Face upon Face, group exhibition

Face upon Face, group exhibition
25 July–23 August 2025
MMC KIBLA/KiBela

Artists: Blaž Gutman, Đejmi Hadrović, Luka Hernet, Klara Kracina, Keiko Miyazaki,
Tejka Pezdirc, Lucija Rosc and Matej Zupan
Curator: Sara Nuša Golob Grabner

You are cordially invited to the opening of the group exhibition Face upon Face, which will take place on Friday, 25 July 2025, at 7 p.m. at KiBela, space for art.

INVITATION (PDF)
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION (PDF)

The group exhibition Face upon Face is a socially committed project in the field of visual arts. It presents artists of the younger and middle generation who, in their individual projects, deal intensively with social attitudes towards aging and invite critical reflection on the differences, similarities and challenges between the generations. The exhibition aims to stimulate constructive conversations on topics such as the impact of dementia on the individual and the family, traditions, transience, friendship in old age, building and maintaining relationships with older family members, (trans)generational trauma, intangible heritage and bridging generational divides. If we dissociate from the fact that aging is a process that is inevitable for all of us, we can quickly come to believe that it is just an unpleasant part of life that we are often unable to cope with on either a personal or interpersonal level. Poor social security and care also contribute to this, adding an air of dread and uncertainty to the third stage of life. In the face of existential concerns, youthful beauty standards, a false understanding of the diversity of our fellow human beings and an obsession with productivity as a measure of value, a compassionate and nuanced approach to the older generations and the impact our ancestors have left on us is all too often lost. Despite the dictates of the system, our lives do not exist in a box. Like ecosystems, they are interconnected by numerous invisible roots and processes that require interdependence, responsiveness and consideration. One of the factors that prevents us from deepening intergenerational contact is the fear of confronting transience, because it also requires us to confront our own mortality, vulnerability and mutability and, in the case of family ties, a difficult sense of (anticipated) grief, an exploration of the cultural and generational influences on our personalities and lives and, more generally, ways that would allow us to fully engage with the complexity of inextricable entanglements. While we are used to perceiving older people in terms of positive or negative stereotypes (backward, naïve, weak, dependent, kind, wise, experienced, etc.), we forget that the core of our personality does not change drastically over the years and remains multi-layered. People of all ages love, learn, enter into and break off relationships, seek new experiences, want to participate in events, remember, forget and expect, help and harm, make good and bad decisions and try to understand change. Against the backdrop of stereotypes, it is impossible to understand and develop empathy for the human stratification that never disappears at any point in life. Even though it seems that humanity is constantly going off track and society is constantly heading towards destructiveness, it is these oppressions that highlight the clear voices that do not surrender to ambiguity and reliance on binary thinking and, precisely because of the unfriendly environment, turn their gaze to the hidden stories, their origins and the empathetic but critical deconstruction of the imposed mentality.

BIOGRAPHIES

Blaž Gutman (1990) is a Slovenian documentary photographer and photo artist of the younger generation. In 2022 he completed his master’s degree in photography at Ulster University, Belfast School of Art in Northern Ireland under the mentorship of Ken Grant and Donovan Wylie. He currently works as a photographer for the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana. Out of 1014 applications from all over the world, he was one of the nineteen finalists of Kranj Foto Fest 2024 with the project Seventy Years Ago It Was Seven Minutes Ago and won an exhibition with his intimate project on dementia, which he also developed as part of the Photography Empowers Masterclass with Susan Meiselas at Jakopič Gallery.

https://www.instagram.com/blazgutman/

Đejmi Hadrović completed her doctorate in philosophy at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Prof. Marina Gržinić in 2023. In 2022, she was awarded the OHO Award for Young Visual Artists. She is a member of the Slovenian Association of Fine Arts Societies and the Salzburger Kunstverein in Austria. As an internationally recognized artist, she has exhibited her works all over the world, including in New York, Palestine, Finland and Iceland. Her artworks are part of permanent collections such as the D.I.V.A. Station in Ljubljana and the MUSA Museum in Vienna.

https://dejmihadrovic.si/

Luka Hernet (1998) is a photographer from Maribor. Since 2018 he has been working in the fields of documentary, portrait, reportage and concert photography. In his work, he is always looking for symmetrical, raw, aesthetic elements that are usually only found in normalized everyday objects and environments. In the last five years, he has presented himself in spaces and galleries in Maribor, namely in group exhibitions at the Slovenian National Theater Maribor (2019 – Izodraz), Pisarna (2020 – Patterns), Vetrinjski dvor (2021 – Epidemic through a Lens), Photo Gallery Stolp (2023 – Maribor Circle) and Photon Gallery (2024 – We Love to See You Fail). In September 2022, he had his first solo exhibition I Run, but I’m Staying at the Maribor Art Gallery. With the exhibited series, he searched for the strangeness in his native environment, for the possibility of transferring a familiar scene into another world, of fleeing but staying put, through photography. Later, in 2024, he also exhibited the series independently at the ŠOLT Gallery in Ljubljana. His photographs were published in the book Close to Heaven (Trash Press, USA), in the magazine Banal Mag (Great Britain) and in the second issue of the magazine Cukr, published by the Cukrarna Gallery. One of his photographs was also featured on the cover of Literatura magazine.

https://hernet.net/

Klara Kracina (1999) is a visual artist who works in the fields of painting, printmaking, drawing, comics and installation art. In 2022 she graduated in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and is currently completing her master’s degree in painting. In her work, she deals with personal issues of identity, national consciousness and collective nostalgia, and also raises socio-critical issues, which she often treats with humor and cynicism. She is an active member of the art collective Podmladek and from 2019 to 2024 a founding and active member of the art activist collective Kvadratni meter. The collectives have gained considerable recognition in the Slovenian art scene. So far, she has had six solo exhibitions, most recently at the Exarte Gallery in Ljubljana (2024) with the exhibition People You May Know, at the Media Nox Gallery in Maribor (2024) with the exhibition Share to Messenger, at the Dobra Vaga Gallery in Ljubljana, where she exhibited solo twice, the first time in 2019 as Artist of the Month with the exhibition Pet podgan and in 2023 with the exhibition Zine Vitrine: NOTES, at the Wetrinsky exhibition space in Maribor (2021) and at the Tresor Hostel (2018) in Ljubljana.

She has also participated in many group exhibitions, including at the Alkatraz Gallery, the Slovenian Association of Fine Arts Societies, Dobra vaga, the Equrna Gallery, the Piran City Gallery, the ŠKUC Gallery, the Ljubljana City Hall, the Small Gallery of the Bank of Slovenia and the International Centre of Graphic Arts at its 35th edition of the Biennial of Graphic Arts. She also participated in the Womcom Comic Residency in Zagreb, where she exhibited her work at the OHOHO Festival. Her original works have been published in the magazines Likovne besede, Stripburger and most recently in the magazine Literatura.

https://www.instagram.com/klarakracina/

Keiko Miyazaki (1978) was born in Ehime, Japan. After completing her bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts at Northumbria University in England (2003), she moved to Slovenia and continued her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana (2004) and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland (2005). Keiko Miyazaki’s work is based on the observation of European social patterns. Originally from Japan, the artist discovers new aspects of communication by connecting with and involving her surroundings. She received the Sakaide Art Grand Prix (1999), the Cosmos Cable TV Award (2005) and the Shikokuchuou City Award for Cultural Contribution. She has been exhibiting in Slovenia and abroad since 1998, most recently at the Center for Contemporary Arts Celje (2024) with a solo exhibition In the Devil’s Hole. She lives and works in Slovenia.

https://www.keikomiyazaki.com/

Tejka Pezdirc (1985) is a sculptor who works intensively with the construction of space and the role of the viewer. She graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2011 and continued her studies at the Facultad de bellas artes de Altea in Spain, where she enrolled in the Spatial Installation program and dedicated herself to the study of sculptural space and conceptual art. In her artistic practice, she focuses mainly on relationality, i.e. the relationship between objects, space and audience. In addition to her studio work, she also carves gravestones and teaches yoga. She lives and works between Bela Krajina and Ljubljana.

https://www.tejkapezdirc.com/

Lucija Rosc (1995) is a visual artist who lives and works in Ljubljana. She holds a bachelor’s degree in photography from the Faculty of Applied Sciences VIST in Ljubljana (2018) and a master’s degree in visual communication design with a specialization in photography from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana (2022). Rosc received the Prešeren Prize from the University of Ljubljana and was nominated for the OHO Group Award (2024), the central national award for young visual artists. In her artistic practice, Rosc combines a research approach with playful interpretation, drawing inspiration from childhood memories, family archives and the environment in which she grew up. She has had several solo exhibitions at home and abroad and has participated in exhibitions in Europe and the United States. Her work has been presented at the contemporary photography fairs Unseen Amsterdam and Photo Basel as well as the contemporary art fairs Viennacontemporary and Art Salon Zurich.

https://lucijarosc.com/

Matej Zupan (2002) works in the fields of painting, printmaking and photography. He is particularly interested in the aesthetics of the old from the recent history of his geographical area. The physical material he uses in his artistic practice is either inherited or found. He is currently completing his studies in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. He has participated in many group exhibitions, including Cabinet of Curiosities (2023) at the University of Ljubljana, Fresh Fish: #Prints in Dobra Vaga and The Challenge of Modernity (2024) at the Bažato Gallery. His solo exhibitions include the exhibition of prints Angels (2023) at the church in Dravlje, It Was Sent (2024) at the Peti štuk Gallery and Installation with a Red Lid (2024) at the University of Ljubljana.

https://www.instagram.com/matej_zupan/

< Blaž Gutman: Seventy Years Ago It Was Seven Minutes Ago, photo, 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.