︎︎︎STATEMENT

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          Simon Kocjančič is already well known to the audience as an artist working in different media, among which painting has the primate. His style is often described as an intersection between the abstract and figurative, defined by colorful combinations where particular visual motifs are continuously present, like the brick walls, small rugs, and cube shapes. However, in his newest artistic production presented at the exhibition So Unreal, he is showing us a new direction on how to look not only at his art but also specifically the art of painting as a contemporary medium of expression. 

          This unique and fresh approach is mainly based on how he exhibits the works and consolidates and clarifies his visual language. Firstly, his paintings are presented in a three-dimensional environment, creating an immersive space. They go beyond the surface of the canvas and engage the viewer in a more interactive experience. Installed on metal studs for wall framing, the paintings might remind us of surviving artifacts and fragments of a former place of importance, but, even more important, they are becoming an active component of the exhibition, engaging us on a deeper level by encouraging active participation and exploration. We can move through the space, interact with the artwork, and experience different perspectives and viewpoints. Most paintings are not hung on the wall but become the wall themselves. While we walk through the exhibition, we can practically bump into the canvases. We feel like we can go through them, or they can swallow us. No matter the size, whether huge or small formats, they stand in our way. You cannot pass them by but confront them. This makes the painting an object that becomes suddenly new, and we feel its physical presence.

          Additionally, Simon is giving us another layer of experience. By extensively repeating specific visual motifs, he emphasizes them as active agents of the paintings through which we should understand them. For example, a brick-like structure from a solid inorganic material transforms into something anthropomorphic. On some canvases, we become familiar with the meaning of that particular shape, but when we see the next one, we become uncertain whether we can rely on our conclusion, making us involved in a motif maze like game.

          Through these recurring elements, the paintings installation and the visual motifs, it is like he plans to put us into a jamais vu experience, where a particular gesture or visual sign becomes alienated or unreal, whether we can relate to them or not. Jamais vu can be a deliberate technique in visual arts employed by artists to challenge the viewer's perception and disrupt their familiarity with the object or subject matter. Artists may use various strategies to evoke a sense of jamais vu, creating artworks that simultaneously appear familiar and unfamiliar and forcing the viewers to reconsider what they are observing. But why is Simon using such an approach?

          According to Simon, he often thinks about his position as a human and an artist in society. On an intimate level, he compares this position with the personal relationship between two people. He adds that today's relationship between people becomes more and more strange, unreal, and unreliable to the things heard or seen. Simon is interested in the (un)reality of things that stand as noise among us, and through the approach in his paintings, he explores it further. It is like he sees the painting as a legit act of personal resistance, allowing him to stay true to himself by expressing his individuality, emotions, and experiences. That is how he reclaims his agency, challenges societal expectations, and asserts his autonomy by sharing his stories, humor, and perspectives through his works.

          Consequently, the paintings are becoming a form of self-empowerment and a way to resist the pressures of conformity. Today, when the relationship between people and society is threatened by piles and piles of information and images, wheatear fake or genuine, the act of painting, no matter its historical poundage and proclaimed deadness, could again become a vital tool for criticism and observation.

          Through his approach of going beyond the real in the space of the painting, it seems that Simon invites the viewer to interact and communicate within the honest and private space of the canvases. Therefore, Simon's paintings are not meant to be seen as aesthetical works, analyzed through the concept of beauty or theory, but on the capacity of the interpersonal communication between the viewer and the artist. The jamais vu experience he is putting us through is an entrance to this conversation. Thus, we find ourselves drawn into the artwork, forming an emotional connection or contemplating his intentions. This close engagement can create a sense of privacy as our thoughts and emotions interact with the visual elements of the painting in a personal and subjective manner, showing us that there still might be room for a redefinition of such a traditional medium outside its historical realm.


︎︎︎ABOUT THE ARTIST

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          Simon Kocjančič (1979) graduated in Painting from the University of Visual Arts in Ljubljana. He has presented his work in several solo exhibitions, including Galerija P74 (2016), RAVNIKAR (2019, 2021), and Škuc Gallery (2022), as well as in numerous group presentations in Slovenia and abroad. Kocjančič is active in the fields of painting, drawing, graphics, photography, and artistic fanzines. In 2022 he published the book Hideout - a collection of analog photographs, in collaboration with PrivatePrint Publishing. He lives and works in Truške near Koper.

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          Simon Kocjančič je občinstvu že dobro poznan kot umetnik, ki ustvarja v različnih medijih, med katerimi pa ima primat slikarstvo. Njegov slog pogosto opisujejo kot presečišče abstraktnega in figurativnega, zaznamovano z barvitimi kombinacijami in stalno navzočnostjo vizualnih motivov, kot so opečnati zidovi, preproge in kockaste oblike. V najnovejših delih, predstavljenih na razstavi Tako neresnično, pa nam kaže nov način obravnave ne le njegove umetnosti, temveč tudi slikarstva kot sodobnega izraznega medija.

          Ta edinstven, svež pristop je povezan predvsem s tem, kako razstavlja dela ter utrjuje in izčiščuje svoj vizualni jezik. Prvič, njegove slike so predstavljene v tridimenzionalnem okolju, kar ustvarja prostor za potopitveno doživetje. Segajo onkraj površine platna in gledalcu ponudijo bolj interaktivno izkušnjo. Slike, pritrjene na podkonstrukcijske profile, utegnejo spominjati na ohranjene artefakte in fragmente kakšnega nekdaj pomembnega kraja, še pomembneje pa je, da postanejo tudi aktivna komponenta razstave, saj s spodbujanjem aktivnega sodelovanja in raziskovanja vključujejo gledalca v dogajanje na globlji ravni. Med premikanjem skozi prostor v interakciji z umetniškim delom izkušamo različne perspektive in gledišča. Večina slik ne visi na steni, temveč same postanejo stene. Ko hodimo po razstavnem prostorju, se malodane zaletavamo v platna. Zdi se nam, kot da lahko prehajamo skoznja oziroma nas požirajo. Najsi bodo ogromna ali majhna – formati so namreč različni –, nam stojijo na poti. Ne moremo mimo njih drugače, kot da se z njimi soočimo. S tem slika postane objekt, ki je nenadoma nekaj novega in ima otipljivo fizično navzočnost.

          Kocjančič pa naše doživljanje razširi na še eno raven. Nekatere vizualne motive s pogostim ponavljanjem izpostavi kot aktivne delovalce, skozi katere naj bi predstavljena dela razumeli. Struktura iz trdne neorganske snovi, ki spominja na opečnato, se denimo spremeni v nekaj antropomorfnega. Ko na nekaterih platnih že izluščimo pomen te konkretne forme, pa pri naslednjem nismo več prepričani, ali se lahko zanesemo na svoje ugotovitve, kar nas povleče v pravi labirint motivov. Zdi se, kot da želi Kocjančič s temi ponavljajočimi se elementi, postavitvijo slik in vizualnimi motivi povzročiti nekakšen jamais vu, pri čemer določena gesta ali vizualni znak postaneta odtujena ali neresnična, pa naj z njima vzpostavimo čustveno povezavo ali ne. V vizualni umetnosti se lahko jamais vu namerno uporablja kot tehniko za prevpraševanje gledalčevega dojemanja in spodkopavanje njegovega poznavanja objekta ali tematike. Umetniki tak občutek vzbujajo z uporabo različnih strategij, pri čemer ustvarjajo dela, ki se obenem zdijo poznana in nepoznana, s tem pa gledalca prisilijo v ponoven razmislek o tem, kaj gleda. A zakaj tak pristop uporablja Kocjančič? 

          Kot pravi sam, pogosto razmišlja o svojem položaju v družbi kot človek in kot umetnik. Na intimni ravni ga primerja z osebnim odnosom med dvema človekoma. Po njegovem odnos med ljudmi danes postaja čedalje bolj nenavaden, neresničen in nezanesljiv glede stvari, ki jih slišimo ali vidimo. Zanima ga (ne)resničnost stvari, ki nastopajo med nami kot šum, in to raziskuje z omenjenim pristopom k slikanju – kot da bi razumel sliko kot legitimno dejanje osebnega upora, kar mu omogoča, da z izražanjem individualnosti, čustev in izkustev ostaja zvest samemu sebi. Tako z izpovedovanjem lastnih zgodb, humorja in stališč v svojih delih ponovno prevzame nadzor nad svojo delovalnostjo, prevprašuje družbena pričakovanja ter uveljavlja svojo avtonomijo.

          Slike posledično postajajo oblika samoopolnomočenja in način, kako se upreti pritiskom konformizma. V današnjem času, ko odnos med ljudmi in družbo ogrožajo ogromne količine podatkov in podob, najsi bodo lažni ali resnični, bi lahko slikarstvo ne glede na svojo zgodovinsko obremenjenost in proglašeno smrt ponovno postalo vitalno orodje za kritiko in opazovanje.

          Zdi se, da Kocjančič s svojim pristopom preseganja resničnega v prostoru slike vabi gledalca k interakciji in komunikaciji z iskrenim in intimnim prostorom platen. Njegovih slik zato ne bi smeli obravnavati kot estetskih del, podvrženih analizi z uporabo koncepta lepote ali teorije, temveč glede na zmožnost medosebne komunikacije med gledalcem in umetnikom. Občutek jamais vu, ki ga vzbuja v nas, je vstopna točka v ta pogovor. Tako nas umetniško delo pritegne, da vzpostavimo čustveno povezavo ali premišljujemo o njegovih namenih. Ta tesna vez lahko vzbudi občutek intimnosti, saj se med našimi mislimi in čustvi ter vizualnimi elementi na sliki vzpostavi osebna, subjektivna interakcija ter nam pokaže, da morda še obstaja prostor za redefinicijo tega tako tradicionalnega medija onkraj njegovih zgodovinskih parametrov.

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          Simon Kocjančič (1979) je diplomiral iz slikarstva na Šoli za risanje in slikanje v Ljubljani. Svoje delo je predstavil na več samostojnih razstavah, med drugim v Galeriji P74 (2016) ter galerijah RAVNIKAR (2019, 2021) in Škuc (2022), ter na številnih skupinskih razstavah v Sloveniji in po svetu. Deluje na področjih slikarstva, risbe, grafike, fotografije in umetniških zinov. Leta 2022 je pri založbi PrivatePrint izšla njegova v knjigo urejena zbirka analognih fotografij Hideout. Kocjančič živi in dela v Truškah pri Kopru.

︎︎︎INSTALLATION VIEWS

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