Stilinović, Mladen, Boris Demur, Željko Jerman, Zeljko Kipke, Sven Stilinović, Fedor Vučemilović, Vlado Martek, and others.

[YUGOSLAV NEO-AVANT-GARDE – FLUXUS – CONCEPTUAL ART – HAPPENING – ARTIST'S BOOKS] Maj 75. 16 issues (of 17 published).

Zagreb: self-published, 1978–1984. Quartos (ca. 30.5 × 21.5 cm). Original side-stapled, partially illustrated wrappers on various paper and card stock and in various media; ca. 14–34 leaves per issue of prints and individual artworks to rectos and versos, including drawings, photographs, screen printing, assemblages, collages, decoupages, and found objects. Overall very good. Item #54361

Nearly complete set of the extremely rare series, issues of which were produced manually by the artists in only 100 to 200 copies. The series was named after an exhibition organized in Zagreb by the Sava River in May 1975, which was organized by the artists independently of galleries and other art world institutions. On this occasion, leaflets were also distributed in addition to individual works of art, in order to stimulate discussion about the pieces. All participating artists were present and available for discussions with the public. Among them were the painter Boris Demur, the photographers Željko Jerman, Sven Stilinović, and Fedor Vučemilović, the poet Vlado Martek and the experimental filmmaker Mladen Stilinović. The action was so decisive for the six artists that they followed up with around 20 such exhibitions in public spaces – in squares, streets, by the sea, in university halls, courtyards and private homes – in Zagreb, Belgrade, Mošćenička Draga and Venice. This radical form of allowing art to take place outside the established art context set a precedent in Zagreb (we should remember Arthur C. Danto's thesis published in 1981 in "The Transfiguration of the Commonplace" that a work is defined as a work of art by its context). From 1979, the Group of Six Artists (šestorice autora) worked within a larger group that exhibited in alternative spaces such as "Podroom" (The Cellar) (1979–1980) and "Prostor Prosirenih medija" (The Expanded Media Space), later renamed Gallery PM, from 1981 to 1991. (On this and the following: Cf. Darko Šimičič, From Zenit to Mental Space, in: Impossible histories: historical avant-gardes, neo-avant-gardes, and post-avant-gardes in Yugoslavia, 1918–1991, pp. 324–326).

Founded in the summer of 1978, the journal "Maj 75" is part of the concept of organizing exhibitions outside of established spaces. Numbered alphabetically, the issues themselves exhibit individual works, rather than simply reproducing them. In addition to prints and original prints of photographs, the issues are interspersed with collages, assemblages, and drawings, which sometimes differ from issue to issue (as a comparison with other copies reveals). The texts are mostly manifestos, quotations, visual and concrete poetry, and documentation of art actions.

The series was started by Martek and Stilinović. Their concept is reminiscent of the "Tango" series started a few years later in Poland by the "Kultura Zrzuty" group. But with "Maj 75", there was no fixed group working together on the issues. Instead, the issues were curated in the manner of exhibitions. The artists sent in the required number of A4 works, which were then stitched together with the works of other artists. The wrappers were usually screen-printed in the studio of Zeljko Jerman and Vlasta Delimar. The series was introduced with a text by the group of six. The first point (a) states that the first and foremost priority is to create an alternative to the contemporary trend of making art exclusive to the art world. The compartmentalization of art is lamented. The second point emphasizes that each issue is made up of individual works of art, so they are not collective works. Over the years, works by 53 artists from Yugoslavia (including Zagreb, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Ljubljana, Kranj, Rijeka, Pula and Sarajevo) and abroad (Venice, Bratislava, Frankfurt) have been brought together. Some issues dealt with specific topics: Vlasta Delimar published issue "F" in 1981 and invited only female artists to contribute. Issue "E" from 1981 contained the documentation of two exhibition events; issue "LJ" from 1984 published a series of short stories collected by Martek. Issue "K" from 1983, which is the only issue lacking in our set, was a special case due to its tiny print run: only 16 copies were produced (two for each of the participating artists), published, and launched unofficially.

As of April 2024, OCLC lists only one holding in North America, at MoMA.

Price: €25,000.00

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