Natalija Juhart Brglez

The exhibition entitled Everyday Lines presents graphic works with which their author Natalija Juhart Brglez shifts the recognisable and expected image and understanding of the urban veduta as an acknowledged motif in the history of fine art. On the one hand, they can be viewed as a conceptual visual solution of the transformation of the image of the urban landscape into a collage of perspectives and, on the other, as imaginary drawing and discovering of the less visible features of towns and cities. Natalija Juhart Brglez's creative work can be described as expanding the view beyond one’s home garden or through the window of the atelier to reach a more complex visual perception of the urban landscape and environment. In the formal sense, her visual language is simple and based on lines and colour surfaces, which are used to reveal an image of the city that is not a mere record of the actual state, but presents itself to the viewer as the living space of multiple unique particularities. These can be a tree, a staircase, a fence, a bridge, an exaggerated architectural element, spatial positioning of a monument and so on. Natalija Juhart Brglez's prints are visual interpretations and reflections on urban space, its architectural and cultural characteristics, which do not require depictions of a mass of people in the style of vedutas of cultural and historical capital cities, because they express their aliveness with deliberately selected views, which turn the city into the central protagonist of the motif. Further, the careful selection of the printmaking techniques of drypoint, etching and silkscreen strengthens and enhances the visual expressivity of the image. Close observation of the prints also reveals intentional or spontaneous mistakes in the form of slanted lines, the erased parts of the architecture and in the meaning of the mirror image in the creation of the matrix.

The series of her three latest etchings, which are on display for the first time, focuses on Ljubljana and some of its central, recognisable cultural and architectural symbols. The view on the Plečnik’s Market consists of different perspectives, with which the author accentuates the schematic nature of architectural lines in the space, combining them with the softness of the lined background and the wind-stirred surface of the Ljubljanica river. This kind of a formal approach is all the more evident in the print entitled Among the Skyscrapers, in which the emphasised multitude of vertical lines delineating and illustrating Ljubljana’s tall buildings envelops a hand-drawn, almost as if doodled massive tree with a wide and spreading crown. All three prints are imbued with a contrast between a flat, architecturally accurate, perspective drawing and hand-drawn details, which reinforce the formal visual approach also in the sense of the content, adding to the prints a touch of life, the beauty of natural forms and a sense of chaos.

The series of three silkscreen prints depicting Maribor’s squares, created in the Print Studio of the International Centre of Graphic Arts, is based on the formal characteristics of the silkscreen technique, which enables printing even surfaces in the form of straight lines and colour planes of varying sizes. In these prints as well, these can be seen in contrast with the more relaxed lines of the drawn trees and figures of the monuments. The motifs are largely made using black and blue colour surfaces, which emphasise the visual characteristics of variegated views onto the squares of the city by the Drava river.

In the motifs of her etchings, aquatints and screen prints, Natalija Juhart Brglez focuses on exploring the understanding of the urban veduta through a cubistically articulated perspective. Her vedutas give prominence to many references from the art history of individual cities, which she emphasises with recognisable perspective drawing and accentuates with visual means, which makes her prints, in addition to technical perfection, modern and topical for today’s times and, especially, evincing her unique perspective on what she observes and how she understands what she sees.

Božidar Zrinski, curator of the exhibition

Natalija Juhart Brglez (1992) completed her Master’s in Fine Arts Education at the University of Education of the University of Maribor in 2018 and in 2019 also received a Master’s in Printmaking from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana. She creates most of her work in the traditional intaglio techniques, etching and aquatint or their combination. She also creates stitched drawings, using black thread to explore the various qualities it offers. In the past year, she has been focusing on felt-tip drawing, the central motif being the architectural and urban characteristics of the city of Maribor, where the artist currently lives and works. Natalija Juhart Brglez exhibits regularly at home and abroad; among other, she has presented her work at the Utaz Art Award Biennale in Japan in 2018 and in 2020, at the 10th International Triennial in Bitola, Macedonia, at the 4th International Printmaking Triennial in Belgrade, Serbia, and at the 2018 May Salon – Prints. She has received several awards for her work, including the Excellence Award for a print entered at the 2018 art competition Utazu Art Award Biennale in Japan, the recognition award of the Biennial of Slovene Graphic Arts Otočec, Novo mesto, and the Prešeren Award for students presented by the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana in 2017/2018, namely for the cycle of seven prints dedicated to Venice.