Mladen Stilinović
Mladen Stilinović (* 1947 in Belgrade , † 2016 ) was a from Yugoslavia originating conceptual artist . As a representative of the New Art Practice ( "Nova umjetnička praksa" / "New Art Practice"), it dealt with the meaning of work and the role of the artist, where he is the center of irony, absurdity and the reductio ad absurdum served.
life and work
Stilinović was active in the informal art scene of Yugoslavia since the late 1960s. From 1969 to 1976 he dealt with experimental film. In 1975 he was a founding member of the artist group “ šestorice autora ” (Six Authors) in Zagreb , which included Vladimir Martek , Boris Demur, Željko Jerman, Sven Stilinović and Fedomir Vučemilović. The group was active until 1979. In addition to his artistic work, he co-founded the short-lived Podroom Gallery in 1978 and headed the Extended Media Gallery from 1981 to 1991. One of the earliest works by Stilinović still shown today is “Sing!”, A photo of the artist with a banknote on his forehead. The work addresses the contradiction between payment for art and artistic freedom and in 2011 served as the title for a retrospective at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest.
One of his best-known works is the series " Exploitation of the Dead " (1984–1990). The 200-part installation is a mixture of photos with cartoons in the style of Philip Guston and can be read as an Eastern European answer to the Mexican Day of the Dead . The series has been exhibited many times, including at documenta 12 in Kassel (2007).
His work “Dictionary - Pain” was exhibited at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 as a guest contribution in the Slovenian pavilion. The work consisted of the individually framed pages of a dictionary in which everything except the words to be defined was white. Instead of explaining the words, Stilinović added “pain” in handwriting to each word.
“Laziness is the absence of movement and thought, stupid time - complete amnesia. Laziness is further indifference, staring into nothing, inactivity, impotence. It is sheer stupidity, a time of pain, useless concentration. These virtues of laziness are important factors in art. It is not enough to know about laziness, it must be practiced and perfected. Artists in the West are not lazy and therefore not artists, but rather producers of something… […] Finally, for the sake of laziness, I will conclude with: Without laziness, no art.
Stilinović lives and works in Zagreb .
Web links
- Materials by and about Mladen Stilinović in the documenta archive
- Mladen Stilinović on kunstaspekte.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Richard Unwin: Mladen Stilinović ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: frieze. No. 141 (September 2011).
- ↑ Branka Stipancic (Ed.): Mladen Stilinovic: SING! Ludwig Museum, Budapest 2011.
- ^ Mladen Stilinović: The Praise of Laziness . Text presented for the first time in 1993 on the occasion of a performance . In: Moscow Art Magazine. No. 22 (1998)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stilinović, Mladen |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Stilinovic, Mladen (spelling without diacritical marks) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Croatian artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Belgrade |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2016 |