JAŠA: AT THE DAWN OF YET ANOTHER AGE OF ABSURDITY: COMPOSITION NO. 1
April 22, 2017
KHORASHEH + GRUNERT, New York
KHORASHEH + GRUNERT is pleased to present At the dawn of yet another age of absurdity: composition no. 1, a performing intervention by Slovenian artist JAŠA. The performance will take place on Saturday April 22nd at 524 West 19thStreet, from 6:30-8:30pm. The happening marks JAŠA’s first performance at the gallery’s KHORASHEH + GRUNERT curatorial platform.
There is tension under the surface. We have been swallowed by egocentrism. Today’s rapidly changing day-to-day necessitates action, comment, responsibility, response. We are in an urgent state of ideological crisis that has resulted in the psychological breakdown of society. The situation needs constant attention, it requires reaction, as individuals and as different groups as a whole. All of it was there from the beginning, it now simply depends which elements will surface through, which emotions will become the generator for a certain ideology. Art has always had the responsibility of being both a catalyzer and generator. Punk as an attitude was a reaction to a stiffening tissue of the era, Dada was a necessary opposition to boiling extremes that brought humanity to meet it's most monstrous side. In each inch of our bodies lies a potential disaster; as we are facing the most existential dilemmas on every step, each cell can decide to deteriorate and bring out the worst in us while we are dreaming of beauty. At times, it may be better to limit yourself than to continue the illusion of an all accessible freedom, which ends in nothing less than limitless ego. A lake of me-s to drown in, a lake of us to love me.
Alternative forms of communication do exist; visual, musical, symbols, patterns— what we need are regular executions, to be exercised regularly. An exchange of situations creates the uniqueness of experiences. A Beuysian gesture in its potential to transform society. A simple exchange; a catalyst for hope. An act that will be what it is. Through repetition, gesture and embrace, we reach the shores of ones most authentic self. In his solo act, JAŠA limits himself into a reverse situation—an honest way to face the self in front of self. Every thought can deteriorate. Every character can have many shades. A manifestation of a contrasting process that embraces aggression as emotion in order to give birth to the poetic. For JAŠA, it is time to revisit utter, the violent necessity for the embodied presence of hope. It all started in Europe and exploded in America. Now. It is time to scream in the face of absurdity.
JAŠA (Mrevlje-Pollak) was born in Ljubljana in 1978. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice and has since been a unique presence in Europe’s artistic landscape. One of Slovenia’s most prolific and critically recognized contemporary artists, JAŠA is driven by his rhapsodic interpretations of situation, narrative, sculpture and performance. Through his alchemistic connection with material and content, JAŠA transforms spaces into experiences, driving them toward their poetic and aesthetic potentials. Pushing artistic boundaries through uncompromising vision for almost two decades, JAŠA has created a rich and remarkable body of work that includes multiple critically acclaimed solo shows and projects in Europe and the US. In his two active studios in New York and Ljubljana, Slovenia, JAŠA has created a unique environment, which allows him to cultivate contextual and visual eventuality integral to his work. His latest projects include ULAY & JAŠA /Cutting Through the Clouds of Myth (Kustera projects Red Hook, New York), UTTER / the violent necessity for the embodied presence of hope (Pavilion of Slovenia, Venice biennial, 2015), UNTITLED, 2015 (Krampf Gallery, Istanbul Contemporary, 2015), Crystal C (Pioneer Works, New York, 2014), among others.
KHORASHEH + GRUNERT is a curatorial platform by curator Mitra Khorasheh within Tanja Grunert. The project space will be programmed by Khorasheh, whose curatorial work focuses on site-specific and performative practices, with an emphasis on the body in performance, painting and other time-based media.
