Zmago Jeraj

Veselimo se dosežkov

Vsi se radi veselimo dosežkov, bodisi na osebnem, na poslovnem, umetniškem ali na
kateremkoli drugem področju. Dosežkov, ki v nas krepijo občutke zaupanja, trdnos-
ti in varnosti.

V zavarovalnici Triglav, kjer negujemo in krepimo zaupanje naših zavarovancev že več
kot sto let, je bilo takšnih dosežkov že veliko. Eden izmed teh je tudi ta, da smo danes
največja zavarovalniška skupina v Sloveniji, v JV Evropi in na zahodnem Balkanu. In
veseli smo, da lahko ustvarjene dosežke delimo z našim okoljem, z našimi zavarovanci in
z vsemi ostalimi. V Zavarovalnici Triglav, d. d., Območni enoti Kranj, tako že vrsto let
podpiramo tudi kulturno in likovno dejavnost. Sodelujemo z različnimi kulturnimi
ustanovami in sponzoriramo posamezne kulturne prireditve. V naših poslovnih pros-
torih pa vidnim likovnim ustvarjalcem že dobrih 15 let omogočamo postavitev razstav.
V tem času smo si z odkupi del ob teh razstavah, z odkupnimi nagradami na Bienalu
mesta Kranja in tudi ob različnih razstavah, kjer smo od slikarjev za posamezne humani-
tarne namene odkupili slike, ustvarili že zelo bogato lastno zbirko likovnih del. Ta
obsega že preko 100 slik in del, med njimi tudi dela Prešernovih nagrajencev in
Nagrajencev Prešernovega sklada (Klavdija Palčiča, Vinka Tuška, Lojzeta Spacala).

Ob letošnjem praznovanju občinskega praznika v občini Kranj pa se veselimo novega
dosežka - ponovnega sodelovanja z Galerijo Prešernovih nagrajencev, s katero smo v
preteklosti že uspešno sodelovali pri pripravi dveh retrospektivnih razstav, in sicer ob
praznovanju 80-letnice Franceta Slane in ob 100-obletnici rojstva Lojzeta Spacala.
Tokrat pa smo se odločili, da skupaj predstavimo likovna dela umetnika, ki je v letoš-
njem letu zagotovo prejel svojo najpomembnejšo nagrado doslej in s tem častitljivo
obeležil vse svoje dosedanje dosežke - akademskega slikarja Zmaga Jeraja.

Zmago Jeraj, nagrajenec Prešernovega sklada l. 1985 in letošnji prejemnik najpomemb-
nejše nagrade za dosežke v kulturi na Slovenskem - Prešernove nagrade za življenjsko
delo, se s svojim bogatim umetniškim delom, ne le preko slike in grafike, pač pa tudi
preko fotografije, ilustracije, knjižne opreme, scenografije, grafičnega oblikovanja in
filma uvršča med sodobno slovensko ustvarjalno elito. Tako rekoč na sam vrh
slovenske likovne umetnosti. Tega njegovega dosežka se veselimo tudi mi. Obenem smo
veseli tudi dane priložnosti, da so njegova vrhunska dela postavljena na ogled vsem
ljubiteljem umetnosti, in sicer ne le v Galeriji Prešernovih nagrajencev za likovno
umetnost Kranj, kot je to običajno, pač pa tudi v naših poslovnih prostorih.

Zmagu Jeraju iskreno čestitamo za vse njegove dosedanje dosežke in prepričani smo, da
so na poti že novi.

Aleš Klement
direktor Zavarovalnice Triglav, d. d., Območne enote Kranj

Pokrovitelj razstave

Celebrating Accomplishments

Everyone likes to celebrate accomplishments, regardless of whether they are personal,
commercial, artistic, or achievements in any other area. Accomplishments that reinforce
our feelings of trust, strength and safety.

Zavarovalnica Triglav, which has been nurturing and re-enforcing our clients' trust for
over one hundred years, has celebrated many such accomplishments. We consider the
fact that today, we are the largest insurance group in Slovenia, Southeast Europe and
in the Western Balkans as one of our accomplishments. We are happy to share our
achievements and success with our environment, our clients, and everyone else. As a
result, Zavarovalnica Triglav, d.d., Branch Office Kranj, has for several years support-
ed cultural and artistic activities among other things. We cooperate with various cul-
tural institutes and sponsor individual cultural events, while at the same time, we have
for the past 15 years invited distinguished authors of fine arts to exhibit in our business
premises. Over this time we have created our very own concise collection of fine arts
through the purchase of exhibited works at such exhibitions, through the purchase of
awards at the Kranj City Biennale, and at various exhibitions where we buy individual
paintings for charitable causes. This collection contains over 100 paintings and other
works of art, including works by Prešeren Award recipients and recipients of the
Prešeren Fund Award (Klavdij Palčič, Vinko Tušek and Lojze Spacal).

At this year's celebration of Kranj's municipal holiday, we are looking forward to a new
accomplishment - our continuing cooperation with the Gallery of Prešeren Award
Winners, with which we have successfully cooperated in the past when organising two
retrospectives, namely on the occasion of the celebration of the 80th birthday of France
Slana and the centenary of Lojze Spacal's birth. This time we have decided to jointly pres-
ent the works of an artist who has this year received what is surely his most prestigious
award to date and thus fittingly celebrated all his accomplishments so far - the academ-
ic painter Zmago Jeraj.

With his lavish artistic portfolio including not only paintings and graphics, but also pho-
tographs, illustrations, book art, scenography, graphic design and film, Zmago Jeraj, recip-
ient of the Prešeren Fund Award in 1985 and this year the recipient of the most prestigious
award for cultural achievements in Slovenia - the Prešeren Award for life accomplish-
ments - is, without a doubt, a member of the modern Slovenian creative elite and at the very
top of Slovenian fine arts. We are happy for his achievement and at the same time delight-
ed to be given the chance to exhibit his works for all art lovers to enjoy, not only in the
Gallery of the Prešeren Award Winners as is usual, but also in our business premises. We
offer our sincere congratulations to Zmago Jeraj for all his accomplishments to date
and we are certain that new achievements will soon follow.

Aleš Klement, Director
Zavarovalnica Triglav, d.d., Kranj Branch Office





Zmago Jeraj

metnostni zgodovinarji Zmaga Jeraja že dolgo označujejo kot predstavnika
ekspresivne figuralike. Takšna označba se njegovim delom nedvomno prilega, saj
so večinoma figuralna ali vsaj figurativna in ekspresivna ter včasih tudi ekspre-
sionistična, zato je z njo mogoče pokriti skoraj ves umetnikov opus, tako dela, ki
jih je ustvaril med študijem v Beogradu, kakor tista, ki nastajajo danes. Vendar
je posplošenost tudi glavni problem označbe, saj vključuje dela, ki se med sabo
velikokrat bistveno razlikujejo, to pa velja tudi za prvega od obeh velikih delov
Jerajevega opusa, za tistega, ki je nastal pred koncem sedemdesetih let, ko se je
začel ukvarjati z Risbami kar tako.
Vsakega umetnika je po svoje najbolj zanimivo opazovati na začetku njegove ust-
varjalne poti, ko se še odloča med raznimi možnimi potmi. Jeraj se je najprej šolal
na ljubljanski likovni akademiji in potem na beograjski, torej je imel široko izbiro,
pri tem pa je očitno, da je na začetku vsaj na njegovo figuralno slikarstvo najbolj
vplivala Zora Petrović, beograjska slikarka, pri kateri je diplomiral leta 1960.
Petrovićevo označujejo kot predstavnico barvnega ekspresionizma; zveza z Jerajem
je torej očitna že na tej stopnji, očitne pa so tudi razlike. V nekaterih zgodnjih
delih se je Jeraj zelo približal njenemu slogu, vendar na njegovih slikah, drugače
kakor na njenih, niti takrat niti pozneje ni čutiti poudarjenih odmevov nemškega
ekspresionizma izpred prve svetovne vojne. Zanimivo je tudi, da so Petrovićevo
zanimali "malomestni" motivi in kontrasti med tradicionalnim in modernim, torej
motivika, s katero se - veliko pozneje - srečujemo tudi v Jerajevem opusu, vendar
sta tudi v tem primeru njuni likovni interpretaciji docela drugačni.

1973 - 91, olje, platno, 21,2 x 24,9 cm

Še ena značilnost zgodnjega Jerajevega opusa je vztrajno raziskovanje možnosti
čistega likovnega jezika. Pri tem so nanj vplivali razni umetniki od Vasilija
Kandinskega do ameriških slikarjev štiridesetih in petdesetih let, torej je tudi
tokrat skupni imenovalec ekspresionizem, a seveda abstraktni. Na začetku omen-
jena označba Jerajevega slikarstva dokazuje, da so takšna dela v glavnem ostajala
neopažena, seveda pa je prav v njih izpilil značilni odnos do hitre, velikokrat
"akcijske" poteze in do bogatih barvnih tekstur. Vendar so takšni poudarki znova
najbolj očitni v njegovih poznejših delih, v drugi polovici šestdesetih let pa je kre-
nil v precej drugačno smer.

Z deli, ki so nastala v tem času in v prvi polovici sedemdesetih let, je Jeraj - sku-
paj s še nekaterimi predstavniki takratne mlade generacije - pri nas postal znan
kot eden od umetnikov, ki so v Slovenijo prinesli popart. Takšno označevanje je
vprašljivo v vseh primerih, v njegovem pa je še toliko manj ustrezna vse do danes
ponavljana primerjava z deli Andyja Warhola. Motivika "plakatno" povečanih
človeških likov jima je seveda skupna, odločilna pa ni v nobenem primeru. Za
Warhola je postala resnično značilna šele potem, ko se je prelevil v modnega
portretista, na Jeraja pa je zlasti na začetku veliko bolj od Warholove vplivala
"trdoroba" enačica poparta, ki jo najbolje predstavljajo dela Alana D'Arcangelo.
Takšne poudarke je v delih, nastalih po letu 1970, velikokrat kombiniral z
bistveno drugačnimi, ki bolj kakor na novejše tokove spominjajo na vzdušje
metafizičnega slikarstva. Včasih gre za velike odprte javne prostore, omejene z
brezosebno arhitekturo, drugič za interiere ali za izseke iz (praviloma nežive)
narave: v vseh primerih čutimo prisotnost nečesa nevidnega, a nedvomno grozečega,
vzporedno s stopnjevanjem te grožnje pa se v drugi polovici sedemdesetih let na
slike vračajo tudi ekspresivni barvni poudarki in poteze. Takšno stopnjevanje je
najprej skoraj neopazno, končno pa vodi v eksplozijo, do katere je v Jerajevi
umetnosti prišlo v osemdesetih letih.

Lev Menaše

Po letu 1980

mago Jeraj je vsestranska ustvarjalna osebnost, ki jo v sodobni vizualni umetnosti
srečamo le izjemoma. Svoj razkošni likovni talent je v petih plodnih desetletjih
preizkusil in uveljavil v slikarstvu, grafiki, fotografiji, ilustraciji, knjižni opremi,
scenografiji, grafičnem oblikovanju in filmu. Za Jeraja je značilno bolj ali manj stalno
in vzporedno ustvarjanje v različnih likovnih medijih in tehnikah. Na ta način rad
preizkuša celo isti motiv in meri drugačne učinke njegove izraznosti, odvisne od
značaja in izvedbenih možnosti izbrane likovne zvrsti. Realizacije motivnih in
oblikovnih prevajanj pa ponujajo presenetljivo izenačeno kakovost in avtonomnost
likovnih nagovorov. Zato je umetnikov opus izrazito kompleksen in njegova delitev
dokaj težavna. Kljub temu smo se tokrat odločili za časovno razmejitev, ki pred-
stavlja izbor avtorjevega dela pred in po letu 1980.

V zgodnjih Jerajevih delih prevladujejo mračna sporočila o stiskah sodobnega človeka,
njegovi razklanosti, osamljenosti, odtujenosti in izgubljenosti v urbanih prostorih
industrijske civilizacije, ki se stopnjujejo vse do napovedi neizbežne ekološke katak-
lizme. Razmišljanja o koncu vsega živega pa se v osemdesetih letih v vsebinskem in
formalnem smislu umaknejo radikalni čustveni katarzi, življenjski energiji svetlobe
in barvnih orkestracij. Človek ostaja še vedno središče umetnikovega zanimanja, le
da ni več protagonist velike eksistencialne drame, marveč je nosilec preprostih in
vsakdanje nepomembnih doživetij, opisanih z duhovito ironijo. In prav humornost je
ena najbolj dragocenih prvin Jerajevega dela, ki se ji etablirana in visoko rangirana
umetnost praviloma odreka.

Prestop v vsebinsko in formalno sproščenost so napovedale risbe, ki so nastale tik
pred iztekom sedemdesetih let. Bile so prve risarske realizacije obsežnega niza z
naslovom Risbe kar tako, ki so si tekoče sledile vse do sredine osemdesetih let. Kljub
temu, da se zaradi kakovostne ekvivalence umetnikovega dela težko odločimo čemu
dati prednost, pa vendarle izstopajo Risbe kar tako do te mere, da zasedajo posebno
mesto in jih opisujemo ter vrednotimo izključno z obiljem presežnikov. Z njimi je umet-
nik velikodušno odprl vrata v intimni svet svojega razmišljanja, domišljije, čutenja in
čustvovanja. Nepretenciozno poimenovanje niza navaja na tematsko preprostost in
opozarja na Jerajevo stopnjo odzivnosti na ponujene spodbude. In ker se odziva
pravzaprav na vse, kar ga obdaja, mu pripovedne snovi tako rekoč ne zmanjka. Dovolj
je, da naključno ujame drobec nekega pogovora, da ga pritegne možnost dvoumnega
odgovora na zastavljeno vprašanje, vloga nekoga, ki je v nasprotju z njegovim vide-
zom ali videz nečesa, ki je v nasprotju z njegovim želenim pomenom, televizijska vest,
filmski odlomek … Jeraj neprestano dokazuje, da je pozoren, iskriv in radoživ

opazovalec, ki ljubi metaforiko dvoumnih pomenov. Umetnik je uveljavil mojstrstvo
likovnega gaga, duhovite domislice, situacijskega dovtipa, ki sproži nastanek zabavne-
ga prizora. V svoje risane dnevniške zapise je vključil tudi besedila, ki posredujejo
resnično izrečene misli, besedne igre ali avtorjeve komentarje. Variacije enostavnih,
strogih, gibkih, sklenjenih in lomljenih črtnih ritmov ter skromni barvni poudarki v
polni meri razkrivajo Jerajevo risarsko suverenost. Njegove risbe so odličen primer,
kako z minimalnimi izraznimi sredstvi doseči osupljive likovne učinke, kako banalno
temo z močjo ustvarjalnega genija dvigniti na nivo absolutnega umetniškega dela.

V osemdesetih letih je tudi fotografija doživela temeljno spremembo. Vanjo je vstopila
barva. Najprej jo je avtor previdno vključil v svojo slovito serijo pustnih mask
Krivoustneži, ki predstavljajo norčavo karnevalsko vzdušje Ptuja in Maribora od
šestdesetih let pa vse do danes. Jerajeve dolgoletne pomisleke, ki so barvo odklanja-
li zaradi učinkov morebitne dopadljivosti, pa je dokončno razblinilo neizpodbitno
dejstvo, da večina ljudi vidi v barvah. Postala je enakovredna tekmica dolgoletni
dominanci črno belih dramaturških prijemov. Danes umetnik rad raziskuje neštete
možnosti sodobne tehnike, ki jih ponuja računalniška obdelava digitalnih fotograf-
skih posnetkov. Nastajajo realizacije, ki so z mehčanjem predmetnih kontur, poudar-
jenimi svetlobnimi in barvnimi kontrasti ter grobozrnato teksturo papirnega
temeljnika bližje slikarskemu kot fotografskemu izrazu.

Jeraj se vedno znova vrača tudi k portretni karikaturi, portreturi, kot jo imenuje,
veji portretistike, ki s pretiravanjem najbolj značilnih obraznih in značajskih last-
nosti vzbuja smeh, a brez žaljivega namena. Ob nujni prepoznavnosti portretiranca,
navrženi v nekaj potezah je prav šaljiva preobleka tista prvina, ki določa zakonitosti
tega risarskega žanra. Avtorjevo zanimanje za karikaturo ne preseneča, saj vseskozi
teži k ekspresivni likovni govorici. Ob tem pa jemlje karikaturo kot permanentno
risarsko vadbo in izziv, ki zahteva spretno roko in ostro oko za hipno dojemanje in
podajanje psihofizičnih lastnosti portretirane osebe.

Vsebinske in oblikovne spremembe, ki so najprej zaživele v risbi, je Jeraj prenesel tudi
v grafiko in sliko. V nasprotju s starejšimi serigrafijami se je v obdobju po letu 1980
odločil za klasične grafične tehnike kot so litografija, jedkanica, akvatinta, suha
igla in kombinirane tehnike. Slikarske realizacije v olju, akrilu, gvašu, akvarelu in
pastelu, ki so vendarle Jerajeva najpomembnejša ustvarjalna usmeritev so doživljale
vrsto formalnih preobrazb. Presenetil je z oblikovno enigmatiko, pri kateri je
slikovni epitel razdrobil s številnimi drobnimi slikarskimi potezami in z njimi po
načelu mimikrije zakril figuro ali segmente prizorov, ki jih odkrije šele dovolj
pozoren gledalec. Navdušil je z belim slikarskim ciklom, izpeljanim s prefinjeno paleto
pastelnih tonov, položenih na prevlado transparentne beline in kontrastnimi učinki
skicozne slikarske podrisbe z ogljem. Ustavili smo se le pri dveh formalnih antago-
nizmih, čeprav bi jih lahko opisali veliko več. Jeraj je namreč ustvarjalec, ki popolnoma
brez težav, dobesedno igraje prehaja od ene izraznosti k drugi, od geometrizma k
sproščeni gibkosti poteze, od monokromnosti k osupljivemu kolorizmu, od lazurnosti
nanosa do njegove polne krovnosti, od enovitega črtnega ritma do njegove
drobljenosti, od blažjih k stopnjevanim oblikovnim deformacijam, od enostavnosti
barvnega tkiva do njegove skrajno komplicirane sestave, od bele slike k črni…

Zmago Jeraj je izrazit pripovednik, ki nas nagovarja na enak način ne glede na trenutno
izbran likovni medij. Prepričljivo formulira in posreduje preproste zgodbe iz naše
vsakdanjosti, ki so tako zelo navadne, da jih zlahka prezremo. In šele, ko nam jih ponudi
skozi nenavadno optiko svojega pogleda, nizane kot epizode in povezane na izvirno
subjektiven način, smo očarani in presenečeni, ker je vse znano in vendar vse dru-
gačno. V njih nastopajo stalni nosilci simbolnih sporočil, kot so ženska in moška
figura, mačke in psi, majhna in velika prevozna sredstva, pogosto uporabljena tudi
kot potujoči svetlobni vir in dejavnik učinkovitih žarilnih presvetlitev. Njegova
avtorska govorica je tako prepoznavna, da govorimo o jerajevskih prizorih, o jera-
jevskih prostorskih in figuralnih deformacijah ali o jerajevskem misteriju svetlobe.
Z lahkoto virtuoza, ki poudarja zdaj to zdaj ono značilnost, preigrava svoj proni-
cljivi sporočilni repertoar, postavljen v nezmotljivo popoln kompozicijski izrez, in z
občutkom za likovno usklajenost celote.

Milojka Kline

Biografija

Zmago Jeraj se je rodil 9. novembra 1937 v Ljubljani. Leta 1955 se je vpisal na slikarski
oddelek Akademije za likovno umetnost (ALU) v Ljubljani. Leta 1958 je študij nadaljeval
na slikarskem oddelku ALU v Beogradu, kjer je leta 1960 diplomiral pri profesorici
Zori Petrović. Leta 1964 je vpisal še specialko za slikarstvo na ALU v Ljubljani pri
profesorju Gabrijelu Stupici, ki jo je uspešno končal leta 1967.

Leta 1969 je prejel štipendijo Britanskega sveta za podiplomsko izpopolnjevanje na
grafičnem oddelku Hornsey Collegea v Londonu, kjer mu je zanimanje vzbudila zlasti
tehnika sitotiska. Od leta 1970 je bil tudi likovni pedagog na Gimnaziji pedagoške smeri
v Mariboru. Leta 1971 je dobil štipendijo sklada Moše Pijade, ki mu je omogočila študij-
sko potovanje v Sovjetsko zvezo, kjer je preučeval starorusko slikarstvo. Leta 1979
začnejo nastajati prve risbe iz obsežnega niza, imenovanega Risbe kar tako. Na 4. trienalu
jugoslovanske fotografije v Ajdovščini je leta 1984 prvič razstavil izbor pustnih
motivov, imenovanih Krivoustneži, ki jih sistematično fotografira vse do danes.
Zmago Jeraj je leta 1985 prejel nagrado Prešernovega sklada za umetniške dosežke v
risbi in gvašu, leta 1991 pa Jakopičevo nagrado, najvišje slovensko priznanje za slikarstvo.
Od leta 1996 je na ALU v Ljubljani poučeval predmeta risanje in slikanje in se leta 2007
upokojil kot izredni profesor.

Leta 2009 je prejel Prešernovo nagrado za življenjsko delo.

2009, olje, platno, 50 x 60 cm

Priložene reprodukcije

Portret L., 1967, polimer, platno, 70 x 90 cm
iz cikla Risbe kar tako, 1981/1985, tuš, papir, 30 x 42 cm
1980, akril, platno, 94 x 132 cm
1978, akril, lak, platno, 70 x 90 cm
1996, olje, platno, 100 x 120 cm
1999, akril, olje, platno, 70 x 90 cm
2004, akril, oglje, olje, platno, 70 x 90 cm
Rudi Šeligo, 1995, barvni svinčniki, tuš, papir, 30 x 21 cm

Galerija Prešernovih nagrajencev
za likovno umetnost Kranj

Glavni trg 18, 4000 Kranj, 04/202 57 16
www.gpn.kranj.si
[email protected]

Vodja galerije: Marko Arnež ● Organizacija: Marko Arnež, mag. Barbara Kalan, Petra Polak
Izdal: Gorenjski muzej, www.gorenjski-muzej.si - zanj: mag. Barbara Ravnik

Besedilo: dr. Lev Menaše in Milojka Kline ● Prevod: Jana Kranjec Menaše in Andrej Grah Whatmough ● Korekture: Tina Šubic
Fotografija: Umetnostna galerija Maribor, Zmago jeraj ● Oblikovanje: Marko Tušek
Tisk: Tiskarna GTO Košir ● Naklada: 300 izvodov
Razstava je nastala v sodelovanju z Umetnostno galerijo Maribor.

Pokrovitelj razstave je Zavarovalnica Triglav, OE Kranj.

Delovanje galerije omogoča Mestna občina Kranj.

Kranj, december 2009



rt historians have long been describing Zmago Jeraj as a representative of expressive
figural art. This denotation undoubtedly suits his works, since they are mostly figural or
at least figurative and expressive, at times even expressionistic; it can therefore be used to
describe nearly all of the artist's opus, so the works created during his studies in Belgrade
as the ones that are being created nowadays. This generalization, however, is also the main
problem of the above denotation, as it includes works which often differ essentially one
from another; the latter is also true of the first among the two large parts of Jeraj's artis-
tic opus, the one created before the end of the 1970s when he began to occupy himself with
Drawings just like that.

Any artist is particularly interesting at the beginning of his artistic path, when he /she is
still choosing between different possible orientations. Jeraj first studied at the Ljubljana
Academy of Fine Arts, then at the Belgrade Academy, so he had a wide choice of possi-
bilities. It is obvious that, at least at the beginning, his figural painting was particularly
influenced by Zora Petrović, the Belgrade painter with whom he graduated in 1960. She is
denoted as a representative of colour expressionism; the link with Jeraj is therefore
apparent at that very stage, but also apparent are the differences. In some of his early
works Jeraj closely approached her style, but in his paintings, unlike her works,
accentuated reflections of the pre- World War I German expressionism are not felt either
then or later on. It is also interesting that Petrović was interested in "small town" motifs,
in contrasts between the traditional and the modern, i. e. in motifs which can - much later
- be found in Jeraj's opus, but in this case again their artistic interpretations are completely
different.

Another characteristic of Jeraj's early opus is his persistent research of the possibilities
of pure plastic language. He was thereby influenced by various artists, from Wassily
Kandinsky to American painters from the 1940s and 1950s; here, again, what they have in
common is expressionism, but of course the abstract one. The denotation of Jeraj's painting
mentioned at the beginning of the text proves that such works mostly remained unnoticed,
but it was through them that he perfected the characteristical attitude towards the quick,
often "action-like" stroke and towards rich colour textures. Such accents, however,
became more obvious again in his later works; in the second half of the 1960s he chose a
rather different direction.

With the works created at that time and in the first half of the 1970s, Jeraj - together with
a few other representatives of the then young generation - became known as one of the
artists who brought Pop Art to Slovenia. Such characterization is questionable in all the
cases, but in Jeraj's case the up-to-now constantly repeated comparison with the works of
Andy Warhol is particularly inadequate. The motifs of "poster-like" enlarged human
figures are indeed mutual, but by no means decisive. These motifs became truly char-
acteristical of Warhol only after he became a fashionable portraitist, while Jeraj was
particularly at the beginning much more influenced by the hard-edge variant of Pop

Art, represented by the works of Alan D'Arcangelo, than he was by Warhol. In the works
created after 1970, he often combined the above mentioned influences with essentially
different ones, reminiscent more of the atmosphere of metaphysical painting than of the
more recent styles. He sometimes presented large open public places, limited by imper-
sonal architecture, at other times interiors or scenes from (as a rule inanimate) nature: in
all the cases, we sense the presence of something invisible, but doubtlessly threatening;
parallely with the intensification of this threat, in the second half of the 1970s the
expressive colour accents and strokes began returning to his paintings. Such gradual
accentuation was at first almost imperceptible, but it finally led to an explosion which
occurred in Jeraj's art of the 1980s.

Lev Menaše

After 1980

mago Jeraj is a versatile creative personality we only seldom encounter in modern visual
art. In five fruitful decades, Jeraj has tested and asserted his extravagant artistic talent
in painting, graphics, photography, illustration, book art, scenography, graphic design
and in film. A more or less permanent and parallel creativity in various artistic media and
techniques is characteristic of Jeraj. It is in this manner that he enjoys testing even the
same motif and measuring the various affects of its expression, depending on the char-
acter and realisation possibilities of the chosen artistic types of expression. The motif
realisations and design translations display a surprisingly similar quality and autonomy
of artistic addresses. As a result, the artist's opus is extremely complex, making it rather
difficult to classify. That said, in this instance we have decided to make a division by time,
which represents a selection of the artist's work before and after 1980.

Dark messages conveying modern man's distress, his troubles, solitude, alienation, and
feelings of being lost in urban spaces of industrial civilisation prevail in Jeraj's early
works, and build up to the prediction of an imminent ecologic cataclysm. However, in the
eighties, both in terms of content and formal terms, contemplation on the end of all
living things is replaced with a radical emotional catharsis, the life energy of light and
colour orchestrations. Man remains at the centre of the artist's interest, however he is
no longer the protagonist of a great existential drama, but rather the subject of simple
and every-day, unimportant events, described with a witty irony. It is his humour that is
one of the most precious elements of Jeraj's opus, the very same thing that established
high art usually relinquishes.

Pictures which were made just before the end of the seventies heralded this move
towards a relaxation of content and form. These were the first sketches from an exten-
sive set entitled "Sketches for no Particular Reason", which appeared in close succession
up to the mid eighties. Despite the fact that it is hard to decide what aspect of the artist'
work to put emphasis on due to its equally high quality, the "Sketches for no Particular

Reason" do stand out to such a degree that they assume a special place and are described
and evaluated only by using an abundance of superlatives. Through these sketches, the
artist generously opens the door to the intimate world of his own thoughts, his imagi-
nation, feelings and emotions. The unpretentious naming of the set indicates its the-
matic simplicity and outlines Jeraj's level of response to incentives offered. And since
he actually responds to everything that surrounds him, he never runs out of matter to
discuss. It suffices for him to casually catch a fragment of a discussion to be attracted
by the possibility of an ambiguous response to the question posed, the role of someone
which is not in line with his appearance or the appearance of something which is contrary
to its intended meaning, a piece of television news, a film clip, etc. Jeraj continuously
demonstrates that he is an attentive, cheerful and lively observer, who loves the
metaphors of ambiguous meanings. He has introduced the mastery of artistic gag panels,
witty ideas and situation jokes, which trigger a humorous scene. He has also included
texts in his drawings of diary scenes which carry actually expressed thoughts, wordplays
or the artist's comments. Variations of simple, strict, flexible, continuous and broken
line rhythms, as well as sparing colour accents, fully reveal Jeraj's mastery of drawing.
His sketches are an excellent example of how to achieve breathtaking artistic effects
with minimal expressive means, how to lift an everyday topic through the power of a cre-
ative genius to the level of an absolute work of art.

In the eighties, photography too underwent fundamental changes through the introduc-
tion of colour. Firstly, the artist cautiously introduced colour to his famous series of
carnival masks Krivoustneži (Crookedmouths), which represent the clownish carnival
spirit of Ptuj and Maribor which began in the sixties and has continued to this day. Jeraj's
reservations of many years which resulted in him rejecting colour due to the potential
effects of its sweet beauty, were ultimately put to rest by the indisputable fact that most
people see in colour. It thus became an equal opponent to the years of domination of
black and white dramaturgic methods. Today, the artist enjoys exploring the countless
possibilities of modern techniques, offered by the computer processing of digital pho-
tographs. The realisations that come to life are, due to the softening of the item's
contours, enhanced light and colour contrasts, as well as the coarse texture of the
paper base, closer to paintings than photographic expression.

Jeraj returns again and again to the portrait caricature, or portraiture, as he calls it -
a branch of portraitism which encourages laughter due to the exaggeration of the most
characteristic facial and character traits, but without any offence intended. Together
with the necessary recognising features of the portrait's subject, which are made in a few
strokes, the funny disguise itself is the defining virtue of the laws of this genre of
drawing. The artist's interest in caricature comes as no surprise, as he has always aimed
at an expressive artistic expression. At the same time, he takes caricature as the ever-
lasting drawing exercise and challenge, which requires a skilful hand and a sharp eye for
the momentary recognition and expression of the psycho-physical characteristics of the
portrait's subject.

Jeraj transferred the content and design changes, which were at first brought to life in
his drawings, to graphics and paintings. In contrast with older serigraphic pieces, in the
post 1980 period, Jeraj chose classical graphic techniques such as lithography, etching,

dry needle and a combination of techniques. Painting realisations in oil, acrylics,
gouache, aquarelle and pastel, which present Jeraj's most important creative direction,
underwent a number of formal changes. He has surprised with his enigmatic designs, in
which he has divided the surface of the picture with several small strokes, at the same
time hiding the figure or scene segments according to the principles of mimicry, which are
only discovered by a sufficiently observant audience. He has delighted with his cycle of
white paintings, realised with a refined palette of pastel tones, placed between a strong
transparent white and the contrasting effects of a sketchy artistic base drawing in char-
coal. We have only discussed two formal antagonisms, even though we could describe
many more. Jeraj is an artistic creator, who without any problem at all, literally play-
fully switches from one expression to another, from geometrism to relaxing flexible
strokes, from monochrome to exceptional colourism, from highlights to a full cover,
from a unified line rhythm to its fragmentation, from light to more heavily toned design
deformations, from simplicity of colour material to its exceptionally complicated
composition, from white picture to black, etc.

Zmago Jeraj is most certainly a storyteller, who addresses us in the same manner
regardless of the artistic medium he momentarily chooses. He convincingly formulates
and passes on simple stories from our everyday lives, stories which are so very common
they are easily overlooked. It is only when he offers them to us through the unusual
optics of his view, lined up like episodes and connected in an original subjective manner,
we are charmed and surprised since everything is so familiar, but also very different.
Permanent carriers of symbolic messages appear, such as the female and male figure, cats
and dogs, small and large vehicles, which are frequently used as a travelling light
source and a factor of effective glowing illumination. His artistic expression is so recog-
nisable that we can call them Jeraj scenes, Jeraj's spatial and figural deformations, and
Jeraj's mystery of light. With the effortlessness of a virtuoso, who emphasizes this or
that characteristic, he plays with his sharp expressive repertoire, presented in an unmistake-
ably perfect composition, and with a feeling for the artistic harmonisation of the whole.

Milojka Kline

Biography

Zmago Jeraj was born on 9 November 1937 in Ljubljana. In 1955, he enrolled in the Painting
Department of the Academy of Fine Arts (Akademija za likovno umetnost - ALU) in
Ljubljana. In 1958, he continued his studies at the Department of Painting at the Academy
of Fine Arts in Belgrade, and graduated in 1960 under professor Zora Petrović. In 1964,
he enrolled in a specialised course in painting at ALU Ljubljana under professor Gabrijel
Stupica. He successfully completed his specialisation in 1967.

In 1969, he received a scholarship from the British Council for Post-Graduate Education
for the Graphics Department of Hornsey College in London, where he developed a spe-
cial interest in the technique of serigraphy. Since 1970 he has been a teacher of art at the
Pedagogical Grammar School in Maribor. In 1971 he received a scholarship from the
Moše Pijade fund, which enabled him to travel to the Soviet Union and study old Russian
painting. In 1979, the first sketches from the extensive series named Risbe kar tako
(Sketches for no special reason) were made. At the Fourth Triennial of Yugoslav
photography in Ajdovščina in 1984, he exhibited for the first time a selection of
carnival motifs, named Krivoustneži (Crookedmouths) which he has systematically
photographed to this day.

In 1985, Zmago Jeraj received the Prešeren's Fund Award for artistic achievements in
sketch and gouache, and in 1991 he received the Jakopič award, the highest Slovenian
award for fine arts. From 1996 he taught Sketching and Painting at ALU in Ljubljana,
where he retired in 2007 as an Associate Professor.

In 2009 he received the Prešeren's Award for life achievements.

List of illustrations:

Portrait L., 1967, polymer, canvas, 70 x 90 cm
From the "Sketches for No Particular Reason" cycle, 1981/1985, ink, paper, 30 x 42 cm
1980, acrylic, canvas, 94 x 132 cm
1978, acrylic, varnish, canvas, 70 x 90 cm
1996, oil, canvas, 100 x 120 cm
1999, acrylic, oil, canvas, 70 x 90 cm
2004, acrylic, charcoal, oil, canvas, 70 x 90 cm
Rudi Šeligo, 1995, colour pencil, ink, paper, 30 x 21 cm



































Galerija Prešernovih nagrajencev
za likovno umetnost
Kranj
Glavni trg 18
4000 Kranj
04/202 57 16
www.gpn.kranj.si
[email protected]

Kranj, december 2009

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