ARCHIVE - EXHIBITIONS
IGOR EŠKINJA
21 February – 28 March 2009
In collaboration with Federico Luger Gallery - Milan
It is a matter of perception, or rather of attention. If you are not paying attention when you walk into the space created by the young Croatian artist- an emerging figure in the international art world, as we saw at Manifesta 7, where Igor Eškinja (1975) was shown in the two exhibiting spaces in Rovereto – you could easily find yourself trampling over the delicate swirling patterns of a carpet made of dust, or else fail to notice the difference between the precise, large-format photograph of an installation and the installation itself. In this complex intervention there is a constant oscillation between that which appears to be two-dimensional and that which is three dimensional, even if the means used by Eškinja are extremely simple. His investigation is concerned with the subtle point where the representation of common objects and things (shown as outlines, silhouettes and patterns, created with very simple materials) becomes confused with their concrete presence in the exhibiting space. This oscillation is made even more evident (and enigmatic) when the installation works are photographed, and the ephemeral aspect of the intervention, always related to the space, is thus perceived. The photographs make the relationship between the presence of the object, its representation in the exhibiting space and the photographic representation of all of this even more unstable. Reality and appearance become two terms with imprecise limits which exchange roles before a viewer who, in the act of perceiving must also perceive themselves.
Becoming aware of oneself, and of that which one is looking at, with that small leap which allows one to reach a different comprehension/observation of things. As Eškinja stated in an interview with Antonia Majaca: “ I am interested in creating a situation where the viewer, trying to balance themselves on the edge of the space, creates a type of mental relationship with the very space they find themselves in at that moment”. Without a doubt, the element of surprise plays a role in the artist’s work – originally from Rijeka, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice (where he graduated in 2002) – and it is a surprise which also comes from the simple materials used compared to the conceptual precision and extremely clean formal aspect of the works. These are always related to the exhibiting space, the surfaces which delineate and form it: the walls, the floor, the doorways. After the very recent solo shows in highly prestigious public spaces (from the Caja de Burgos in Spain, to the Casino Luxembourg in Luxembourg), the Galleria Contemporaneo is proud to present his photographic and installation works, the latter being created specifically for the space in Mestre. As always, a catalogue will be published at the end of the exhibition to document the projects and artworks in the context which will host them.
Igor Eškinja (1975 Rijeka, Croatia) lives and works in Rijeka, Milan and Venice. At the moment the Casino Luxembourg’s Project Room hosts his solo exhibition and In 2008 he showed his projects in Rovereto in occasion of Manifesta 7 and he organized a solo exhibition at Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos. He also took part in several international group shows in Croatia, France, Venezuela, Austria and Italy.
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