The Mother of All Struggles

Design: Marko Damiš for MGML

Overview exhibition, City Art Gallery Ljubljana

3. 12. 2024–16. 2. 2025

The exhibition encompasses the period from the beginning of his artistic career in 2000 to the present day, including Furlan’s latest production created specifically for the exhibition at the City Art Gallery Ljubljana. Over the past two decades, Furlan has established himself in the Slovenian and international art scene as the creator of the so-called cynical machines, objects, video works, and performances that are infused with socially critical content and ironic humour. His works focus on the issues of human labour in the era of automation and robotization, when humans are becoming increasingly more similar to machines. He addresses behavioural patterns within the context of daily routines and raises questions about the problem of repetitive and senseless tasks and the role of an individual’s body in contemporary society. He also stages and comments on various other pathological social conditions. The exhibition presents key phases in the artist’s creative development. Among other works, one of his most renowned and successful multi-year projects, the Wear series created from 2005 to 2015, which is a satire of the exploitation of workers in the era of neo-liberal capitalism, is also presented. The show encompasses the artist’s diverse creative areas, ranging from an expanded field of sculpture, kinetic objects, and installations to video, performance art, and an artist’s book.

Production: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana
Curator and Text: Barbara Sterle Vurnik
Coordination and Production: Maruša Meglič
Design: Marko Damiš
Technical Implementation: Technical Service MGML
The project was made possible by: City of Ljubljana, Department of Culture
Thanks to the following for kindly lending works by Tomaž Furlan for the exhibition:
Art Collection Generali, Generali Insurance Company, d.d., Ljubljana; Modern Gallery (MG+) plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (+MSUM); Loški Museum Škofja Loka, Škofja Loka.