Marjetica Potrc

Private view: Tuesday May 22nd, 2007, 6:00 to 8:30 PM

Blow de la Barra is honoured to announce an exhibition of new work by Marjetica Potrc. Potrc’s work proposes specific bottom-up solutions that improve the relations between individuals and society. Following her previous research on case studies of contemporary living conditions in contexts of crisis and/or poverty, for her show at Blow de la Barra, Potrc presents a series of drawings developed under the concept of Florestania: a new way of citizenship and sustainable local living aiming to redefine society. With it, she suggests forms of living together that go beyond neoliberalism and its understanding of individualism, liberal democracy and market capitalism. In doing so, she also questions the relationship between art and society, as Frieze Magazine art critic Jennifer Higgie has written: “In melding utopianism with utilitarianism, Marjetica Potrc’s projects and exhibitions prompt questions about the responsibilities of artists to the greater social realm”.

The exhibition presents three series of drawings: 'The Great City of Medellín', 'Modernism Takes Root' and 'Pattern Protects’. 'The Great City of Medellín' depicts the case of the city of Medellin in Colombia, and traces the development of the city from modern industrial centre in the 50s, to drug city in the 80s, and its recent attempts to recover urban life. 'Modernism Takes Root' is an analysis of the influence of palafitas (houses on stilts which stand on water) in Brazilian Modernist architecture, specifically in the case of Niemeyer. Finally, 'Pattern Protects’ is an investigation on the use of pattern beyond decoration and contrary to modernism’s strict regime of white walls. Potrc’s drawings serve as narratives and parables that explain local contexts and global economies, thus they present alternative histories to the official ones. Her work is a continuous process of learning and sharing knowledge. In presenting solutions that others have adopted to renegotiate their context and their relationship with society, Potrc empowers the viewer and invites him/her to do the same and to take responsibility in the construction of their own environment. Her work proposes not the construction of another utopia, but the construction of new better and possible realities: the future is the present.

Marjetica Potrc ((Ljubljana, 1953) is an artist and architect based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This is her first solo show in London. At the same time she will have a major solo exhibition at the Barbican Centre, London. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe and the Americas, including the Sao Paolo Biennial (1996 and 2006) and the Venice Biennial (2003). She has had solo exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum New York (2001); Max Protetch Gallery, New York (2002 and 2005); Nordenhake Gallery Berlin (2003 and 2007); PBICA, Palm Beach, Florida, (2003); List Visual Arts Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2004); and De Appel Foundation for Contemporary Art Amsterdam (2004), among other places. Her many on-site installations include Dry Toilet, Caracas (2003); Balcony with Wind Turbine, Liverpool Biennial (2004); Genesis (2005), at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo; and Desalination Plant, Sharjah Biennial (2007). She has also published a number of essays on contemporary urban architecture. In 2005, she was a visiting professor at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, most recently she had a IASPIS artist residency in Stockholm, Sweden (2006). She has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, most notably the Guggenheim Hugo Boss Prize (2000).

Marjetica Potrc