Miha Maleš - Faces of Dreams

Kindly invited to the gallery evening, at which a new book – Miha Maleš, Faces of Dreams – will be presented by the editor Breda Ilich Klančnik and the author of the accompanying text, dr. Miklavž Komelj. The book was published by the Pivec Publishing House in Maribor and includes both Maleš’ grafics and his under-well-known poetry.
An overlooked poetry published by Miha Maleš in the 30s and early 40ies of the 20th century, most of them in the Arts magazine, today we can discover as a real surprise, whether it is his subtle personal reflexive songs or his transfiguration songs of the old nations, as he himself named them: from Indian, African and Pacific poetry to the poetry of ancient Egypt. With them, Maleš established some kind of poetry, which at that time was not present in Slovenia, except for his publications. With their liveliness and freshness, they sound more modern than most of the then poetry in Slovene.
The songs are published in this book along with his cycle of woodcutting Faces of Dreams, created in the years 1923 and 1924. This time, for the first time, he has been published almost entirely with some added images that did not originate as his work. These faces record what is shown to the artist in front of the inner eyes in a few summarized lines. Some are on the verge of humanity; others are portraying realistic portraits of people who entered Maleš’s dream from contact in everyday life. Some faces have masculine enigmas, some are decomposed to work almost like nightmares, while others appear as beauty echoes of Japanese art, which Maleš loved.