Aksioma - Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana in collaboration with Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts presents:

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Janez Janša, Janez Janša, Janez Janša Signature The Dr. Franc Sušnik Central Carinthian Library Ravne na Koroškem, Slovenia 24 September - 24 October 2010

PRESS RELEASE

Janez Janša, Janez Janša and Janez Janša tackle collectively the issue of the politics of painting for the first time. The project Signature consists of twenty-seven paintings, which were commissioned by the Janšas and painted by the artist Viktor Bernik. Each one of them depicts the signature Janez Janša painted in thick acrylic paint. The paintings, assembled in nine triptycs, differ from one another visibly only due to the manual manufacture of the image of each signature. When the viewer pays closer attention to the signature on each triptych, it becomes clear that the difference ensues from the combination of the signatures of the authors of the project. It seems as if each triptych has been conceived by different authors. In the twenty-seven paintings, we encounter four different combinations of words, that is, four variations of the names and the surnames Davide Grassi, Emil Hrvatin, Janez Janša and Žiga Kariž.

In the book of the same title, which will be launched at the opening of the exhibition, Petja Grafenauer points out that the painting project Signature by the three Janšas raises the question of authorship, which is still perceived as a highly individual matter in fine arts and which is considered the expression of the work of the artist genius himself. Is the author the artist who created the work, or the artists who signed it? And who is the signatory, and how many of them are there? Is Emil Hrvatin a different author from the same person with the name Janez Janša? What are the market and the cultural value of these two triptychs?Are they the same or different?