Marjetica Potrc
dal 21/5/2003 al 7/9/2003
Segnalato da
21/5/2003
Marjetica Potrc
IVAM Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Valencia
A site specific installation that continues her project of drawing attention to the series of negotiations necessary to survive in urban environments. This new work, created specifically for the IVAM, highlights her ongoing interest in self-sustainable technology and is Marjetica Potc's first with functioning mechanical components.
Urban Negotiation
The artist Marjetica Potrc's first solo exhibition in Spain, curated by Ana Maria Torres, opens at the IVAM Institut Valencià d'Art Modern on May 22 and runs through September 7, 2003.
Marjetica Potrc's work documents urban spaces and the tensions they engender. In pursuing this work she encounters self-sustainable solutions that empower individuals and then society as a whole. By bringing into galleries and museums reconstructions of shantytowns and other 'self-ruled' settlements like those developed from "core units"--basic structures and facilities onto which a home can be built--Potrc offers an aesthetic of extremely low budget architecture which, with its use of local materials and 'happy colors,' is sometimes, paradoxically, more progressive than the 'self-styled urban type' of architecture.
The IVAM presents for the first time in Spain the work of the Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrc with a site specific installation that continues her project of drawing attention to the series of negotiations necessary to survive in urban environments. This new work, created specifically for the IVAM, highlights her ongoing interest in self-sustainable technology and is Marjetica Potc's first with functioning mechanical components.
In discussing this new project Marjetica Potrc refers to her writings on 'Urban Nature and Natural Cities.' As she relates in this text, her pavilion at the IVAM with its favela referencing structure, which provides a haven from the sun, can be seen as 'the story of the first favela, which was put up in the shade of 'favelas,' as the trees were called then, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro in 1897 by soldiers whose enemy had gone missing.' This x{2018}favela' emphasizes Potrc's interest in basic structures produced through individual initiative. The pavilion is open to the public as the sun rises and, through the use of solar power, opens its doors; it is closed to the public when the sun sets and subsequently closes the doors.
In the interior of the pavilion the artist presents aspects of human interaction with structure: two large prints are hung on each side of the pavilion and on a central table are two prints, at each end, that express the different characters of shantytowns during the day and at night; a model of a favela; a ceramic pot used by the inhabitants; pure oil; a representation of an un-welcomed visitors; and a clockwork telephone charger. Marjetica Potrc presents favelas and shantytowns throughout the world and self-sustainable solutions developed to address the problems of low cost living. In many cases her work directs attention to the poorest parts of society, making evident that by using creativity and the significant powers of invention inherent to being human we can create richly designed architecture with minimum means.
Marjetica Potrc is a Ljubljana based artist and architect. Her work has been featured throughout Europe and the United States, including shows at the Center for Curatorial Studies Museum, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (1996); Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil (1996); Skulptur. Projekte in Muenster (1997); La casa, il Corpo, il Cuore: Konstruktion der Identitaeten, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (1999); Urban Visions, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts (1999); Manifesta 3, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2000); Guggenheim Museum, NY (2001); Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany (2001); and Max Protetch Gallery, New York, NY (2002). In addition, Potrc has received numerous awards, including grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (1993 and 1999) and the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts, Ljubljana (1994), Parque de la Memoria Sculpture Prize, Buenos Aires (2000), a Philip Morris Kunstfoerderung Grant to participate in the International Studio Program of Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2000) and The Hugo Boss Prize 2000, Guggenheim Museum.
Image: Tin House, Houston. Photo by Annika Marie Relyea
IVAM
Guillem de Castro, 118 Valencia