Stane Jagodič

Stane Jagodic slavs and tatar theartists 1

Known for his sharp wit, Stane Jagodič has cut a path for the avant-garde since the nineteen seventies.

Graduating first from the School of Design, then from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, Jagodič is classically trained in painting. This early emphasis on drawing, with its mastery of light and shadow, has rippled through the artist's oeuvre. Even at that early point, Jagodič stood at the very edge of the boundary of the medium, searching for possible innovation. In his experimentation with X-Ray photography, we see the artist playing with the picture plane, tugging at all he had learned from figurative and realistic painting, waiting to see what more may be learned as the medium began to unravel. It is pleasing to see the continual development of the X-Ray series right up until the present day. A leading member of an early artist collective, the Grupa Junij, (June Group - named after the birth month shared by the founders), it is Jagodič's unfailing humor when dealing with serious topics that identifies the artist's work as uniquely his own. Since the 1980s, the artist has warned of the potential for disaster caused by a technological advancement that is inseparable from the machine of war. In "Digital Constructivism", a series of works that identify the pursuit of technology as akin to religious fervor, Jagodič strips apart high-tech found objects. He then repurposes religious artifacts and ubiquitous office materials to craft powerful and beautiful artworks that follow the Renaissance tradition.

Jagodič's obsessions define much of his output, each delicately offset by the artist's ever-present humor.

Without ever being explicitly defined, there is an almost hermetic quality to many of the artists' "cycles" of artworks, provoking a deep introspection of humanity's place in the world. The human body is often caught in the artist's work, yet detached from the human as a whole. We see images of modified figures - an ear attached to architecture, countless legs arranged in a frame, and the shadowy outline of a woman morphed into an arch reminiscent of ancient mythology. There is also a passing fascination with time, pain, and death - though it is addressed from the perspective of satire and without morbid curiosity. Food is also used to critique humanity - the sardine tin is sometimes associated with the urban human condition, and is packed with various objects and images to create visual metaphors for contemporary life. A laughing mouth (with reference to televised comedy), rows of tins with food replaced by live ammunition (evoking the violent exclamation "eat lead"), and the particularity delicate work titled "Sadist's Tin" (1972) containing a tearful eye presented alongside a small fork.

Text by Jonathan Ferguson

Biography Stane Jagodič

born in 1943 in Celje, Slovenia

Education

1970 Academy of Fine Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

1946 School of Design, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Exhibitions (selection)

2021
EKO 8, International Triennial of Art and Environment, Art Gallery Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia

2020
The 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, International Centre for Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2018
Spiritus Poeticus, assemblage, collage, scenography 1969-2017, Kresija Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia (SOLO)

2016
Variantos of Photography 1969-1980, Atelier DADO Gallery / Gallery of Art Museum of Montenegro, Cetinje, Montenegro (SOLO)

2014
Ghosts of DADA, Photon Gallery Vienna, Vienna, Austria (SOLO)
Collage, Assemblage at Gallery Dr Cene Avguštin at 3rd International Festival of Fine Arts Kranj, Kranj, Slovenia (SOLO)
Mes da Fotografia em Almada, Convento dos Capuchos,, Almada, Portugal (SOLO)

2013
Extended Realities / The Language of Photomontage, Rowan Art Gallery, Glassboro, USA
The Believer of Light, Photon Gallery, Vienna, Austria (SOLO)
Variations of Photography, Photon Galley, Ljubljana, Slovenia (SOLO)

2011
Momentos e Movimentos, Museum of Brazilian Art (MAB- FAAP), Sao Paulo, Brazil
X-Ray Men, Nessim Gallery, Budapest, Hungary (SOLO)

2009
Panta rhei, Gallery of Contemporary Art Celje, Celje, Montenegro (SOLO)

2008
Zoo Poetic (1963-2008), Jakopič Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia (SOLO)

1999
Tehnicos Poeticos, Architecture Museum of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia (SOLO)
Photomontages, Maison Robert Doisneau, Paris-Gentilly, France (SOLO)

Prizes (selection)

1987
Gold medal for photomontage at the international exhibition Międzynarodowa Wystawa Fotograficzna – Fotożart '87, Legnica, Poland

1986
Second prize for a cartoon at the exhibition of the 2nd Yugoslav Contest of Caricature – Television, Film, Estrade, Skopje, Yugoslavia
First prize S. Andrea d'oro for photomontage at the international exhibition 6° Biennale di caricature L'arte dell umorismo new mondo, Vercelli, Italy

Works by Stane Jagodič

Coquette I-II

1971 / Photographic print / 62 x 52 cm / 24.4 x 20.5 in (framed)
Will Power I-II

1971 / Digital print / 62 x 52 cm / 24.4 x 20.5 in (framed)
Poetry of Shadow

1975 / Silkscreen print / 72 x 71 cm / 28.3 x 28.0 in (framed)
Triumph Arc of Life

1981 / Photography / 64 x 73 cm / 25.2 x 28.7 in (framed)
Triumph Arc of Life

1981 / Silkscreen color print / 71 x 83 cm / 28.0 x 32.7 in (framed)
The Militarist's Menu

1971 / Digital print of assemblage / 88.8 x 68.8 cm / 35.0 x 27.1 in (framed)
Tinned Flame

1972 / Digital print of assemblage / 92.6 x 68.8 cm / 36.5 x 27.1 in (framed)
sold

Emancipation

2015 / Photomontage / 44 x 31.7 cm / 17.3 x 12.5 in (framed)
sold

Digital Triptych

2007 / Three dimensional assemblage II / 43 x 55 x 7 cm / 16.9 x 21.7 x 2.8 in
Soulless Hill

1972 / Digital print of assemblage / 64 x 52 cm / 25.2 x 20.5 in (framed)
Tinned Smile

1972 / Digital print of assemblage / 86.5 x 69.2 cm / 34.1 x 27.2 in (framed)
Tinned Laughter

1972 / Digital print of assemblage / 85.8 x 69.2 cm / 33.8 x 27.2 in (framed)
Town planning

2015 / Photomontage / 44 x 31.7 cm / 17.3 x 12.5 in (framed)
Why?, Sequence I-V

1971 / Digital print of assemblage / 122 x 32 cm / 48.0 x 12.6 in (framed)
sold

Eroticon

2003 / Photomontage / 31.7 x 44 cm / 12.5 x 17.3 in (framed)
sold

Eavesdropping

2005 / Photomontage / 44 x 31.7 cm / 17.3 x 12.5 in (framed)
sold

Directive

2015 / Photomontage / 31.7 x 44 cm / 12.5 x 17.3 in (framed)
Tinned Satirist Ivan Cimerman

1973 / Digital print of assemblage / 83.6 x 69.2 cm / 32.9 x 27.2 in (framed)
Eclipse

1969 / Digital print of assemblage / 67 x 42 cm / 26.4 x 16.5 in (framed)
Sadist's Tin

1972 / Digital print of assemblage / 90.8 x 69.2 cm / 35.7 x 27.2 in (framed)
sold

Metamorphosis

1971 / Enlarged photography of photomontage (original photo from 1971) / 113.4 x 94.1 cm / 44.6 x 37.0 in (framed)
Coquette II

1971 / Photographic print / 62 x 52 cm / 24.4 x 20.5 in (framed)
Coquette I

1971 / Photographic print / 62 x 52 cm / 24.4 x 20.5 in (framed)
Magic Core

1980 / Silkscreen print / 65 x 62 cm / 25.6 x 24.4 in (framed)
Double Source II

1975 / Silkscreen print / 83 x 68 cm / 32.7 x 26.8 in (framed)
Do we know each other?

1971 / Enlarged photography of photomontage (original photo from 1971) / 118.3 x 94.1 cm / 46.6 x 37.0 in (framed)
Dark Rays

1975 / Silkscreen print / 69 x 69 cm / 27.2 x 27.2 in (framed)
Cathedral

1981 / Silkscreen color print / 71 x 62 cm / 28.0 x 24.4 in (framed)

Discover all artists of Slavs and Tatars’ selection

Stane Jagodič is part of the selection of artists which Slavs and Tatars curated for our platform. The art collective has selected a total of four artists, which we present online.