the University of Maribor in their own particular way. They namely decided to publically imprint large scale graphics with a road roller in front of the UM Rectorate building, thereby making an exemplary “tattoo” of the art graphic into the urban tissue of last year’s European capital of culture, since it was clear that it can no longer reach out to the public in the more familiar form of “personal contemplation”. So they wait for the result.”
Muhovič, J. (2012). Maribor 2012 – European capital of culture. Art graphic (Drucgraphik) in the land of european capital of culture. UM:DRUCK, Zeitschrift für Druckgraphik un visuele Kultur, Nummer 20 Juli 2012, zweites Buch

Between the Invisible and Present Imprint
Matrixes of larger dimensions and other fine arts materials which inhabited the RAZ:UM exhibition grounds at the beginning of June were announcing a project with an illustrative title, which synthesises creative endeavours in the graphic arts field under the mentorship of Full Professor Samuel Grajfoner1 for over a decade. The first part of the project started in June, the second one in October: students from all four years of the study programme had several performative actions during which they were making prints on a large scale (140 × 200 cm) using the linocut technique and also a machine for compacting the ground, a road roller, in front of the UM Rectorate building. At the RAZ:UM exhibition grounds which also served as a workstation for printing preparation and fine arts material depot, the prints were allowed to dry out and were later displayed. In short, visitors could observe various phases of graphic print creation together with the tools in their making, and the process of integrating a work of art into its surroundings. Young artists follow their mentor's example and begin to utilise and understand graphic art in its broader sense: as a lever for pointing out to the state of things or as a tool for achieving change. They consciously enlarge and extend the content of their work and thus increase the power of the artistic message while preserving the autonomy of a graphic art original.2 The key role here is played by their mentor's incentive in order to allow for the direct contact and exploration of materials as a foundation of graphic art creativity; for the awareness-rising creation as a process, operation and meaning of team work in creating prints of unusually big formats (several artists cut out their own matrixes and combined them into a whole). The project includes a form of traditional printing in connection with actions in public spaces within the city. Graphic design with an active attitude towards a given space and its specifics expresses a demand for new, unusual expressive and communicative possibilities. The project exposes and evaluates the entire working process, not only the print and thus speaks about graphic art as a specific research. Furthermore, it includes graphic art explorations in complex spatial addresses, which takes its inspiration from conceptual art and are an important characteristic of contemporary artistic practices.
Puncer, M. (2012). Umetniški nagovori urbanih medprostorov mesta Maribor. O projektih Umetnost: ZDAJ – Eksterier. Med nevidnim in prisotnim odtisom. Umetnost: ZDAJ, INTERIER – EKSTERIER, December, 2012

Works in exhibition by: students of the Department of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor
Mentor: professor Samuel Grajfoner

About the exhibition

Opening on Thursday, 11 April 2013, at 20.00
The exhibition will be showing until 11 May 2013.

KiBela, space for art / ACE KIBLA, Ulica kneza Koclja 9, 2000 Maribor
Open on weekdays between 9 am and 10 pm and Saturdays between 5 pm and 10 pm.