Marjetica Potrč

1953 | Ljubljana, Slovénia

Slovenian visual artist and architect.

Marjetica Potrč holds degrees in architecture and sculpture from the University of Ljubljana, where she taught for several years following her studies. Internationally recognised for her site-specific research projects, which she usually refers to as Case Studies, she is interested in the foundations of human life and the need to be protected and surrounded. Her work is at the intersection of activism, urbanism and anthropology. Acting in different geopolitical contexts where her creations are realised, following long periods of involvement and studies, she encourages the participation of local communities in a “participatory design” process in which their expertise is emphasised. In the early 2000s the artist developed installations combining spontaneous architectural elements, unexpected forms and solutions for several artistic institutions proposed by residents’ inventiveness.

With locals from a neighbourhood in Caracas in 2003, she realised a prototype for composting toilets that was then adopted by the community, which still makes them today. In collaboration with the architect and activist Kyong Park in 2005, she turned her interest to the city of Detroit and the concept of “shrinking cities” before they, along with other architects and artists, embarked on another research project on the new urban planning phenomena in the countries of former Yugoslavia (Lost Highway Expedition, 2006). In 2007-2008 she addressed water resources in New Orleans after the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina. On the field, her work is carried out in direct association with local structures. Observations on these projects often take the form of a series of drawings (The Struggle for Spatial Justice, 2005; Pattern Protects, 2007). Potrč has received numerous awards, including the Hugo Boss Prize in 2000 and the Vera List Center for Arts and Politics Fellowship, awarded by the New School of New York in 2007.

Nataša Petrešin

Translated from French by Katia Porro.

From the Dictionnaire universel des créatrices
© 2013 Des femmes – Antoinette Fouque
© Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions
Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Rural Studio: The Lucy House Tornado Shelter, 2007, building materials and communications infrastructure, 340 x 410 x 445 cm, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City, © Photo : Beatrice Dallot

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Acre: Rural School, 2012, building materials, energy and communication infrastructure, approx. overall dimensions: 355 x 500 x 500 cm, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City, © Photo : Gerhard Kassner

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Caracas: Growing Houses, 2012, building materials, engery, communications and water-supplyinfrastructure, approx. dimensions: 480 x 745 x 315 cm, © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City, © Photo : Gerhard Kassner

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Homo Ludens, 2008, marker and Ink on paper, Set of 7 drawings, each 29.7 x 21 cm, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, New Orleans: House and Modernism Outweighed, 2007, ink on paper with ink-jet print, Diptych, each 56 x 76 cm, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Of Soil and Water: King’s Cross Pond Club, 2015, building materials, soil, water, plants, natural filtration, King’s Cross, London, © Marjetica Potrč

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Ramot Polin Unit with Sukkah, 2011, building materials and water-supply infrastructure (Bricks, wood, woodwool, plates, tar paper, metal, reed, plastic), Overall dimensions: approx 348 x 400 x 400 cm, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City, © Photo : Gerhard Kassner

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Shelter: Closed and Open, 2018, building materials, energy and water-supply infrastructure, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City, © Photo : Ros Kavanagh

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Yinchuan: Rural House, 2018, building materials and water-supply infrastructure, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City

Marjetica Potrč — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Marjetica Potrč, Drop City Giant, 2012 – 2019, building materials, communications infrastructure, H 330 x Ø 340 cm, Courtesy Marjetica Potrč & Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City, © Photo : Gerhard Kassner

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