Bojan Kovačič: Prints 2008−2017 and Print Workshop at the National Gallery of Slovenia 2004−2018

For fifteen years, Bojan Kovačič (1949−2017) led printmaking courses in the National Gallery of Slovenia. Before his unexpected death in late 2017, his courses were attended by one hundred students. In 2009 Bojan Kovačič donated his entire production of prints to the National Gallery of Slovenia. Last year his widow Elena Martello Kovačič completed his donation by adding prints produced between 2011 and 2017.

In comparison to other members of the Ljubljana Printmaking School, Kovačič experienced a different kind of training. He was a student at the Brera Art Academy and at the same time worked in printmaking workshops that produced prints for some of the most outstanding members of the School of Paris. His printmaking routine was focused on technical control, while improvisation and experimentation with the medium paved the way to innovation. He was the first to print from perforated plates, a feature Bogdan Borčić, one of his teachers, systematically integrated into his working method.

As a teacher, Kovačič knew how to listen to the needs of each of his students, found out his/her specific inclinations, understood his/her potential and thus stimulated his/her graphic expression.

The original idea of Professor Marjan Pogačnik was for an experimental workshop on intaglio printing techniques to come to life at the National Gallery of Slovenia. In addition to Pogačnik’s graphic oeuvre and documentary material, Marjan and Bogica Pogačnik also donated to the National Gallery of Slovenia two of the artist’s printing presses and other printmaking equipment, which made up the material foundation for setting up the workshop. The mentorship and running of the workshop was taken on by Professor Bojan Kovačič. 

In Lamut's Art Salon of the Božidar Jakac Art Museum we are presenting a selection of prints from the last decade of his printmaking of the Mankind―Spices and Pecatores. The exhibition includes eleven selected prints made by participants of the printmaking school under mentorship of Bojan Kovačič. They complement the presentation of intaglio techniques and the printmaking process. 

Project leader
Andrej Smrekar, Kristina Preininger

Coordination
Tanja Milharčič

Visual design
Tanja Milharčič, Ranko Novak

Exhibition set-up
Andrej Smrekar, Tanja Milharčič

Restoration-conservation for the exhibition
Tina Buh, Andrej Hirci

Project was supported by
National Gallery of Slovenia
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia