RONE84
Love story feat. Petra Varl
May 16 –
June 05, 2018

LOCATION
RAVNIKAR GALLERY
Prešernova ulica 10A
1000 Ljubljana
CURATOR
Piera Ravnikar

TEXT
Teja Kosi
︎︎︎STATEMENT
            For the Love Story exhibition, Ron Preinfalk artistically redesigned the handwoven Gobelin tapestries made by Slovenian artist Petra Varl (1965) that feature two city dwellers, Zvezda and Odeon. The characters were first presented by the artist in cooperation with Maja Gspan in the Zvezda Park, Ljubljana in 1995 in the city calendar (as part of the “Ljubljančani” project in the framework of Urbanaria), where their mood was adapted to the season and month in question. Based on a simplified portrayal of their intimate world, the well-known characters interfered with the life of the city and touched the viewers, the coincidental passers-by. They also sneaked into other projects, thereby occupying, seizing, settling in and capturing practically all the media and presentation spaces available. Having been stitched in the Gobelin technique by the artist’s mother, Nuša Varl, Zvezda and Odeon made their last appearance at an international contemporary art exhibition in Salestat, France in 1996. A few years ago the characters again became the focus of the artist’s attention, but she made the decision to forward her Gobelin tapestries. She gifted them to Ron who has since been writing a new chapter in the story of Zvezda and Odeon.

            With his exhibition project featuring ten carefully selected works of art, he thus wishes to pay homage to two creative generations and a love story that combines two artistic expressions: Gobelin stitches and felt-tip pens. According to the (co-)author, Zvezda and Odeon have been together for 23 years, their Love story reminding us of all loves that have since been felt, some of them also grown out of. Two souls flirting with each other, dancing, sunbathing, skating, riding a motorcycle, always seeking their place under the sun, still remind us of true closeness, of the decisions taken, opportunities lost, minor mistakes and forgotten moments.
︎︎︎ABOUT THE ARTIST
           Rone84 (1973) creates drawings, paintings and painting interventions in the public space. Exhibiting since 1997, his works have been part of numerous solo and group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. He graduated from the Department of Graphic Art, School of Arts, Nova Gorica. In 2013, he issued his first artist’s book entitled And the beat goes on. He lives and works in Ljubljana.