IRWIN collective of Slovenian artists
The Symbols of Malevich
Artist
IRWIN collective of Slovenian artists
(1983, Ljbuljana), Slovenia
Original Title
The Symbols of Malevich
Date1992
Mediummixed media
Dimensions101,4 × 181,4 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionIRWIN is a Slovenian artist collective primarily working with painting but also often engaging with performance. They seek a revision of artistic and ideological ideas. In order to grasp the meanings contained in their work, it is important for the viewer to be familiar with their cultural and ideological background. IRWIN’s collective artistic program entails an analysis of the formative moments of Slovenian national culture as well as general modes of cultural identification. Their inquiries are marked by eclecticism, combining various national symbols and motifs tied to chapters of Slovenian history—such as Socialist realism, Nazi art, Italian futurism, and Soviet constructivism—as well as religious motifs and themes from Slovenian art of the 19th and 20th centuries. They also engage with the symbolism and aesthetics of the Eastern and Western avantgarde and highlight the possibility of multiplying identical symbols. Such intentional eclecticism and stylistic heterogeneity formed the basis of the IRWIN’s agenda of so-called national culture and authenticity. They deconstruct the established dichotomy of avantgarde criticism and totalitarian Traditionalism, examining the flaws of both sides. In their institutional critique, they spotlight the marginalization of Eastern European art within the global art world while simultaneously helping raise awareness about Yugoslavia and Eastern European art. Their artistic practice as well as their theoretical writings and research projects examine the links between art and the totalitarian system, modernist iconography and ideology, as well as the geopolitical impact of the revolutionary years of 1989-1991 and the historization of modernist and contemporary art produced in Yugoslavia and the former Eastern Bloc. Their artistic approach is sometimes labelled “retroavantgarde” due to its paradoxical fusion of Traditionalism with the avantgarde and its recycling of well-known symbols, images, and philosophical ideas commonly charged with ideological power rooted in their use by governmental institutions. IRWIN’s practice also conveys a shift from individualism to collectivism, drawing attention to the social impact of totalitarian regimes which prioritize the masses at the cost of individual freedoms. They do not sign their works in a traditional manner—instead, once approved by the collective, artworks are stamped with the group’s monogram, commonly on a metal plate. One of their most significant projects, titled Was ist Kunst (What is Art), was realized in collaboration with the music group Laibach. As part of the series, they appropriated and transformed motifs used by Laibach, including the iconographies of socialist realism, Nazi propaganda, religious art, avantgarde art, and archetypal Slovenian artworks. IRWIN always prioritizes motifs over artistic styles, termed by its members as the “dictate of the motif” prevailing over the “dictate of style”.
The intentionally antiaesthetic work The Symbols of Malevich (1992) comprises an idealized, romantic landscape painting inside a massive wooden frame. This placement references the presentation of old religious icons—however, this reference is disrupted by the image of a landscape which is at odds with the religious aim of suppressing the earthly realm. The symbols of a cross, circle, and square, incorporated into the painting via assemblage, represent the universal symbols of Malevich’s suprematism, which also emphasized color and form over mimetic depictions of reality. This piece is thus based on an intentional confrontation and ironization of vastly different ideologies, both seeking to convey spirituality, albeit in significantly divergent ways.
The Slovenan artist collective IRWIN, founded in 1983, is formed by a group of artists living and working in Ljbuljana. Its members are Dušan Mandič (born 1954, Ljubljana), Miran Mohar (born 1958, Novo Mesto), Andrej Savski (born 1961, Ljubljana), Roman Uranjek (born 1961, Trbovlje) a Borut Vogelnik (born 1958, Kranj). In its early stages, the group was named Rros Irwn Séave, an homage to Marcel Duchamp. From 1984 onward, they took part in Slovenian art projects which they considered crucial in relation to their own art. IRWIN is also part of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) collective, founded in 1984, which also thematizes collective uniformity. IRWIN has exhibited in Europe and the USA, including the Venice Biennale and the Manifesta biennials in Rotterdam and Ljubljana. Their work has also been included in several thematic exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 2004, they were awarded the Jakopič Award, the most prestigious annual prize of the Slovenian art scene.
The intentionally antiaesthetic work The Symbols of Malevich (1992) comprises an idealized, romantic landscape painting inside a massive wooden frame. This placement references the presentation of old religious icons—however, this reference is disrupted by the image of a landscape which is at odds with the religious aim of suppressing the earthly realm. The symbols of a cross, circle, and square, incorporated into the painting via assemblage, represent the universal symbols of Malevich’s suprematism, which also emphasized color and form over mimetic depictions of reality. This piece is thus based on an intentional confrontation and ironization of vastly different ideologies, both seeking to convey spirituality, albeit in significantly divergent ways.
The Slovenan artist collective IRWIN, founded in 1983, is formed by a group of artists living and working in Ljbuljana. Its members are Dušan Mandič (born 1954, Ljubljana), Miran Mohar (born 1958, Novo Mesto), Andrej Savski (born 1961, Ljubljana), Roman Uranjek (born 1961, Trbovlje) a Borut Vogelnik (born 1958, Kranj). In its early stages, the group was named Rros Irwn Séave, an homage to Marcel Duchamp. From 1984 onward, they took part in Slovenian art projects which they considered crucial in relation to their own art. IRWIN is also part of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) collective, founded in 1984, which also thematizes collective uniformity. IRWIN has exhibited in Europe and the USA, including the Venice Biennale and the Manifesta biennials in Rotterdam and Ljubljana. Their work has also been included in several thematic exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 2004, they were awarded the Jakopič Award, the most prestigious annual prize of the Slovenian art scene.
