On Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 7:00 p.m., you are invited to Cirkulacija 2, Ajdovščina subway Ljubljana, to the grand opening of a large retrospective sculpture multimedia exhibition

Tomaž Kolarič: DIALOGUE AND EMPATHY

Key words in Kolarich’s artistic approach are: mobility, gesture (i.e. dripping, melting of matter), telescoping (from scroll to object), rhythm and melody. This applies both to the figuration of plastics, as well as to his approach to photography and drawing (D. Mahnič: “drawing is luxurious in its elemental gesturality”). The vocabulary of the works of art is Kolaričev’s, but the interpretation is a matter for all participants. In this way, a dialogue of several generations is established. Father and sons in a way.

Co-author group: Dominik Mahnič, Boštjan Čadež, Stefan Doepner, Marko Batista, Simon Svetlik and Borut Savski.

The exhibition will be open until April 14, 2024, every weekday between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Artist guides over the exhibition:
– Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 5:00 p.m
– Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 5:00 p.m
– Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 5:00 p.m

Closing event:
– Sunday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m

Photo: Smiljan Šiška

The selection of sculptor Tomaž Kolarič as the central artistic figure of the month-long exhibition in Circulation 2 is not accidental. Kolarič has been actively monitoring the activities of Circulation 2 since 2008. In the case of a transparent exhibition, we avoid a purely historical view in the way of intergenerational cooperation of three authors. The vocabulary of the artworks is Kolaričev’s, but the interpretation is everyone’s business.

Important for Kolarič are his connecting skills, which he constantly renewed in his interdisciplinary work in the field of art – both in his artistic artifacts and in connecting artists into social gatherings – temporary groups. This time’s collaborative gathering will focus on the creation of a transparent exhibition of static and dynamic figurative art, as well as photographs and drawings, and contemporary view enhancers will be added. It is important that the sculptor wanted the exhibition to comment on the current world-political moment, hence the title of the exhibition Dialogue and empathy – as two principles that are sorely lacking in today’s world.

Kolarič mentions the French artist Ives Klein as his role model. which combines the concepts of minimalism, artistic performance, new reality and pop art. Perhaps as well as living art. The sculptor Kolarič used the word multimedia a long time ago, which means the rudimentary simultaneity of several artistic media. In these live approaches (“happenings”), he uses the word simultaneity to outline the feeling experienced, which means the coexistence of different views of the viewer. The basis is dialogue, which first means understanding each other – and then a coordinated agreement.

Tomaž Kolarič
born in 1952 in Ljubljana, he first studied architecture. Between 1975 and 1979, sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. He worked as a sculptural specialist with prof. Slavko Tihco. He participated in over 60 exhibitions in Slovenia, Yugoslavia and around the world. Until 2006, he regularly participated in exhibitions. His specialty is light sculptures: small plastic ones. A figural that escapes the dictates of monumentality and, through lighter materials (metal mesh, metal scrolls and paper), is attached to the space in a different way. Often the sculptures are mobile – mobile. The lightness and responsiveness of the materials thus approaches breath and even sound (“rhythm and melody”). Kolarič was always guided by a thought. Reflection on the nature of the world and life.

Kolarič has been actively following the activities of Circulation 2 since 2008, when he organized a conceptually very defining event entitled Melting art into an event. At that time, his statues were telescopic horns that, after the rafting on the Ljubljanica, blew their horns to Cirkulacije 2 in the former Rog factory. Students of the Academy of Music played on them. This example of a self-evident expansion of the concept of artistic space beyond the usual framework of form and environment is a typical way of living artistic activity. Of course, such an event does not go down in the history of art without pompous public reminders, and such an atypical artist can remain active throughout his life, but his work remains without typical milestones, such as solo exhibitions in nationally important galleries. In the minds of his colleagues, such an artist belongs to that group of individuals who are known to have been active and of high quality throughout, but remain less present on the national symbolic market. Such ways of acting, which arise from artistic desire, but not from career motives, are also the principle of Circulation 2. This is otherwise called living art.

When identifying the predecessors of Circulation 2, the personality of Tomaž Kolarič also appears. Years ago, Neven Korda completed his studies in his mature years and did research on the immediate predecessors of Disk FV112/15. It was created in 1981 on the basis of the Disko Študent, which was activated by the student organization Forum, within which Tomaž Kolarič was also very active just before that. Within this poorly chronicled period, there are also names such as: Dušan Pirih Hup, Jani Osojnik, Iztok Osojnik, and Smiljan Šiška and others. In the future, however, they individually positioned themselves better – when they left the group dynamics. Certainly, a very important reference for Circulation 2 comes from their circle: Hidrogizma – a water machine that is a collectively played sound instrument – actually a sculpture with people and sound. Like the circulation Machine for the Betterment of the World, it is full of metaphor. Our quote from 2010: A platform is a work of art. After 25 years – in 2004 – the modern gallery presented a reassembled Hidrogism, but the direct application of the current live scene to this creation was lacking. With the present exhibition, Circulation 2 partially eliminates this shortcoming and symbolically positions itself as a representative of this artistic direction, which declares the equal collaboration of authors to be an important artistic premise.

Production: Cirkulacija 2

Co-financing: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana

Povezava na video prispevek: https://youtu.be/yyBRRDu5Wn8?si=ilXmoo5uNgpGNNgJ