Aleksandra Saška Gruden and Željko Beljan
WE ARE WITH YOU!
9.7.–2.8.2025.
Veselov vrt Gallery, Komenskega 8, Ljubljana, Slovenia

On Wednesday, July 9 at 7 PM, the exhibition We Are With You! by Aleksandra Saška Gruden (SLO) and Željko Beljan (HR) opened at the Veselov vrt Gallery (Komenskega 8, Ljubljana, Slovenia).

The project continues a previously initiated international reciprocal collaboration in partnership with the Ljubljana Fine Artists Society (DLUL), which began in 2024 with exhibitions of Slovenian and Croatian artists at the PM Gallery in the Meštrović Pavilion in Zagreb and the DLUL Gallery in Ljubljana. The new phase of collaboration includes the newly opened exhibition, with a reciprocal exhibition planned in Zagreb in 2026. The exhibition curator in Ljubljana is Sarival Sosič.

“New sculptural achievements are placed in relation to the exhibition spaces, but are primarily material-temporal modulations that imply the variability of matter, and thus of form, as a striving toward continuous movement – or, in the case of the presented visual project by multimedia artist Aleksandra Saška Gruden and Croatian multimedia artist Željko Beljan, a striving toward image effects with a strong emphasis on dialogue.

The exhibition at Veselov vrt Gallery is titled We Are With You! and represents an extremely adaptable artistic constellation, as it can be freely extended or shortened, expanded or displayed, and can even be integrated into many different concepts.”

(From the preface, written by Sarival Sosič)

Artist Biographies:

Željko Beljan (1984, Vukovar) graduated from the Department of Animated Film and New Media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 2021. In his artistic practice, he focuses on the phenomenon of handcraft and its position in contemporary artistic practices, exploring textiles and handcraft techniques as an artistic medium. In doing so, he investigates the relationship between handcraft and amateur, hobby-based involvement in sports, with an emphasis on audience participation and involvement in the realization of the works. He was a finalist for the Radoslav Putar Award in 2023 and is an alumnus of the WHW Academy, class of 2022. Since 2011, he has participated in a significant number of group exhibitions in Croatia and the region, and has held several solo exhibitions, including: Project Arkade (MSU, Zagreb, 2023); Unresolved (Šira Gallery, Zagreb, 2022); Guest (Prostor, Split, 2022; Tratinska 64 – CIMO, Zagreb, 2021); Three Corners Penalty (Football field of Marijan Elementary School – Culture Hub Croatia, Split, 2022; Žitnjak Studios, Zagreb, 2022); Truth is a Forgotten Memory (in collaboration with Rebecca Merlić, Ethnographic Museum, Zagreb, 2022); Benjamin Beljan: Željko (Garage Kamba, Zagreb, 2022); Benjamin (CEKAO Gallery, Zagreb, 2022); Myth, Embroidery and Vuteks (NMG@Praktika, Split, 2020; Karas Gallery, Zagreb, 2020); Cartoon Core (Siva Gallery, Zagreb, 2018; Inquiry Inc., Osijek, 2016).

Aleksandra Saška Gruden graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. Since 2006, she has held the status of an independent cultural worker. As a multidisciplinary artist, she works in the fields of sculpture, spatial installations and interventions, video, performance, photography, scenography, and drawing. Her work addresses themes such as the human body and its limitations, the relationship between the private and the public, the intimate world of the individual, the image of women in contemporary society, and cultural heritage. She regularly exhibits in Slovenia and abroad (Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, Serbia), through solo and group exhibitions. She is the author of numerous public installations in Slovenia (Grosuplje, Kranj, Celje) and abroad (Austria, Croatia). She is the recipient of the second prize in the Emzin Slovenian Photography of the Year competition, the third prize for video at the Man–Monument exhibition (Velenje), and the Designers Society of Slovenia Award (2016) for the project Zidnice (EPK Maribor). She often collaborates with other female artists (Nataša Skušek, Saba Skaberne). She has led numerous sculpture symposiums and exhibition programs (Video Dinner and Showcases), the MFRU festival, and discussion series (Tea Party for Art, O:MIZA). She also works as an art critic and is the President of the Artistic Council of DLU Ljubljana.

The exhibition is open from July 9 to August 2, 2025.

Gallery opening hours:
Tue – Fri: 10 AM – 6 PM
Sat: 10 AM – 1 PM
Closed on Sundays, Mondays, and public holidays

Supported by: