Irwin - Construction of the Context
A comprehensive exhibition at KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn
IRWIN. Construction of the Context, an exhibition by the Slovenian art group IRWIN at the Kumu Art Museum.
The group has compiled a survey of its works during nearly three decades. The exhibition is part of the Kumu programme that promotes internationally recognised contemporary art. The exhibition is accompanied by public programmes and a voluminous Estonian- and English-language newspaper.
The group has compiled a survey of its works during nearly three decades. The exhibition is part of the Kumu programme that promotes internationally recognised contemporary art. The exhibition is accompanied by public programmes and a voluminous Estonian- and English-language newspaper.
"IRWIN is a recognised and actively operating group in the
international field of contemporary art, and one of the most noteworthy
artistic forces to have emerged from the former Yugoslavia," said Ellu
Maar, the exhibition's curator. "One of the most important themes of the
group's recent work is posing the artistic-political question of
whether it is possible to compile a uniform modernist history for
eastern Europe, and the interim result is the work of art and research
the East Art Map."
The art group Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK), which also includes
IRWIN, has declared that it is a temporal state, with its own national
symbols and voluntary citizenship based on passports. With the help of
the fictional state, the group studies the sacrality and functioning
mechanisms of modern symbols of power.
The exhibition includes the following: paintings from the IRWIN
series Kapital (1984−2008), documentation on the 1992 art happening NSK
Moscow Embassy, topics related to the East Art Map and declarations by
the fictional state of NSK, such as the self-organisation of NSK
citizens, the NSK Garda action, with soldiers from various countries in
the NSK colour guard and posters with IRWIN slogans.
IRWIN, a five-member group of painters, was created in 1983 in
Ljubljana, as the art wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst group, along
with the Laibach industrial band. The activities of NSK aspired to
undermine the reigning ideology and expose the functioning mechanisms of
this ideology.
In its creative work during the 1980s, IRWIN proceeded from the
"retro-principle", which consisted of reusing and combining ready-made
images from the history of art and culture. In their paintings, they
juxtaposed the avant-garde propaganda art of the totalitarian regimes of
the early 20th century, thereby dealing with the last century's most
revolutionary modernist utopias, the complicated intertwining of art and
politics, the ideology that dominated art relations and the power of
images.
Starting in the 1990s, IRWIN's art practices have been characterised
by parallels between aesthetics and institutional criticism, the
creation of discussion platforms and international dialogue.
The exhibition was designed by IRWIN. The exhibition is accompanied
by an Estonian- and English-language newspaper, with articles by Jürgen
Harten, Viktor Misiano, Mary Jane Jacob, IRWIN and Ellu Maar. The
newspaper was designed by Jaanus Samma and its publication was supported
by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
IRWIN. Construction of the Context will be open at the Kumu Art Museum until 27 January 2013.
http://irwin.si/news/irwin-construction-of-context/
