Goran Medjugorac

The painter Goran Medjugorac (1972) graduated in 2002 from prof. Gustav Gnamuš at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana and in 2011 received a master’s degree at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona (Facultat de Bellas Artes de la Universitat de Barcelona). Since his student years, he has participated in numerous KUD Mreža projects and created in the painting studio on Metelkova. In 2000, Metelkova represented the town at the Biennial of Emerging Artists – BIG Turin, Italy (BIG Turin 2000, Biennial of Emerging Artists, Turin, Italia) and in the same year participated in the international seminar and architectural competition: Solovki – A Model Of Developement (Solovetsky Archipelago, White Sea, Russia, 2000). In the Tate Modern gallery, he presented the experience of the cultural center Metelkova mesto at the conference “A place for Creative Work” (London, 2007). Many audiences remember him as a lucid and collected auctioneer of artefacts by artists from Metelko, as well as a skilled auctioneer of various charity auctions (2004, Ljubljana) Between 1995 and 2002, he performed in improvisational satirical performances of the Gromka Theater, with which he toured in St. Petersburg, Sarajevo, Belgrade (Bitef) and throughout Slovenia. In 2000, he co-founded the cultural venue and youth center Menza pri koritu (Metelkova mesto). He was one of the selected artists who participated in the 25th Biennale of Contemporary Art of Sao Paulo, 2000, Brazil. From 2004 to 2016, he lived in various locations around the world (Oran, London, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, ​​Valencia), where he exhibited at solo and group exhibitions. He exhibited at group exhibitions in Ljubljana in Gallery Škuc, Gallery Alkatraz, Gallery Kresija, and abroad in Barcelona, ​​Pula, Minsk, Sarajevo, Utrecht, Vienna. After 2009, he started devoting himself mainly to drawing on paper and later to oil painting. In 2015, drawings on paper entitled Absit omen were exhibited in the Ljubljana City Hall (right atrium), in 2011 he exhibited drawings on paper entitled Pata Negra/Black Leg at the Celje Art Salon. In 2018, he exhibited in Ljubljana’s Kresija. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Kranj, where he regularly exhibits and participates in social projects. He contributed his illustrations for the overall image of the festival Druga Godba (2014, 2016), for the 25th Biennale of Industrial Design-BIO 25 and the magazine GEA.

“…Goran Medjugorac, after years dedicated to drawing, is turning and returning to painting – after still lifes, where everyday objects – coffee cups and ashtrays, various fruits – played the role of portraiture on various patterned bases, this time a man is in the foreground, which, after careful selection, becomes the center of his observation. Medjugorac’s work, as he says himself, is a reflection on contemporary painting, where for a moment it seems that everything is allowed, but due to the hyper-intellectualized debate on contemporary art, what is needed by someone who wants to paint and exhibit figurative art is, above all, courage. “ Saša Bučan, Curator of the exhibition