Marina Grzinic Analyzes Post-Socialist Art Through Retro-Avant-Garde in Ex-Yugoslavia
In her 2000 essay, Marina Grzinic examines the artistic landscape of post-Socialism in former Eastern Bloc countries, focusing particularly on ex-Yugoslavia. She introduces the concept of 'post-Socialism' to question the prevailing narratives of a globalized society. Grzinic highlights three key figures she terms the 'Retro-Avantgarde': Mladen Stilinovic, a revival of Kazimir Malevich from the 1980s, and the NSK collective's group IRWIN. Employing Slavoj Žižek's Hegelian framework, she categorizes their works into 'ideology in-itself,' 'for-itself,' and 'in-and-for-itself.' Stilinovic's 1970s pieces reflect 'ideology in-itself,' while the Malevich exhibitions of 1985-86 illustrate 'ideology for-itself.' The NSK Embassy projects by IRWIN (1992-1993) showcase 'ideology in-and-for-itself.' Grzinic links these discussions to wider theoretical contexts, citing the 1994 exhibition 'Retro-avangarda' in Ljubljana.
Key facts
- The essay was published on ARTMargins Online on 09/27/2000.
- Marina Grzinic analyzes post-Socialism through the art of Mladen Stilinovic, a 1980s 'Malevich' project, and the group IRWIN/NSK.
- The theoretical framework uses Slavoj Žižek's Hegelian triad of ideology: in-itself, for-itself, and in-and-for-itself.
- IRWIN's NSK Embassy projects were established in Moscow (1992), Ghent (1993), and Berlin (1993).
- A 1985-86 exhibition in Belgrade and Ljubljana reconstructed Kazimir Malevich's 'Last Futurist Exhibition 0.10' from 1915-16.
- The artists were grouped under the label 'Retro-Avantgarde' in an exhibition in Ljubljana in 1994.
- Grzinic argues post-Socialist art in ex-Yugoslavia often involved copying and reconstruction without a developed art market.
- The essay references theorists including Fredric Jameson, Jacques Lacan, Louis Althusser, and Jacques Derrida.
Entities
Artists
- Marina Grzinic
- Mladen Stilinovic
- Kasimir Malevich
- Slavoj Žižek
- Fredric Jameson
- Jacques Lacan
- Louis Althusser
- Jacques Derrida
- Guy Debord
- Peter Weibel
- Norman Bryson
- Hal Foster
- Mike Bidlo
- Sherry Levine
- Cindy Sherman
- Walter Benjamin
- Marino Cettina
- Branka Stipancic
- Ales Erjavec
- JanNederveen Pieterse
- Bhikhu Parekh
- Sol Yurick
- Peter Wollen
- Lynne Cooke
Institutions
- ARTMargins Online
- Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK)
- IRWIN
- LAIBACH
- SESTER SCIPION NASICE
- RED PILOT COSMOKINETIC THEATER
- THE NOORDUNG COSMOKINETIC THEATERCABINET
- NEW COLLECTIVISM
- Visconti Fine Art Kolizej Gallery
- Steiresche Herbst
- Art in America
- Zed Books
- Verso
- Dia 10
- Bay Press
- Galilée
- Ljubljana Institute of Philosophy
- Scientific and Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Science and Arts
- SCCA
- Mladinska knjiga
- Berlin Volksbuehne Theater
Locations
- Ljubljana
- Slovenia
- Yugoslavia
- Ex-Yugoslavia
- Belgrade
- Croatia
- Eastern Europe
- Balkans
- Berlin
- Germany
- Moscow
- Russia
- Ghent
- Belgium
- Florence
- Italy
- Umag
- Graz
- Austria
- St. Petersburg
- London
- United Kingdom
- New York
- United States
- New Jersey
- Paris
- France
- Seattle
- Washington
- Zagreb