Adriena Šimotová, the recipient of the Grand Prize of the 13th Biennial of Graphic Arts

Adriena Šimotová: Encounter. Touch and Imprint.
10. 12. 2021–8. 3. 2022
MGLC, Tivoli Mansion

Adriena Šimotová (1926–2014) is presented on this occasion in Ljubljana with an exhibition of works on paper. We can simply say that they are beautiful and poetic at the same time. By layering collages with frottage-painted silk paper, which appears fragile in its slightly crumpled structure and creates a tactile tension that focuses on the body, touch and spirituality, the artist maintains her interest in ontological questions of the human being, the realm of communication, dialogue and the presence of others. For her, paper is the most sensitive medium that can record the process of creation; she also understood it as a metaphor for our uncertainty in life. With her unique, pictorially authentic voice, she is closely connected to the world of poetry; not least, her creative life also included writing poetry alongside her visual expression.

Curator: Pavel Brunclík

The exhibition was prepared in close cooperation with the Adriena Šimotová and Jiří John Foundation from Prague, as well as the National Gallery Prague, Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava, Olomouc Museum of Art, Gelerie Klatovy / Klenová, Galerie Zlatá husa in Prague and the Jindřich Štreit Foundation. The exhibition is held under the auspices of the Embassy of the Czech Republic.

The guided tour of the exhibition of Adriena Šimotová can be viewed on the following link.

Accompanying Programme:

My jsem ti, které hledáme (We Are the Ones We Are Looking for), poetry evening
18. 1. 2022, at 17.00

Adriena Šimotová is closely connected to the world of poetry through her unique, pictorially authentic voice. The exhibition and the artist will be introduced by Museum Counsellor mag. Breda Škrjanec. Selected Czech poetry will be interpreted by the dramatic actor Boris Ostan.

The Czechs and the Slovenes, Traces in Culture,
lecture
8. 2. 2022, at 15.00

Peter Kuhar will give a lecture presenting the traces of the extensive work of Czech artists in Slovenia as well as the contribution of Slovene artists, scientists and architects to Czech culture. Peter Kuhar is a publicist and translator. He graduated in Slavonic Studies from the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana and worked for several years as an editor and writer in the editorial department of the cultural programme on Slovene national television. He has lived in the Czech Republic since 2008. He writes and publishes articles in the Slovene and Czech media.

The creative journey of Adriena Šimotová,
lecture
22. 2. 2022, at 17.00
Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva 2, Ljubljana

Lecture by Pavel Brunclík, curator of the exhibition, long-time collaborator of the artist and connoisseur of the Adriena Šimotová and Jiří John Foundation. The lecture is dedicated to the work, personality and life of Adriena Šimotová, one of the most respected figures of Czech visual art in the second half of the twentieth century and at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The parallels of the artist’s work with some themes of existential philosophy and the philosophy of personalism as found in the works of Martin Buber, Karel Jaspers, Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Heidegger will also be highlighted.
The lecture will be held in Czech and translated into Slovenian.
In collaboration with the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana.