Adriana Maraž‘s graphic works and two matrices are on view at the exhibition in Čop’s birth house in Žirovnica entitled Simple Things: Small Graphics by Adriana Maraž.
They are miniatures that show the attachment of this great artist to the world of objects belonging to folk tradition. A cradle, a chair, a beehive frontal panel and a book are objects that were passed down from generation to generation in the past and could also be found in old homesteads in the villages below Mt. Stol. They act as a counterweight to vernacular furniture and quotes from the world history of art (for example, the Mona Lisa) and emphasise the equality of both worlds, the primitive, rural, calm and the bustling city, where Adriana Maraž is attracted by pop art. She does not mirror the object world, but rather uses objects that have been eroded by time to reflect on life and the passing of time.
Objects from rural life that were once so important in everyday life are now nostalgic reminders of a time that will never return. This cosmopolitan artist knew how to appreciate simple things, to show them with considerable subtlety, as if she would like to invite us to remember, and, with an awakened interest, to start respecting and preserving the objects of our heritage.
With its graphic titled ‘Beehive Panels – Time Fades Away’, the exhibition in Čop’s birth house will remind us of this year’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the death of Anton Janša, a global pioneer of beekeeping. The graphic also depicts one of the motifs (hives) from Anton Janša’s apiary in Breznica.
About Adriana Maraž (1931-2015)
After graduating from the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts (now ALUO) in 1958, Adriana Maraž , a world-renowned and important Slovenian artist in the field of printmaking, first began to establish herself as a painter, and after 1967 devoted herself entirely to prints. She became a master at creating the most demanding printing techniques of engraving.
Adriana Maraž exhibited independently and at all the world biennials of graphics and received numerous awards. She was awarded the Grand Prix twice – at the Biennale in Fredrikstadt, Norway and Frechen, Germany – and was the recipient of prizes at the Ljubljana Graphic Biennale several times. She took part in twenty-eight exhibitions in Slovenia and around the world, including in Belgrade, Brussels and Padua. Her prints are kept by central world museums, such as London’s Tate Gallery and New York’s MoMA, as well as museum collections in Slovenia from the Ljubljana MGLC and the Museum of Modern Art, to the Prešeren Gallery Prize Winners Collection in Kranj and others. She was the first artist to receive the central Slovenian award for fine arts, the Jakopič Award in 1977, and the Prešeren Foundation Award in 1983.
Adriana Maraž lived and worked in Ljubljana and Breznica in Žirovnica.
Shop 
