PRIMOŽ BIZJAK: THE GREY WORLD IS BLUE AND GREEN

The selection of works for the exhibition is based on the dialogue between the poem Ves svet je kakor (The Whole World Is Like) by Srečko Kosovel (Integrali '26, Cankarjeva založba, 1967) and Primož Bizjak's oeuvre from the period between 2004 and 2020, which includes the series: Venezia 2005–2006, Sarajevo 2004–2006, Alpi Apuane 2014–2017, and Munich Zoo 2017–2020.

The reason for reflecting on the poetic basis of the exhibition is the work Antro del Corchia, Monte Corchia from the series Alpi Apuane from 2015, which is in the collection of the Piran Coastal Galleries. The medium-format photograph, which shows the entrance to a cave in one of the Carrara marble quarries, reveals the greyness of the stone and the evening light that illuminates the work of man and takes us into a feeling of the colours of the world, which Primož Bizjak captures with long exposures.

On the first floor, the exhibition continues with the series from Alpi Apuane with the diptych Tre Fiumi. On both sides of the diptych, the exhibition expands into a space with the series from Venice, a view from an empty canal and a view into the water from the entrance to the fortress walls in Marghera. In the large room, the installation continues and concludes with a diptych from Munich Zoo, which shows a snowy cage, through which an artificial stream flows. The common thread running through the various series in this space, connected to the entrance hall is the relationship between man and water, or rather its regulation.

In the room behind the stairs, which acts as a chamber, we plan to exhibit a second larger diptych from Munich Zoo. The photograph was taken in a birdcage, which, due to its size, connects the entire room and places the viewer in the photograph itself, emphasising the idea of the “golden cage”, as the title of the series of works from Munich states. The bird or figure from this work thus takes us to the floor above.

On the first floor of the gallery, all the works also have a common formal parameter, which is the height of the photographs. They are all 157cm high and if we divide the diptychs into halves, there are eight upright formats, which together form a “diorama” of a selection from Primož’s oeuvre.

On the second floor, on the “balcony”, we plan to exhibit two works from the Sarajevo series. On this floor, the exhibition also concludes with the last work, which is again from Alpi Apuane; it is the Passo della Focolaccia, a high mountain pass, which also has a quarry. The peak of the exhibition thus becomes its own theme, where a stone taken from the quarry appears as a tombstone.

The entire selection in the exhibition consists of two works from each series, with the exception of Alpi Apuane, from which there are three works that have a vertical sequence, as they are also the connecting link of the exhibition due to their starting point from a work from the collection.

Artist's short biography

Primož Bizjak (*1976 in Šempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia) lives and works in Madrid. Selected exhibitions: Golden Cage at the Gregor Podnar Gallery, Vienna, AT, (solo) 2024; Firmitas Utilitas Venustas.A New Paradigm, Pavilion of Congo at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, IT, 2024; Space With a Potentiality for a Shift, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, SI, 2024–2025; (Everything Is) Not What It Seems, Civic Gallery, Piran, SI, 2022; Brave World, Telegraph Gallery, Olomouc, CZ, 2022; Photomenta – Photography From the Mediterranean, Eretz Museum, Tel-Aviv, IL, 2022; Hospital de Cartón, with Carlos Bunga, Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid, ES, 2020; Alpi Apuane, Center for Contemporary Arts, Celje, SI & CAP – Centro Arti Plastiche, Carrara, IT & Gregor Podnar Gallery, Berlin, DE (solo), 2019-2018; Difesa di Venezia, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana, SI (solo), 2012.

Curator: Ištvan Išt Huzjan

For more information on Bizjak's CV visit: https://www.gregorpodnar.com/cms/primoz-bizjak/