Father and daughter – Miha Maleš and Travica Maleš Grešak

On January 6, 2023, 120 years have passed since the birth of the painter and graphic artist, Miha Maleš (1903-1987). The artist donated a large part of his rich oeuvre to the town of Kamnik and has been featured in numerous occasional exhibitions ever since the opening of the gallery that proudly bears his name. Last year, his daughter, Travica Maleš Grešak, also “left” unexpectedly (1941-2022).

At this exhibition, we will remember the artist and his daughter and their importance for the Kamnik gallery and the city of Kamnik. The Father and Daughter photography exhibition is an interesting insight into childhood through Maleš’s photographic lens. Along with the exhibition, a short film is shown, in which the daughter Travica also remembered her father.

“…This exhibition therefore opens those less known pages from Maleš’s family album. First of all, his favorite model was the young beauty Olga, who became his devoted life companion and “archivist” of his opus. After the birth of the long-awaited only child, the artist shifted his attention and lens to her. In accordance with his lyrical nature, he chose an unusual name for her – Travica (Grass). From birth, he lovingly followed her growth, mainly with the help of a camera. Sometimes he drew or painted a lovely form in watercolour. He also portrayed the aspiring schoolgirl in oil and depicted her childhood drawing experiments in the background. He preserved the image of a girl engrossed in reading on a few monotypes. The most extensive, however, is certainly a series of photographs, on which we usually recognize the interior of the Tivoli studio, which was also the home of a young family. In particular, the position next to the window offered an interesting frame, in fact a window frame, next to which the father planted his charming model on the windowsill, thus creating an ideal scene for the play of reflections and accentuated light-dark contrasts. Later, in the home studio, the growing girl consciously posed with various props, dressed in exotic clothes and with various headgear. The photo chronicle is both an interesting document of the time and, at the same time, an intimate narrative of the daughter’s upbringing. »

(from the text in the leaflet, Breda Ilich Klančnik)