The 31st Biennial of Graphic Arts consists of the main exhibition Over you / you, curated by Nicola Lees with Associate Curator Stella Bottai, which will be on display at the International Centre of Graphic Arts, the Museum of Modern Art, Tivoli Park, The Jakopič Gallery and the National and University Library. Over you / you will bring together a group of international artists, including Ken Okiishi, addressing the history of the graphic arts and the formal and sociopolitical characteristics associated with the medium.
The exhibition will reflect on the Biennial’s history as a radical site for the distribution of images that made art available to a wide audience, rather than examining it as a presentation of traditional fine art printing techniques. Founded in 1955 in Yugoslavia, it is not only one of the world’s oldest biennials, but the first dedicated to the graphic arts. Since its inception, this focus has enabled it to serve as an alternative distribution system for images and artworks, crossing geo-political borders and acting as a prototype for exhibitions in other postwar non-aligned countries such as Colombia, Peru and India.
Many of the artists are influenced by projects shown at previous Biennials. The graphic medium was adopted by the Biennial for the ease with which graphic works could traverse international borders without political restriction, a mobility that is now amplified by the speed with which images are dispersed digitally. Over you / you will include new commissions by artists exploring the limits of traditional print mediums, such as woodcut, screen printing and etching, as well as artists focusing on the tools of reproduction that drive transmission and distribution.
Over you / you
The 31st Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana
28 August−3 December 2015