Gregor Podnar

Mladen Stropnik

22 Mar - 26 Apr 2013

© Mladen Stropnik
WTF Is Happening, 2012
collage
MLADEN STROPNIK
Let Go
22 March - 26 April 2013

Galerija Gregor Podnar / DUM društvo umetnikov proudly presents Mladen Stropnik’s second independent exhibition entitled LET GO, which will be displayed at the Project Space of Galerija Gregor Podnar, at Kolodvorska 6, Ljubljana.

The exhibition combines a selection of video and drawings created over the course of the last three years, whose subject matter is linked to his first exhibition project presented at the Project Space Ljubljana in 2009. The exhibition LET GO departs from what Mladen Stropnik refers to as “fact”, presenting a direct aesthetic experience and release of associative ideas which reflect the artist's relationship to the mundane and society in general.

Mladen Stropnik initially explored the broader field of painting and later (from 2004) begun to develop an independent body of work in the video medium, influenced by early 1990s punk/rock music and 1980s underground music video aesthetics.

While in his early video work he played the central role of a masked artist, his recent work includes “unmasked” performances, featuring random scenes, human and abstract geometric forms and fragments from everyday life. The scenes are often repeated, invoking a sense of manic excess, a mix of bizarre, vividly colorful, voyeuristic sexual scenes, humor and sadness... The videos appear to be a kind of a visual, distorted prism of reality presented through Stropnik’s eyes. Stropnik’s drawings and objects are also very emotionally direct and forceful records, this time without the artist’s own image.

Mladen Stropnik (born in 1977) lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He was awarded the OHO Award in 2008 - an award presented to young Slovenian artists by the P74 Center and Gallery based in Ljubljana.

The project is supported by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Cultural Department of the City of Ljubljana.
Special thanks to Moderna galerija Ljubljana.