BIO

In her artistic practice, Gala Alica deals with the problematics of urban space and the thin line between private and public space. The gentrification and privatization of public spaces, their historical narratives, and with that, the question of their inclusiveness/exclusiveness are the starting points of her research for sculptures and site-specific interventions. Through explorations of broader socio-political contexts and usage of elements of our built environment, the artist investigates characteristics of human relationships, intimacy and alienation.

She is currently studying visual arts at die Angewandte, the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and has a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. She also studied at the University of Art and Design in Linz. Her solo exhibitions include Stuck in Motion (Pražirna AB3, Prague, 2023), Someone’s Land (Gallery Alkatraz, Ljubljana, 2022), and Generated Views (Night Window Display Gallery, Ljubljana, 2022). Her works have been exhibited as part of many group exhibitions, among others also In the Open (Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna), Grit in the Eye, Stone in the Shoe (Gallery Courtney Jeager, Basel), Rally: (Bistro21, Leipzig), and The Stone is the Skin (Zink Wien, Vienna).

https://www.instagram.com/galaalica/

WORK AT THE EXHIBITION

Edge I and Edge II

Edge I, 2024
intervention in the open space, recycled Styrofoam and Styrodur, 200 × 180 × 220 cm

Edge II, 2024
intervention in the open space, recycled Styrofoam and Styrodur, 80 × 180 × 170 cm

The project Edge I and Edge II deals with the often overlooked Windischer Street behind the Moderna galerija (Museum of Modern Art) in Ljubljana, drawing attention to the complex use of public space that is no longer accessible due to various prohibitions. Once a public thoroughfare, the street is now strictly controlled for the needs of the American and Russian Embassies. The constant presence of security fences and police and security services reveals a broader problem of public space whose public use is determined by the influence of vested interests. Made of recycled insulation materials from Ljubljana’s waste collection centers, the temporary intervention is the third part of the No Loitering series (2020–), in which site-specific sculptures draw attention to less visible elements of public space and question their functions. This time, the sculptures test the limits of what is possible, revealing the failure of the transition into protected space. While the first work attempts to cross the boundary of the security fence on the lawn, the second object enters the space of Windischer Street from the museum’s balcony through the air mass above the street. The forms of both sculptures are shaped along the borders of the forbidden space, further emphasizing these boundaries. Edge I and Edge II, placed in the open space behind the Moderna galerija, further question the lack of presence of more contemporary artworks in the vicinity of the art institution and in the public space more broadly.