25th International Biennial of Graphic Arts

From the Cradle to the Grave, Selected Drawings by Damien Hirst

10 June−28 September 2003

25th International Biennial of Graphic Arts at Moderna galerija, installation view.
Photo: Bojan Salaj.

Christophe Cherix, curator of the Graphic Arts Cabinet of the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, conceived the Biennial as a complex display including an exhibition of contemporary graphic work, a documentary exhibition about the history of the International Biennial of Graphic Arts from 1955 to date, prepared by Breda Škrjanec, and a symposium entitled "The Producers," led by Lionel Bovier, on the relationship between publishers and artists.
The exhibition of contemporary graphic work wass based on the importance of the multiplied image as a means of communication. The common feature of the exhibited works − artists' books, newspapers and magazines, photocopies, posters, newspaper interventions and projects, and prints − was the fact that they document the artists' ideas about their realized or unrealized, past or future projects.

Artists and projects:
John M Armleder, Art & Project, Vesna Bukovec, Vidya Gastaldon, Isa Genzken, Liam Gillick, Fabrice Gygi, Pierre Huyghe & Philippe Parreno, Irwin, Ivana Keser, Antinomian Press (Ben Kinmont), Kiosk, Ivan Kožarić, Polonca Lovšin, M/M, Lucy McKenzie, Robert Morris, Gianni Motti, museum in progress, Onestar Press, Raymond Pettibon, Permanent Food (Maurizio Cattelan & Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster), Seth Price, Tadej Pogačar & P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art, Allen Ruppersberg, Anamarija Šmajdek, Josh Smith, Erik Steinbrecher, Xavier Veilhan, Dan Walsh.

Locations:
International Centre of Graphic Arts, Moderna Galerija, the Gallery at Cankarjev Dom, The National Museum of Slovenia, Park Tivoli, the billboards of Proreklam-Europlakata, the newspapers Dnevnik, Delo and Der Standard.

The catalogue of the 25th Biennial of Graphic Arts

The 25th Biennial of Graphic Arts was accompained by a catalogue in Slovene and English which received the prize for the most beautiful book in Switzerland in 2005.

From the Cradle to the Grave, Selected Drawings by Damien Hirst

As the award winner of the 24th International Biennial of Graphic Arts in 2001, Damien Hirst had a solo exhibition at the 25th Biennial. He exhibited a comprehensive volume of his drawings, ranging from the humorous ones made for friends to preparatory sketches for his installations and paintings. Over one hundred works, loaned from public and private collections, as well as the artist himself, were on view. This was the first presentation ever of Hirst's drawings and his first personal exhibition since he took a break in 2000.

A catalogue in the form of a newspaper was published to accompany the exhibition.
The exhibition was organized by the British Council. Producer: International Centre of Graphic Arts 
Biennial is supported by: Adria Airways, AFAA, Autocommerce, British Council, Cultura 2000, Delo, Dnevnik, Embajada de Espana, Gorenje, Institut français Charles Nodier, Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Slovenia, Lek, Ministarstvo za kulturu Republike Hrvatske, Mlinotest, Mondrian Stiftung, Österreichisches Kulturforum, Petrol, Ljubljana, Prohelvetia, Proreklam-Europlakat, RTV Slovenija, Samex, Schweizerische Botschaft.