Primož Pugelj "Anonymous" Sculptures 2012–2014
Occupying pride of place in Primož Pugelj’s creative output for nearly a decade, masks have become both a constant in the artist’s oeuvre and his trademark.
Opening of the exhibition on Wednesday, April 2, at 7 pm.
Opening of the exhibition on Wednesday, April 2, at 7 pm.
curator: Miloš Bašin
Masks
Occupying pride of place in Primož Pugelj’s creative output for nearly a decade, masks have become both a constant in the artist’s oeuvre and his trademark. Unremittingly challenging, they raise forever new artistic issues and questions whose solutions then underpin his critical statements or responses to present-day society. They can be divided into the two basic types the sculptor has been working on and elaborating over this period. The nature of the distinction is apparent at first glance – their size: Divided, Reclining, and Wall-mounted are examples of large-format works, while the sculpture Clip and the relief derivative Us are smaller, life-size masks. Size is the only category dividing the two types; formally, the masks, or faces, are identical in all (both) formats. The mold(s) used can be described as a stylized countenance of idealized proportions and pure, delicate features, a physiognomy evoking, at least in the small format, the feeling of serenity usually characteristic of death masks.
The blank mask represents the point of departure, a module whose surface is treated differently in each face, regardless of its size. Most notably, the difference is in the material(s) used, accentuating the (identically molded) masks in vastly varying ways (first, on the pictorial level); this becomes the basis to which the layer of meaning is added. The sculptor calls this basis with its painted context a landscape, and he seems fascinated by it as a form reminiscent of a human face. The two segments of the sculpture are of equal importance: every work inevitably has content added to it, and at first blush the content seems to push into the foreground, subjugating form, similarly as with other artists of Pugelj’s generation.
The choice of material in each case depends on the desired result, be it in terms of form or motif, which is a typical postmodernist or trans-avant-garde element, along with the painting of the sculptures, most noticeable in the relief boards (Us). Also typical is the way the large-format masks (Divided, Wall-mounted) are designed or shaped with voids, in a distant echo of principles followed earlier by cubists. Also the formulas from Andy Warhol’s pompous statements, arrived at through endless reproductions, are easily recognizable in Pugelj’s eclecticism.
No specific art movement or artist can be said to have directly influenced Pugelj’s work, since he taps into the wide range of solutions offered by 20th century art, tailoring them to suit his specific goals, ingeniously and skillfully incorporating them in his world of motifs to achieve his pinpoint, deliberate effects. The multifarious elements are finely balanced in order to convey the sculptor’s view of the world with greater clarity and, thanks to being part of our collective memory, to facilitate the identification – and, in their new environment, the reinterpretation – of the basic motifs, leading us to question the values of contemporary society, and subsequently, to self-reflection.
Boštjan Kenda
_
Primož Pugelj was born on 3 April 1973 in Koper. In 1993, he finished the Secondary School for Design and Photography in Ljubljana and specialised in industrial design. He received his BA in sculpture in 1998 and his MA four years later, both from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. In 1999, he also finished his sculpture studies at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in the US.
He lives in Vnanje Gorice.
Photo: Primož Pugelj, Razdeljena, 2011, iron, 180 x 140 x 60 cm
Masks
Occupying pride of place in Primož Pugelj’s creative output for nearly a decade, masks have become both a constant in the artist’s oeuvre and his trademark. Unremittingly challenging, they raise forever new artistic issues and questions whose solutions then underpin his critical statements or responses to present-day society. They can be divided into the two basic types the sculptor has been working on and elaborating over this period. The nature of the distinction is apparent at first glance – their size: Divided, Reclining, and Wall-mounted are examples of large-format works, while the sculpture Clip and the relief derivative Us are smaller, life-size masks. Size is the only category dividing the two types; formally, the masks, or faces, are identical in all (both) formats. The mold(s) used can be described as a stylized countenance of idealized proportions and pure, delicate features, a physiognomy evoking, at least in the small format, the feeling of serenity usually characteristic of death masks.
The blank mask represents the point of departure, a module whose surface is treated differently in each face, regardless of its size. Most notably, the difference is in the material(s) used, accentuating the (identically molded) masks in vastly varying ways (first, on the pictorial level); this becomes the basis to which the layer of meaning is added. The sculptor calls this basis with its painted context a landscape, and he seems fascinated by it as a form reminiscent of a human face. The two segments of the sculpture are of equal importance: every work inevitably has content added to it, and at first blush the content seems to push into the foreground, subjugating form, similarly as with other artists of Pugelj’s generation.
The choice of material in each case depends on the desired result, be it in terms of form or motif, which is a typical postmodernist or trans-avant-garde element, along with the painting of the sculptures, most noticeable in the relief boards (Us). Also typical is the way the large-format masks (Divided, Wall-mounted) are designed or shaped with voids, in a distant echo of principles followed earlier by cubists. Also the formulas from Andy Warhol’s pompous statements, arrived at through endless reproductions, are easily recognizable in Pugelj’s eclecticism.
No specific art movement or artist can be said to have directly influenced Pugelj’s work, since he taps into the wide range of solutions offered by 20th century art, tailoring them to suit his specific goals, ingeniously and skillfully incorporating them in his world of motifs to achieve his pinpoint, deliberate effects. The multifarious elements are finely balanced in order to convey the sculptor’s view of the world with greater clarity and, thanks to being part of our collective memory, to facilitate the identification – and, in their new environment, the reinterpretation – of the basic motifs, leading us to question the values of contemporary society, and subsequently, to self-reflection.
Boštjan Kenda
_
Primož Pugelj was born on 3 April 1973 in Koper. In 1993, he finished the Secondary School for Design and Photography in Ljubljana and specialised in industrial design. He received his BA in sculpture in 1998 and his MA four years later, both from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. In 1999, he also finished his sculpture studies at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in the US.
He lives in Vnanje Gorice.
Photo: Primož Pugelj, Razdeljena, 2011, iron, 180 x 140 x 60 cm
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