Academic painter Roman Uranjek died at the age of 60. He was one of the founding members of the art collective Irwin and Neue Slowenische Kunst.
The artist, born in Trbovlje in 1961, entered the scene with the Irwins in 1983, and later he continued his recognizable independent artistic path. At this, as reported by MMV RTV Slovenia, the project At least one cross per day stands out the most, which he started on the first day of January in 2002 and crosses, a kind of artistic intervention in various more or less well-known images of the past and the present, he created until on the last day.
In the massive opus of more than 25,000 crosses, the symbol, which is also one of the key icons of the recognizable Irwin collective, is repeated repeatedly. This was founded by Uranjek together with Dušan Mandić, Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski and Borut Vogelnik. The group is part of the wider NSK collective, which was founded in 1984.
The works of the Irwins have appeared in almost all the world’s most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions, and are also included in many collections.
Fire: Uranjek unofficially committed suicide, probably because of the Smodej affair
After news of Uranjek’s death spread, journalist Bojan Požar shared the information that the painter committed suicide, and the most likely reason was the alleged Smodej affair.
In recent days, some online portals have reported that Dušan Josip Smodej, a cultural figure from Novi Mesto and the manager of Fotopub, was allegedly involved in the sexual abuse of women. Smodej publicly denied all accusations and insinuations, saying that it was blackmail by his acquaintance, she even threatened him with death.
