ANDREJ JEMEC
Grey Day, 1960, oil on canvas, 110×75 cm
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BIOGRAPHY
Andrej Jemec (b. 1934) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana and graduated in 1958. During this period, abstract art was considered ideologically unacceptable. Between 1963 and 1964, with the help of a grant, he continued his studies in Paris in J. Friedlaender’s studio and later in London.
In 1973, he became a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, and from 1984 to 1999, a professor of drawing and painting.
He participated in numerous exhibitions, including twice at the Venice Biennale (1970, 1972), twice at the São Paulo Biennial (1971, 1977), in all editions of the International Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana from 1963 to 1999, among others.
He received numerous awards for his work, including the Grand Prix International at the 4th Tokyo Print Biennial (1964), the Jakopič Award in Ljubljana (1975), and the 1st prize at the 11th International Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana (1975). In 1994, Jemec also received the Prešeren Award for Lifetime Achievement in Ljubljana.
In 1995, he was elected as an associate member, and in 2001 as a full member of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana. In 2005, he was awarded The Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, and in 2010, the First Class Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art.
“Through a systematic and gradual artistic analysis of the object world, Jemec realized that freedom in painting can be achieved by surrendering to its expressive potentialities and liberating the image of all commitments in transmitting narrative content. As he embarked on his independent art career in 1959 after graduating, it was no longer the world of concrete objects, but non-materialistic colour and light, that gained a central position in the syntax of his paintings. He began placing bright colour spots in the centre of the painting, using a central position as a semantic tool to display his artistic beliefs about light as the central problem of painting. This meant a turn from the modernist concept of the decentred composition to the traditional. However, this is how he emphasized the value of his discoveries.
Jemec’s progress into abstract expressionism came individually, as a carefully thought-out process, due to his systematic artistic nature. He realized his thought: ‘Light is synonymous with freedom for me,’ consistently in painting, using painterly means, unhindered by any imposed structure, ideological or creative.” (Nadja Zgonik)
WORKS IN ART COLLECTIONS
Tate Modern, London
Albertina, Vienna
National Gallery, Prague
Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana
Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
Museum of Art (Carnoles Palace), Menton
Sakaide Art Museum, Sakaide
Contemporary Art and Culture Centre, Osaka
Library of Congress, Washinton D.C.
New Gallery at the Joanneum State Museum, Graz
Aras Gallery and Publishing House, Ravensburg
Toshihiro Hamano, Takamatsu
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abstract Expressionism Behind the Iron Curtain | Pollock – Krasner House and Study Center, Helen Harrison, Charlotta Kotik, Philip Rylands, August 2017
Andrej Jemec – Early Works | Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana, 2017
Andrej Jemec – Geometry and Handwriting 1967 – 1983 | Publishing House 2014
Andrej Jemec – Im Spiegel Des Lebens | Sodalitas, 2014
Andrej Jemec – Formations and Transformations | TR3 Gallery, 2013
Andrej Jemec | Sakaide Civic Art Museum, Japan, 2001
SELECTED ARTICLES
Coming in from the Cold: Eastern European AbEx | The Art Newspaper, Richard Unwin, January 2018
Abstract Expressionism Behind the Iron Curtain | East Hampton Star, Jennifer Landes, October 2017
Abstract Expressionism Behind the Iron Curtain | Brooklyn Rail, Joyce Beckenstein, September 2017
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (a selection)
2019
Andrej Jemec | All There Is… Paintings 2018-2019
Galerija AS, Ljubljana
2016
Andrej Jemec | Leto in dan
Galerija Instituta Josef Stefan, Ljubljana
2014
Andrej Jemec | Im Spiegl des Lebens
Tainach (AT), Gorizia (IT)
2013
Formations and Transformations
TR3 Gallery, Ljubljana
2012
Width of Sensations II | Between Light and Darkness
Insstitute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia Kranj
2001
Andrej Jemec
Sakaide Civic Art Museum, Japan
Klub Nove revije, Ljubljana
2000
Hillside Forum, Tokyo
1999
Galerija Rika Debenjaka, Kanal ob Soci (SI)
1998
Slovenski Kulturni center Korotan, Vienna
1997
MGLC – Galerija Tivoli, Ljubljana
1995
Galerija Sysen, Ljubljana
Galerie Waszkowiak, Berlin
1994
Galerie M – Schloss Porcia, Spittal an der Drau
Galerie Waszkowiak, Berlin
1992
Galerie Waszkowiak, Berlin
MGLC – Galerija Tivoli, Ljubljana
1991
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama
Gallery Tableau Mugen, Takamatsu
Tis-Space-Sakaide, Sakaide
1990
Galerie Hoffmann, Cologne
Galerija ZDSLU , Ljubljana
1989
Galerie am See, Zug
1987
Vila Clementine, Wiesbaden
1986
Galerija A, Zagreb
Gallery Tableau Mugen, Takamatsu
The Sakaide Civic Art Museum, Sakaide
1985 show more 1984 1982 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1973 1971 1970 1968 1966 1964 1962 show less
Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
Galerija Loza, Koper
Umjetnicki paviljon Cvijeta Zuzoric, Belgrade
Umjetnicka galerija Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo
Razstavni salon Rotovz, Maribor
TK Galerija, Trieste
Francoski kulturni center Charles Nodier, Ljubljana
Galerie Aras, Ravensburg
Galerija Forum, Zagreb
Jacques Baruch Gallery, Chicago
Centre Culturel de la RSF de Yougoslavie, Paris
Biennial of Sao Paulo
Center Syliagos Parnassas, Athens
Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
Galleria d’arte Forum, Trieste
Biennial of Venice
Biennial of Sao Paolo
Biennial of Venice
Mala galerija, Ljubljana
Mestna galerija, Ljubljana
Galerie 61, Klagenfurt
Kleine Galerie, Munich
Galerie Europe, Berlin
Likovni studio Kabineta Grafike JAZU, Zagreb
Galerija ULUS, Belgrade
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Other Worlds on Paper
418GALLERY, Munich
2021
Worlds on Paper
418GALLERY, Munich
2019
Japan-Yugoslavia and The Biennial of Graphic Arts: Documents of Collaboration
International Graphic Arts Centre Ljubljana
2018
80th Anniversary of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana
2018
Abstract Expressionism Behind the Iron Curtain
Andrej Jemec, Tadeusz Kantor, Jan Kotik, Edo Murtic & Romul Nutiu
Steinberg Museum of Art, Long Island University, NY, USA
2017
Eastern European Abstractionism
Andrej Jemec, Edo Murtic &Romul Nutiu, 418GALLERY, Munich
Abstract Expressionism Behind the Iron Curtain
Andrej Jemec, Tadeusz Kantor, Jan Kotik, Edo Murtic &Romul Nutiu
Pollock – Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, USA
2000 show more 1997 1991 The 15th International Exhibition of prints in Kanagawa, Eastern Europa – Japan 1989 1988 1986 1985 1981 Contemporary Painting in Eastern Europa and Japan 1973 Contemporary Yugoslav Art Contemporary Yugoslav Graphic Art 1971 7th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo 1967 5th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints 1965 1964 show less
Exhibition Slovenian Graphic Art
Andrej Jemec, Drago Trsar, Lojze Logar
Hillside Forum, Tokyo
Sakaide Civic Art Museum, Sakaide
The International Triennial Competition of Print Osaka
Exhibition Room of “Mydame Osaka”, Osaka
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama
International Biennial of Graphic Art Ljubljana in Japan
Kawasaki City Museum, Kanagawa
International Biennial of Graphic Art Ljubljana in Japan
Sakaide Civic Art Museum, Sakaide
Contemporary Yugoslav Art
Mikimoto Gallery – Hall, Tokyo
Contemporary Yugoslav Art
Gallery Tableau 5, Sakaide
Contemporary Painting in Eastern Europa and Japan
The National Museum of Art, Osaka
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama
Contemporary Yugoslav Art
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Hyogo prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
7th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
5th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
Exhibition of Contemporary Prints in Yugoslavia
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
4th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo