News

Wild at Heart: Look the Fox in the Eye…
21.02.2020 19:00

21 February–14 March 2020
MMC KIBLA / KiBela, Ulica kneza Koclja 9, Maribor

You are hereby kindly invited to attend the opening of Look the Fox in the Eye…, an exhibition by the art collective Wild at Heart (Aleksij Kobal, Silvester Plotajs – Sicoe, Jurij Kalan), joined on this occasion by fellow painter Matej Čepin. The opening will take place on Friday, 21 February 2020, at 7 p. m., in KiBela, space for art, at the MMC KIBLA in Maribor.

Although the works in the exhibition are charged with distinct artists' marks, their stylistic variety and individual approaches blend into a homogeneous painting environment that emanates artistic passion, exudes life-force energy, and oozes a joy for (and from) painting. Members of this unique, one of a kind non-formal collective, committed to figure painting, are joined by an awareness of the power of painting, a belief in the mission of the image and the use of typical color palettes, motifs and compositions that weave narratives, drag to the depths, keep on the surface, or launch into space. They communicate with us. Relaxing, calm, wild, critical, meditative, contemplative, even socially engaged, but first and foremost artistically responsive through primary, sometimes ancient impulses, for which art remains a primordial principle and the motor of everything that exists, functions and has meaning.

Silvester Plotajs Sicoe (1965) is a painter and graphic artist, who graduated under the mentorship of Professor Emerik Bernard from the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts in 1988. He continued his postgraduate studies in painting with Professor Gustav Gnamuš, and in graphic arts with Professor Lojze Logar. In 1990 he took advanced study courses with Professor Martin Tissing at the Minerva Academy in Groningen, The Netherlands. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his work, and currently works as a freelance artist in Ljubljana.

Jurij Kalan (1961) graduated in painting in 1990 from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana with Professor Metka Krašovec. His works have been shown in numerous exhibitions both home and abroad. He was a receiver of the Grohar Scholarship (1992), the Kranj City Prize, the May Salon Prize, and the Bronze Aritas (2001) at the Slovene Triennial of Satire and Humor. He lives and works as a freelance artist in Ljubljana.

Aleksij Kobal (1962) graduated in 1986 from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana with Professor Janez Bernik, and completed his postgraduate studies in painting in 1993 under the mentorship of Professor Metka Krašovec. His works have won him several awards and recognitions, and have been shown in numerous exhibitions home and abroad. For four years he has collaborated with the percussion band The Stroj, and is the author of several music projects, as well as the book Glas (Voice). Among other things, he plays the flute. He lives in Ljubljana, working as a freelance artist.

Matej Čepin (1977). His works have been shown in exhibitions both home and abroad, winning him several prizes and awards, among them the 2nd prize of the 4th Biennial of Small Format Paintings in Ljutomer (2006), the grand prix of the Ex-Tempore in Piran (2009), and the grand prix of the Ex-Tempore in Piran (2013), for which he was nominated four times (2008, 2009, 2013 in 2016). Matej Čepin lives and works in Celje.

The exhibition will be showing until 14 March 2020.

Kindly welcome.

MMC KIBLA / Space for art KiBela

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