Veronika Ban
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Biography
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Curriculum studiorum
-A-level equivalent in Humanities at High School in Maribor, Slovenia 2003
-BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Visual Arts and disciplines of spectacle; Venice, Italy2007 -Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Arts, Accademy of Fine Arts in Venice, Italy 2011
-Diploma in flute from music school in Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia 1993/99
-Diploma in acting from SNG (Slovenian National Theatre) Maribor, Slovenia 2000/01
Biography story:
The first participation at an exhibition was at primary school when my arts teacher chose my painting "Witch in the forest" and submitted it to an international competition where it was chosen to be exhibited in Slovenj Gradec.
I soon became involved in dance and musical performances, later also in theatre. In 2001 I acted in a play "Filio is not at home" by the director Damir Zlatar Frey in Slovenian National Theatre.
I also wrote prose and poetry, however it was becoming more and more apparent that my artistic vein was leading me towards visual arts, manifesting itself in paintings, sculpture, artistic diaries, short films, ambient installations, collages and murals.
In 2003/04 I lived in Barcelona where I was involved with exhibitions, events, concerts and performances in the socio-cultural centre that encouraged free expression of the young and ribelious.
From 2004 until 2009 I lived and studied in Venice and attended various international workshops and exhibitions (Real Presence, Kons, Circle Bertolt Brecht, Academy of Fine Art in Venice, Bevilacqua la Masa, and others). These are documented in various publications, catalogues and internet, as are reviews of my individual exhibitions (Mario Berdič, Cinzia Bollino Bossi, etc.). In 2008 I was also chosen to create murals in a project taking place in Gavazzani (Italy) where the work of participating artists became a permanent part of the town. In the same year I spent a lot of my time in London collaborating with my fellow artist Riccardo Attanasio.
I have now lived in Berlin since 2009 where I prepared the thesis for my Masters degree and now continuing to create paintings and collages, as well as getting involved with art events. With my musician partner we are organising a new art circle.
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Statement
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In his professional review, Mario Brdic correctly suggests:
"The desire to spill as many emotions, experiences and encounters as possible causes the composition to overfill the drawing space in the sense of horror vacui. The same goes for the thick knitting of various spacio-psychological levels in the depth of the illusion. This way we witness simultaneous appearance of the interior and the exterior, the sky, waters and earth, factual beings (documented also with photography) and the imaginary ones (often demonic or mythological), the past, present and future, horror and love, symbolising the psychological wholeness of experiencing life on a conscious and subconscious (dream), imaginary and factual, physical (erotic) and psychological level. What is typical of the artist is also her wholesome, we could say multimedia-style experiencing of artistic disciplines, from music to photography and various types of painting to expression in words. This is the result of auto-reflective, in places psychoanalytical assertion of own identity in sensitive, youthful period of personal and artistic development."
About the artistic work:
Amongst my first works are diaries - artistic books filled with poetry, collages and drawings. There are now over forty of these created in a variety of formats and sizes. They showcase my everyday life and the society surrounding me.
In 2005 I started with the project "Long Collages" which are long pieces of collage that continue the theme first explored in the diary books. In 2008 the diaries were discontinued and this project became my main expression. The idea behind these long collages is to show the film of everyday life as a work of art because the artist asserts: "The work of art is not just a drawing or a painting; the work of art is the life of the artist!"
This project continues alongside others as the ambition is to create the longest collage in the world that tells the story about life and our society. To date, some 300 meters of this have been created.
I started painting with oil in High School, when I encountered other artistic souls that inspired me to use this new technique. However when I started at The Academy of Fine Art in Venice, I became more familiar with the acrylics which are my loyal companions to this day.
Today my paintings are painted collages of black and white photographs, printed on normal paper and glued onto canvas, which then becomes the starting point for the painting with acrylics.
During various periods of my life new collections of paintings emerge. "The melody of life" for example is a series of paintings where they become notes and the display is the musical score opened by a big clef. Paintings, just like notes, hang on the staff. In Slovenia, this series of paintings was displayed in the gallery Media Nox in 2007.
Amongst my other works are also sculptures (made from clay, wax and wood), short film "Horror vacui" that can be found on the internet, ambient installations and performances.
My work is therefore inspired by life. Of course the artists often make the problems of their time and their space within it and the society the subject of their work. They question, cajole, discover and provoke. Amongst my works you can find all this, formed with my experiences and the need to create. The artist is the slave to the need to create and the only freedom is the act of creation itself, making the artist immortal. Art is sacred but the world is no longer thus. It is full of arguments, paradoxes, destruction, hurry, and tears. The artist is torn between the sacredness of their mischievous poetry and the impatience of everyday life that constantly brings new situations and with them ideas and inspirations.
As an artist, I am recounting the tale of my life, writing the poem of my discovery and painting my emotions, constantly filling time and space with unstoppable ideas. The artists have no deadlines and no break. They know culture and rules, but hiding something revolutionary within them.
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Exhibitions
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Individual exhibitions:
-Socio-cultural centre Macabra, Barcellona, Spain 2004
-KRES, Student cultural exhibition, Slov. Bistrica, Slovenia 2005
-"Horror vacui", presentation at the Academy of Fine Art, Venice 2006
-Jazz Club Satchmo Maribor, Slovenia 2007
-"Designs, like notes in music", Gallery Media nox, MKC Maribor, Slovenia 2007
-"Notes and Colours", Circle Bertolt Brecht, Milan, Italy 2007
-"Homo sapiens sapiensss", Gallery Mizzart, Lubljana, Slovenia 2008
-"Cordone ombelicale od ombelico cordonale?!" Venice, Italy 2008
-Aurora Café gallery San Marco, Venice, Italy 2008
-Anina Galerija, Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia 2011
Collaborative exhibitions:
-Summer exhibition At the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, 2005
-The House of Culture in Gorizia, Italy 2006
-"50x50", KONS, Trieste, Italy 2006
Extempore, Koper, Slovenia 2006
-Festival Buje, Croatia 2006
-Real Presence, Belgrade, Serbia 2006
-Labyrinth, International exhibition of the book of the artists, 2006
-"Windows of the world", City Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia 2007
-Real Presence, Belgrade, Serbia 2007
-ArteXregalo, Circle Bertolt Brecht, Milan, Italy 2007
-Microart, Red Church in Milan, Italy 2008
-"Interventor", KargArt, Istanbul, Turkey 2008
-Project Gavazzana-Murals, Gavazzana, Italy 2008
-Real Presence in the Museum of Modern Art, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy 2008
-"Seek-refuge", The Academy of Fine Arts, Venice, Italia 2008
-"Archipelago", Nova Gorica, Slovenia 2008
-Gallery Krajcar, Izola, Slovenia 2008
-Neuköllner Kunstsalon, Berlin, Germany 2010
-"Fruit Boutique", Landsberger Allee 54, Berlin, Germany 2010
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