Simon Kocjančič: Down & Behind

25 October 2017 > 22 November 2017 You are kindly invited to the opening of the exhibition "Down & Behind" by Simon Kocjančič. The opening will take place on Wednesday 25th October 2017 at 8pm at the Alkatraz Gallery, ACC Metelkova.

At the first sight the works of Simon Kocjančič evoke an impression of being hermetic and enigmatic. The viewer quickly notices sparse groups of elements and colour planes. Prevailing are darker hues and undefined organic shapes, difficult to ascribe a meaning to. A talk with the painter does not make the reception any easier. Kocjančič stresses that his painting does not refer to any specific concept, and that his creating does not stem from a desire to communicate a certain message. However, this does not mean that the artist is oriented into a formalistic exploration of colours and shapes and that he is interested only in exploration of the elements of painter’s work.  In his most recent works the author remained faithful to the painting process of nuancing of colour masses and planes, which, this time, do not allude to figures, but emphasize a twist into the development of an abstract form.

The borders of Kocjančič’s world do not end in his studio, even though his living environment dictates the subject matter and determines the frame of his creative work. For several years the artist has lived in a house located far from urban life, hence his artworks are created in a peaceful rural environment. The rhythm, dictated by the quotidian, is his principle inspiration for creative work. The outset point could be quite banal: his home – the house with a garden, the objects found inside the house, what is happening indoors, the relations, the present as well as the past. To the viewer, the actual motifs representing the outset for the painting are somewhat invisible; all that the viewer sees in front of her/him are the images whose focus is shifting away from the figurative, yet it is still difficult to define the direction it is heading to.  The abstract images are actually abstracted objects. There are some that we are not able to make out, while others are giving an impression of profound contemplation about space and ambience. It is the author’s deliberate decision to leave the essence undisclosed and occasionally conceal it even deeper – by covering it with illegible inscriptions on the canvas, for he is quite sure that what is most significant for the viewer is her/his autonomous reflection, interpretation and the pleasure on the path looking for meanings – which is something he does not want to deprive the viewer of. The painting does not frame itself from the outside, but emerges from the perspective of the intimate world of every individual and her/his perception of the everyday life, emphasizing the search for a metaphor for an actual existential moment.

The open space of the painting is actually a kind of a meta-space, not purposed for an explicit disclosure, but for the construction of an original interpretation of the intimate. Original, as their construction elements are not explicit narratives, but kaleidoscopic spots and semi-abstract shapes. The paintings are created by a procedure that may include the element of arbitrariness; allowed are paint splashing and other experimental researches that are not bound to a specific goal.  At the end, the modest microcosm the artist is building with a help of his paintings, comes across as genuine and authentic – not merely as a testimony of his intimate world, but also as a critical way of thinking or his worldview.

Translated from Slovene by: Lili Anamarija No.

Simon Kocjančič (1979) graduated in 2007 at a College of Visual Art in Ljubljana.
He is active in the fields of painting, drawing, graphic art, photography and art zines production. He has been exhibiting since 2006. In 2017 he participated in a group exhibition Off the hook at Neurotitan gallery in Berlin in colaboration with Dobra vaga gallery. The same year he participated in a group exhibition Zines! Contemporary Zine Production at the International Center of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana.

Photos from the opening & of the exhibition: Nada Žgank.