Exhibition setup
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Exhibition opening
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Exhibition opening
BLAŽ ROJS – KISSES AND GOODBYE
29 MARCH – 30 APRIL 2022
Text taken from www.galerijafotografija.si
In his artworks within the exhibition Kisses and Goodbye, the emerging artist Blaž Rojs continues his quest of experimenting with materials and combining different techniques, an approach he introduced with his series Transparency, which was exhibited at the Dobravaga gallery in 2021. Layering various materials and their visual presentation are the focus of Rojs’s artistic practice, in which he joins the media of collage, painting, photography and graphic design. By fusing them together using epoxy resin and plexiglass, he creates canvases and objects that already border on sculpture. What makes Rojs stay true to photography is the polaroid technique – it’s still his primary medium of expression, though he often destroys, cuts into pieces, covers with paint or otherwise intervenes with it.
It was Rojs's interest in transparency and translucence of images, later turning into a research question both of content and form, that led him to use epoxy resin and plexiglass. For thousands of years, the portrayal of translucency has posed a challenge to painters and other artists. Its depictions can be traced back to antiquity, which used the motif of translucence to portray precious materials such as silk and cotton, while true mastery was acquired later in Early Netherlandish painting, spearheaded by Jan van Eyck. Rojs explored the history of representation of translucency too, all the while combining more and less transparent materials such as glass, textile, paint and photopaper. On the other hand, he also explored the motif content-wise – in his photographs, women nude figures are in the foreground, while revealing and concealing the body is accentuated in close connection with the material used for a particular depiction.
Rojs defines the motif of the nude strictly formally; he uses the nude body as the medium on which projected elements are added, taken away or intervened with – both in the sense of material as well as meaning. “In the oeuvres of artists I researched, I was always instantly drawn to nudes. In painting, these artists were Paul Gauguin and Egon Schiele, whilst in photography I discovered my primary interest in the works of Helmut Newton, Daidō Moriyama, Chas Ray Krider, and Eric Kroll,” said Rojs when asked about the nude in his work. It is intimacy that he foregrounds, rather than erotica – through distinctly personal women nude portraits, Rojs establishes a relationship between the subject and the medium, while intimacy is already established by nudity as such. In addition, the artist wanted to maintain closeness not only between himself and his model, but also between himself and his own work. For this purpose, he came up with his own alphabet, a made-up language, which he designed based on various Asian characters and runes. This adds another layer of secrecy to his artworks and enables Rojs to be the only one to truly understand the contents of his work.
As the basic constituent of an image with which he creates, the photographic image, which is made primarily, before intervention, always stays relevant for Blaž Rojs. However, it is the act of intervention that is the essence of his work: “When conducting research for my thesis, I found the idea of splitting intervention into three parts especially intriguing – either as adding a layer to an image, taking an image away, or changing the image. Each one of these gives a different result. I think it is the act of intervention that gives meaning to the primary image.” In the artworks from the Kisses and goodbye exhibition, Rojs’s fondness of experimenting becomes even more obvious; at the same time, his work highlights the variety and boldness of different paths that young Slovenian photographers are treading.
Hana Čeferin
BLAŽ ROJS – POLJUBI IN NASVIDENJE
29 MAREC – 30 APRIL 2022
Izvzeto iz www.galerijafotografija.si
V delih na razstavi Poljubi in nasvidenje mladi umetnik Blaž Rojs nadaljuje svoje raziskovanje materiala in kombiniranje različnih tehnik, ki ga je predstavil že s serijo Transparentnost, razstavljeno leta 2021 v galeriji Dobravaga. Plastenje različnih materialov in njihov vizualni prikaz sta v fokusu Rojsove umetniške prakse, ki združuje medije kolaža, slikarstva, fotografije in grafičnega oblikovanja ter jih v obliki platen in objektov iz epoksi smole in pleksi stekla spaja v pogosto skoraj kiparske objekte. Rojs fotografiji ostaja zvest predvsem s svojo zavezanostjo tehniki polaroida, ki je še vedno njegov primarni medij izražanja, tega pa po nastanku mnogokrat uniči, razreže, ga povsem prekrije z barvo ali vanj na drugačne načine intervenira.
Z uporabo epoksi smole in pleksi stekla se je Rojs pričel ukvarjati iz svojega zanimanja za transparentnost in presevanje podob, to pa je zanj postalo tako vsebinsko kot formalno raziskovalno vprašanje. Upodobitev prosojnosti že tisoče let predstavlja izziv slikarjem in drugim umetnikom. Upodobitvam lahko sledimo v čase antike, ko se je motiv uporabljal za prikaz dragocenih materialov, kot sta svila in bombaž, največje mojstrstvo pa je v tem kasneje gotovo doseglo staronizozemsko slikarstvo z Janom van Eyckom na čelu. Zgodovino prezentacije presevanja je raziskoval tudi Rojs, ki je obenem med seboj kombiniral prosojne materiale, kot so steklo, tekstil, barva in fotopapir, po drugi strani pa je motiv raziskoval tudi vsebinsko – v ospredju njegovih fotografij so namreč vedno ženske gole figure, pri katerih je poudarjeno prav razkrivanje in zakrivanje telesa, povezano z materialom, v katerem je upodobljeno.
Rojs se tako tudi do motiva akta opredeljuje predvsem formalno; golo telo uporablja kot nosilec za projiciranje elementov odvzemanja in dodajanja – tako v smislu materiala kot pomena – in za možnost intervencije. »V opusu umetnikov, ki sem jih spremljal, so me vedno najbolj pritegnili izbori njihovih aktov. Pri slikarstvu sta bila to Paul Gauguin in Egon Schiele, v fotografiji pa sem izvorno zanimanje odkril z deli Helmut Newtona, Daida Moriyame, Chas Ray Kriderja in Erica Krolla,« je dejal Rojs ob razmišljanju o motivu akta v njegovih delih. Tematsko je zanj bolj kot erotika v ospredju intimnost – skozi izrazito osebne portrete ženskih aktov vzpostavlja odnos med subjektom in medijem, pri katerem intimnost vzpostavlja že golota sama. Rojs je bližino želel vzpostavljati ne le med sabo in svojim modelom, temveč tudi med seboj in svojim lastnim delom. Zato je ustvaril lastno pisavo, izmišljen jezik, ki ga je zasnoval na podlagi azijskih pismenk in run. Ta v njegova dela vnaša določeno mero skrivnostnosti in mu omogoča, da le sam resnično razume vsebino svojih del.
Za Blaža Rojsa fotografska podoba, ki nastane primarno, pred intervencijo, ohranja relevantnost, saj je osnovni gradnik podobe, s katero ustvarja. A intervencija vseeno predstavlja bistvo njegovega dela: »Pri raziskavi za diplomsko delo se mi je zdela zanimiva razdelitev intervencije na tri dele: intervencija kot dodajanje sloja podobi, kot odvzemanje podobe in spreminjanje podobe. Vsaka prinaša drugačen končni rezultat. Intervencija po mojem mnenju dodaja pomen osnovni podobi.« V delih na razstavi Poljubi in nasvidenje postane njegova naklonjenost eksperimentiranju še posebej očitna, s svojimi intervencijami pa obenem opozarja tudi na raznolike in drzne smeri, v katere se razvija mlada slovenska fotografija.
Hana Čeferin
29 MARCH – 30 APRIL 2022
Text taken from www.galerijafotografija.si
In his artworks within the exhibition Kisses and Goodbye, the emerging artist Blaž Rojs continues his quest of experimenting with materials and combining different techniques, an approach he introduced with his series Transparency, which was exhibited at the Dobravaga gallery in 2021. Layering various materials and their visual presentation are the focus of Rojs’s artistic practice, in which he joins the media of collage, painting, photography and graphic design. By fusing them together using epoxy resin and plexiglass, he creates canvases and objects that already border on sculpture. What makes Rojs stay true to photography is the polaroid technique – it’s still his primary medium of expression, though he often destroys, cuts into pieces, covers with paint or otherwise intervenes with it.
It was Rojs's interest in transparency and translucence of images, later turning into a research question both of content and form, that led him to use epoxy resin and plexiglass. For thousands of years, the portrayal of translucency has posed a challenge to painters and other artists. Its depictions can be traced back to antiquity, which used the motif of translucence to portray precious materials such as silk and cotton, while true mastery was acquired later in Early Netherlandish painting, spearheaded by Jan van Eyck. Rojs explored the history of representation of translucency too, all the while combining more and less transparent materials such as glass, textile, paint and photopaper. On the other hand, he also explored the motif content-wise – in his photographs, women nude figures are in the foreground, while revealing and concealing the body is accentuated in close connection with the material used for a particular depiction.
Rojs defines the motif of the nude strictly formally; he uses the nude body as the medium on which projected elements are added, taken away or intervened with – both in the sense of material as well as meaning. “In the oeuvres of artists I researched, I was always instantly drawn to nudes. In painting, these artists were Paul Gauguin and Egon Schiele, whilst in photography I discovered my primary interest in the works of Helmut Newton, Daidō Moriyama, Chas Ray Krider, and Eric Kroll,” said Rojs when asked about the nude in his work. It is intimacy that he foregrounds, rather than erotica – through distinctly personal women nude portraits, Rojs establishes a relationship between the subject and the medium, while intimacy is already established by nudity as such. In addition, the artist wanted to maintain closeness not only between himself and his model, but also between himself and his own work. For this purpose, he came up with his own alphabet, a made-up language, which he designed based on various Asian characters and runes. This adds another layer of secrecy to his artworks and enables Rojs to be the only one to truly understand the contents of his work.
As the basic constituent of an image with which he creates, the photographic image, which is made primarily, before intervention, always stays relevant for Blaž Rojs. However, it is the act of intervention that is the essence of his work: “When conducting research for my thesis, I found the idea of splitting intervention into three parts especially intriguing – either as adding a layer to an image, taking an image away, or changing the image. Each one of these gives a different result. I think it is the act of intervention that gives meaning to the primary image.” In the artworks from the Kisses and goodbye exhibition, Rojs’s fondness of experimenting becomes even more obvious; at the same time, his work highlights the variety and boldness of different paths that young Slovenian photographers are treading.
Hana Čeferin
BLAŽ ROJS – POLJUBI IN NASVIDENJE
29 MAREC – 30 APRIL 2022
Izvzeto iz www.galerijafotografija.si
V delih na razstavi Poljubi in nasvidenje mladi umetnik Blaž Rojs nadaljuje svoje raziskovanje materiala in kombiniranje različnih tehnik, ki ga je predstavil že s serijo Transparentnost, razstavljeno leta 2021 v galeriji Dobravaga. Plastenje različnih materialov in njihov vizualni prikaz sta v fokusu Rojsove umetniške prakse, ki združuje medije kolaža, slikarstva, fotografije in grafičnega oblikovanja ter jih v obliki platen in objektov iz epoksi smole in pleksi stekla spaja v pogosto skoraj kiparske objekte. Rojs fotografiji ostaja zvest predvsem s svojo zavezanostjo tehniki polaroida, ki je še vedno njegov primarni medij izražanja, tega pa po nastanku mnogokrat uniči, razreže, ga povsem prekrije z barvo ali vanj na drugačne načine intervenira.
Z uporabo epoksi smole in pleksi stekla se je Rojs pričel ukvarjati iz svojega zanimanja za transparentnost in presevanje podob, to pa je zanj postalo tako vsebinsko kot formalno raziskovalno vprašanje. Upodobitev prosojnosti že tisoče let predstavlja izziv slikarjem in drugim umetnikom. Upodobitvam lahko sledimo v čase antike, ko se je motiv uporabljal za prikaz dragocenih materialov, kot sta svila in bombaž, največje mojstrstvo pa je v tem kasneje gotovo doseglo staronizozemsko slikarstvo z Janom van Eyckom na čelu. Zgodovino prezentacije presevanja je raziskoval tudi Rojs, ki je obenem med seboj kombiniral prosojne materiale, kot so steklo, tekstil, barva in fotopapir, po drugi strani pa je motiv raziskoval tudi vsebinsko – v ospredju njegovih fotografij so namreč vedno ženske gole figure, pri katerih je poudarjeno prav razkrivanje in zakrivanje telesa, povezano z materialom, v katerem je upodobljeno.
Rojs se tako tudi do motiva akta opredeljuje predvsem formalno; golo telo uporablja kot nosilec za projiciranje elementov odvzemanja in dodajanja – tako v smislu materiala kot pomena – in za možnost intervencije. »V opusu umetnikov, ki sem jih spremljal, so me vedno najbolj pritegnili izbori njihovih aktov. Pri slikarstvu sta bila to Paul Gauguin in Egon Schiele, v fotografiji pa sem izvorno zanimanje odkril z deli Helmut Newtona, Daida Moriyame, Chas Ray Kriderja in Erica Krolla,« je dejal Rojs ob razmišljanju o motivu akta v njegovih delih. Tematsko je zanj bolj kot erotika v ospredju intimnost – skozi izrazito osebne portrete ženskih aktov vzpostavlja odnos med subjektom in medijem, pri katerem intimnost vzpostavlja že golota sama. Rojs je bližino želel vzpostavljati ne le med sabo in svojim modelom, temveč tudi med seboj in svojim lastnim delom. Zato je ustvaril lastno pisavo, izmišljen jezik, ki ga je zasnoval na podlagi azijskih pismenk in run. Ta v njegova dela vnaša določeno mero skrivnostnosti in mu omogoča, da le sam resnično razume vsebino svojih del.
Za Blaža Rojsa fotografska podoba, ki nastane primarno, pred intervencijo, ohranja relevantnost, saj je osnovni gradnik podobe, s katero ustvarja. A intervencija vseeno predstavlja bistvo njegovega dela: »Pri raziskavi za diplomsko delo se mi je zdela zanimiva razdelitev intervencije na tri dele: intervencija kot dodajanje sloja podobi, kot odvzemanje podobe in spreminjanje podobe. Vsaka prinaša drugačen končni rezultat. Intervencija po mojem mnenju dodaja pomen osnovni podobi.« V delih na razstavi Poljubi in nasvidenje postane njegova naklonjenost eksperimentiranju še posebej očitna, s svojimi intervencijami pa obenem opozarja tudi na raznolike in drzne smeri, v katere se razvija mlada slovenska fotografija.
Hana Čeferin