Metka Krašovec (1941–2018) was one of the most
prominent Slovenian artists, professor of drawing and painting at the Academy
of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana and since 2015 an
associate member of The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. She was working
in painting, prints, drawing and illustration. Among other recognitions, she
received the Prešeren Fund Award (1973), the Jakopič Award (1983) and in 2017
the Prešeren Award for lifetime achievement.
Krašovec donated a large part of her extensive
and diverse work to the National Gallery. By selecting two hundred and fifty-one
works from all her artistic periods, she bequeathed the Gallery a
representative collection of her art.
The authorship of the exhibition and the
presentation of the donation were entrusted to the theatre actor Radko Polič -
Rac. He focused on the parts of her work that were exhibited least and are
therefore the least known to the general public; these are her most intimate
works that reflect the essence of Metka Krašovec’s art. Her work is illuminated
by poetry which accompanied her all her life, especially in the thirty-six
years of living with the poet Tomaž Šalamun (1941–2014). The artists, life and
creative companions, inspired each other in their work.
Rac choose the poems and drawing for the
exhibition regardless of their titles and chronology, so they follow each other
undisturbed by museum factography, like titles, technique, measurements or
dates.
With each drawing, you can listen to recordings
of selected Šalamun’s poems, interpreted by Radko Polič - Rac and experience in
depth a new, holistic work of art bringing together three great artists.
Author of the
exhibition
Radko Polič
– Rac
Project coordination
Mateja
Krapež
Conservation and
restoration
Tina Buh
Exhibition set-up
and design
Kristina
Kurent
The exhibition was made possible by
2 February – 8 May 2022
National Gallery of Slovenia
Narodni dom Gallery
Cankarjeva 20
1000 Ljubljana