Post-Minimalism

The term post-minimalism relates to a designation first employed by the American fine arts critic Robert Pincus-Witten, and refers to the changes that appeared in the art of the second half of the 20th century. From the late 1960s onwards, artists drew on the autonomy of the fine arts artefact and the aesthetic premises of minimalism; however, they also introduced decidedly intimate themes into their works. As a rule, post-minimalist arts follow the modular and repetitive principle of minimalism, but in terms of more relaxed structures they frequently use unusual, often soft and pliable materials, drawing on the traditions of surrealism, dadaism and expressionism. In Slovenia, the designation post-minimalism was first used by the fine arts critic Tomislav Vignjević in an effort trying to define the so-called new Slovenian sculpture of the 1980s, whereas among painters, the later works by Bogdan Borčić fit particularly well within this framework. Borčić first wove the painful memories and impressions from Dachau into the structure of his image, which came to be improved and perfected over the years. Autobiographical encounters with himself then became the key with which he opened the doors to fragments of memories gleaned from dusty drawers and from various accumulated personal ‘relics’ with stories attached, which then became situated in time and space, again.

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The online portal Discovering Art is the collaborative effort of four institutions:

Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Fundació Antoni Tàpies from Barcelona, Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina and Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška from Slovenj Gradec.

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