Mirjana Rukavina, a Maribor born artist from Slovenia based in Vienna, creates work that spans multiple media, reflecting a deep engagement with personal and societal themes. She explores themes of identity, corporeality, and the sociocultural dimensions of space. Her practice began with painting, which she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (MFA, 1997), but evolved in the 1990s toward video and performance, often exploring the body’s physiological and aesthetic “imperfections” through a personal lens—she herself wore a medical corset for scoliosis in her youth. Since 2002, photography has been central to her work, frequently resulting in spatial installations, and since 2016, she has reintegrated drawing and painting.
RESUMÉ
1997 mag.a art. (MFA) from Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien. Study of Painting (Class of Wolfgang Hollegha).
2013 MAT Visual Arts Education, University of Maribor, Faculty of Education
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Work in Progress, Rooming Inn, Vienna
2022 Fashion Untitled, Mangelware Studio, FOTO WIEN
2020 Donauinsel, time4artists, Kunst- und Integrationsvereins Migraart, Vienna
2019 Donauinsel, Street Gallery of Foundation Sonda and TAM TAM, Maribor
2017 Dreams and Promises, Art Critic's Choice in cooperation with Slovenian Association of Art Critics, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana
2016 Here & There - Places of Absence, MAO – Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana & Photonic Moments Month of Photography, Ljubljana
2015 Here & There - Places of Absence, UGM Studio, Maribor
2012 Closeness and other stories, KIBLA Multimedia Center, Maribor
2009 Seduction - Seduced by Uncertain Knowledge, New Moment Ideas Gallery Belgrade
2007 Touch Me Not, Month of Photography 07, Ljubljana
2004 Beauty Archives 2002–2004, Kunsthalle Exnergasse WUK, Vienna
2001 Care Treatment, Synagogue-Center for Contemporary Art Trnava
1999 Milwaukee, Gallery Cult, Vienna
Milwaukee, KIBLA Multimedia Center Maribor
1999 Pictures, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 The Smile of the Sphinx, Collegium Artisticum, Terezije BB, Sarajevo
2019 Concrete Dreams, Photon - Center for Contemporary Photography, Ljubljana
Alphabet Day, Zollamt, Bad Radkersburg
Art for Sale/Paper Matters, UGM Maribor
2018 Inventory, -ies (f) Collections on the move: UGM Collection hosted by KGLU / Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška, Slovenj Gradec
2009 Summer, UGM – Art Gallery Maribor
Subjekt als Körper im Raum, Ve.Sch Vienna
2006 MISS/FIT, Freiraum Q21, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, 2006
2001 Sollbruchstellen, UNIKUM Klagenfurt/Celovec
Central artLab: Neue Kunst aus Mitteleuropa, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen
2000 Very Private, KGLU/Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška, Slovenj Gradec, KunstRaumMitteleuropa, Palais Harrach, Vienna in collaboration with Gallery Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
1999 SIQ 1999, Kunsthalle Exnergasse WUK, Vienna
SCREENINGS
2003 Milwaukee, Zero Visibility, Festival of Electronic and Arts, Vilnius, Rome & Ljubljana
Milwaukee, Frame Finnish Fund for Art Exchange Helsinki
Milwaukee, Kyoto Biennale Goethe Institute Kyoto
Milwaukee, Alternative Video Film Festival Belgrade
2002 Loop-Lines, The 6th Element Latvian Center for Contemporary Art Riga
Milwaukee, Vidarte, Festival Internacional de Video y Artes Electrónicas, Mexico City
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
2018 The UGM Video Art Collection, Maribor
1999 Austrian Federal Collection (Artothek des Bundes)
1998 Wienerstädtische, Vienna
RESIDENCIES
2011 Artist in Residence Berlin, Ministry of Culture Slovenia
2006 Artist in Residence, Q21, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna
2002 Artist in Residence, KulturKontakt Austria
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
2004 Carmina, 37 minutes documenting the life of the Carmina Slovenica Choir (conductor: Karmina Šilec), Producer: Blok Film
2002 Terminal, monthly TV-show exploring audio-visual culture & digital media art, Producer: RTV Slovenija
Erlauf erinnert sich ... 20 min. Producer: NÖ Kultur