ANDREJ JEMEC

Andrej Jemec - Grey Day, 1960, oil on canvas, 110x75 cm

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

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
Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
Galerija Loza, Koper
Umjetnicki paviljon Cvijeta Zuzoric, Belgrade
Umjetnicka galerija Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo
Razstavni salon Rotovz, Maribor

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1984
TK Galerija, Trieste
Francoski kulturni center Charles Nodier, Ljubljana

1982
Galerie Aras, Ravensburg

1980
Galerija Forum, Zagreb

1979
Jacques Baruch Gallery, Chicago

1978
Centre Culturel de la RSF de Yougoslavie, Paris

1977
Biennial of Sao Paulo

1976
Center Syliagos Parnassas, Athens

1975
Moderna galerija, Ljubljana

1973
Galleria d’arte Forum, Trieste

1971
Biennial of Venice
Biennial of Sao Paolo

1970
Biennial of Venice

1968
Mala galerija, Ljubljana
Mestna galerija, Ljubljana

1966
Galerie 61, Klagenfurt
Kleine Galerie, Munich
Galerie Europe, Berlin

1964
Likovni studio Kabineta Grafike JAZU, Zagreb

1962
Galerija ULUS, Belgrade

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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
Exhibition Slovenian Graphic Art
Andrej Jemec, Drago Trsar, Lojze Logar
Hillside Forum, Tokyo

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1997
Sakaide Civic Art Museum, Sakaide

1991
The International Triennial Competition of Print Osaka
Exhibition Room of “Mydame Osaka”, Osaka

The 15th International Exhibition of prints in Kanagawa, Eastern Europa – Japan
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama

1989
International Biennial of Graphic Art Ljubljana in Japan
Kawasaki City Museum, Kanagawa

1988
International Biennial of Graphic Art Ljubljana in Japan
Sakaide Civic Art Museum, Sakaide

1986
Contemporary Yugoslav Art
Mikimoto Gallery – Hall, Tokyo

1985
Contemporary Yugoslav Art
Gallery Tableau 5, Sakaide

1981
Contemporary Painting in Eastern Europa and Japan
The National Museum of Art, Osaka

Contemporary Painting in Eastern Europa and Japan
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama

1973
Contemporary Yugoslav Art
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Contemporary Yugoslav Art
Hyogo prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe

Contemporary Yugoslav Graphic Art
Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo

1971
7th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

7th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

1967
5th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

5th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

1965
Exhibition of Contemporary Prints in Yugoslavia
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

1964
4th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

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