KIBLIX 2025 | Matej Stupica: Toplice/Topless

Matej Stupica: Toplice/Topless
14 November–6 December 2025
MMC KIBLA/KiBela

You are cordially invited to the opening of Matej Stupica’s solo exhibition Toplice/Topless, which will take place on Friday, 14 November 2025, at 7 p.m. in the KiBela, space for art.

INVITATION (PDF)

Although we first came to know him through his drawings, comics, and illustrations, Matej Stupica also works in other artistic fields. His first solo exhibition in Maribor will showcase this creative multilayeredness through installations created with the involvement of many collaborators.
Toplice/Topless is a unique gesamtkunstwerk in which drawing, shifting from static to animated, intertwines with sound, text, video, musical instruments, and various objects that, combined with electromechanical kinetics, add a performative dimension to the work. The arrangements come to life in either controlled or chaotic dynamics and, amid the general cacophony, connect to form a unique environment into which we can immerse ourselves or simply observe from the “shore.” Entering this imaginary world, where sound and image shape a complex installation, we encounter contemplative sensations that place us in a kind of a “spa” of our own – a soothing environment that imposes no diagnosis.

“Geothermal springs mark the intersection of two ontological levels: the ordered surface governed by natural law and the chaotic interior ruled by the forces of chaos.”
“Contemporary society’s fixation on flexibility and fluid movement – evident in yoga studios, kinesiology and physiotherapy practices, and countless YouTube videos by self-proclaimed experts – reflects a desire to return to a time when the spine was far more horizontal. Thermal spas are precisely the places where geotrauma becomes therapy, where the catastrophic origins of the world seep into bathing pools and emerge as a healing force. The human body shifts from upright to reclined, the tactility of chaos concealed within soothingness.” (Andrej Tomažin)

Biography

Matej Stupica (born 1987, Ljubljana, SFR Yugoslavia) is an artist, working in various fields of contemporary art and theatre. His work consists of installations, drawings, comics, artist's books, paintings, illustrations for books, newspaper, music albums, etc. In 2014 he graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana with a bachelor degree in painting. Since 2006 he has been publishing illustrations in Objektiv, the Saturday supplement of the Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik. Since 2012 he also works in a tandem with artist Lenka Đorojević. For their work Monomat, they received OHO Award for Young Artists in 2015. Works and lives in Ljubljana.

https://www.matejstupica.net/

Concept and realization: Matej Stupica / Text: Andrej Tomažin / Voice: Ana Pepelnik and Andrej Tomažin / Costumes: Hana Podvršič / 3D animation and video montage: Neža Knez / Sound collaborator: Staš Vrenko / Coding: Matic Potočnik / Electronics: Gregor Krpič / 3D recording and processing: Anže Mrak / 2D text animation: Jure Lavrin / Fine mechanics: Bojan Stefanović / Song: Irena Tomažin / Song mix: Tomaž Grom / Thanks to: Aljaž Lavrič, Krištof Modic, Uroš Mehle, Katerina Mirović (Stripcore), Uroš Vovk, DA Tisk, Martin Lovšin Schintr, Primož Čučnik, Tomo Per, Andraž Magajna, Lenka Đorojević
Production ACE KIBLA / Coproduction: Obratomlat studio / Design: Duplo ništa / Production of the exhibition Toplice/Terms, 2024: Match Gallery, Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana

< Matej Stupica: Triviera, ink on paper, variable dimensions, 2024

MMC KIBLA/KiBela, Ulica kneza Koclja 9, Maribor
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.