Z razstavo To ni/to je se v Galeriji Simulaker predstavlja umetnica Ulla Žibert. Razstava je bila izbrana v sklopu poziva Prva priložnost 2020, na katerega je skupno prispelo 37 vlog umetnic in umetnikov mlajše generacije. Strokovna komisija v sestavi Tie Čiček (kuratorka), Špele Petrič (intermedijska umetnica) ter Adrijana Praznika (umetniški vodja Galerije Simulaker) se je ob številnih raznolikih vlogah soglasno odločila za dobitnico letošnje prve priložnosti. Nekatera prispela dela so raziskovala formo, spet druga so bolje odražala koncept. Serija slik Ulle Žibert uspe tako eno kot drugo povezati v nerazdružljivo celoto.

Umetnica svojo slikarsko serijo snuje že več let, jo razvija in postopoma spreminja. Začetna dela iz te serije so odslikana mimetično, novejša pa so za razliko bolj ploskovita in izčiščena. Tako pri enih in drugih pa so odsebne sence predmetov ali subjektov te, ki so neustrezne oziroma popačene. S sencami prekine sicer prepričljivo iluzijo in nas s tem spodbuja, da ponovno ovrednotimo to, kar vidimo v podobah. Njena motivika, ki je globoko zasidrana v vsakdanu, na ta način dobi še drug, skrit pomen. Tako v navidez običajnih prizorih vzniknejo tematike, ki jih lahko povezujemo s feminističnimi vsebinami, spremembami, ki jih prinaša tehnološki razvoj idr. Ulla Žibert spretno aktivira in poveže različne pristope na slikarskem nosilcu. Njena dela so tako na zagonetnem presečišču, kjer se srečajo likovnost, konceptualni pristop in bogat nabor ikonografije ter referenc.

Umetničina dela tako v naš prostor prinašajo svežino. Čeprav gre za dobro izoblikovan umetniški medij, ki ima že ustaljene tokove delovanja, ga umetnica bistro obrača sebi v prid, saj reinterpretira navidez običajne, vsakodnevne pojave, ki nam zaradi svojega ponavljanja predstavljajo normo. Njeno razmerje do medija je paradoksalno – sama ga opiše kot »odnos ljubezni in sovraštva«. Ta odnos lahko razumemo kot konflikt vsebine in forme, ki se pri ustvarjalnih procesih pogosto pojavlja. Umetničina intenca in končni rezultat se nikoli povsem ne ujemata. Tu pomislim na Pasolinijevo priredbo Boccacciovega Dekamerona. V eni izmed devetih zgodb, ki jih uprizarja film, se slikar Allievo di Giotto (igra ga kakopak Pasolini sam) vpraša, zakaj ustvariti umetniško delo, če pa so sanje o njem toliko lepše. Tu gre za zdrse, odstopanja, ki se zgodijo med našimi mentalnimi predstavami in udejanjanjem le-teh.

A vendar je potrebno poudariti, da pri Ulli Žibert ne gre za sanje. Če bi že želeli njen proces tako opisati, bi bil veliko primernejši izraz sanjarjenje [daydreaming]. A tudi tu se nam srčica njenih del izmika. Veliko primernejše bi bilo, da se naslonimo na delo Renéja Magrittea – Izdajstvo podob [fr. La trahison des images]. Če vzamemo to za referenčno izhodišče, je bistvo slikarkinih del prav v tem praznem prostoru [gap], ki se zgodi med označevalcem in označencem. To, da se umetnica ukvarja z jezikom, pa je razvidno tudi iz kratkih besedil, ki so pogosto del njene motivike. Tudi sami metapodatki njenih del vključujejo pomenljive naslove, ki umetnine še dodatno kontekstualizirajo.

Kurator razstave: Adrijan Praznik
Obrazstavno besedilo: Adrijan Praznik
Producent razstave: Galerija Simulaker / LokalPatriot
Projekt so podprli: Ministrstvo za kulturo RS in Mestna občina Novo mesto

The artist Ulla Žibert presents her work with the exhibition This is/this is not at the Simulaker Gallery. The exhibition was selected as a part of the First Opportunity 2020 open call, which received a total of 37 applicatons by artists of the younger generation. An expert commission composed of Tia Čiček (curator), Špela Petrič (intermedia artist) and Adrijan Praznik (artistic director of the Simulaker Gallery) unanimously decided for this year’s first opportunity grantee in relation to a large number of diverse applications. Some of the works explored the form, while others better reflected the conceptual spectrum. The series of paintings by Ulla Žibert manages to merge both into an inseparable whole.

The artist has been working on her painting series for several years, developing it and gradually changing it. The initial works from this series are painted in a mimetical fashion, while the newer ones are, by contrast, flattened and cleaner. In both cases, the distinctive shadows of objects or subjects are those that are inappropriate or distorted. With the placement of shadows she breaks the otherwise convincing illusion and thus encourages us to re-evaluate what we see in the images.
Her motifs, which are deeply rooted in everyday life, thus acquire another, hidden meaning. Thus, in seemingly ordinary scenes, themes emerge that can be associated with feminist content, changes brought about by technological development, and so on. Ulla Žibert skillfully activates and connects different approaches on a painting medium. Her works meet at a mysterious crossroads, where fine art, a conceptual approach and a rich set of iconography and references meet.

Her works thus bring freshness to the Slovenian art scene. Although painting is a well-formed artistic medium that has already established streams of work, the artist clearly turns it to her advantage, as she reinterprets seemingly ordinary, everyday phenomena, which are understood the norm due to their repetition. Her relationship with the medium is paradoxical – she describes it as a “love and hate relationship”. This relationship can be understood as a conflict between the content and form that often occurs in the midst of the creative processes. The artist’s intention and end result never quite match. Here I think of Pasolini’s adaptation of Boccaccio’s Decameron. In one of the nine stories staged by the film, the painter Allievo di Giotto (played by Pasolini himself) wonders as to why create a work of art, if the dream of it is so much more beautiful. These are slips, deviations that occur between our mental perceptions and the realization of them.

However, it should be emphasized that Ulla Žibert’s works are not about dreams. If we wanted to describe her process in this way, the term daydreaming would be much more appropriate, but even so the essence of her works eludes us. It would be much more appropriate to rely on the work of René Magritte – Betrayal of Images [fr. La trahison des images]. If we take this as a referential starting point, the essence of the painter’s work is precisely in the gap that occurs between the signifier and the signified. The fact that the artist deals with language is also evident from the short texts that are often part of her motifs. The sole metadata of her works also include meaningful titles that further contextualize them

Curator of the exhibition: Adrijan Praznik
Educational text: Adrijan Praznik
Exhibition producer: Simulaker Gallery / LokalPatriot
The project was supported by: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Novo mesto