ČU ČU MADAFAKA

This time, Y Gallery presents an unexpected heterogenous trio, which at the exhibition comes together as a colorful Advent surprise. Selected artists of the middle generation, Žiga Kariž, RONE84 and Denis Krašković, introduce themselves at the ČU ČU MADAFAKA exhibition with their newer works, as well as some older ones, which we have already seen in certain foreign and local galleries in a different content-rounded entirety.

The exhibition includes various media such as paintings, drawings, comics, graffiti, graphics, and sculptures. The latter are mainly related to the guest artist from Zagreb, Denis Krašković, who is known in the Balkans and beyond mainly for his monumental public sculptures of colourful zoomorphic forms and smaller sculptural series on the theme of nature and the cycle of life, usually imbued with socio-political themes and Christian iconography. The versatile artist presents himself at the exhibition with the group "Close to the End - Mink" and individual sculptures from the "Critically Endangered Species" series. The sculptural works are made of epoxy resin, soft, simplified and stylized forms, which, in addition to actual mink in various positions, represent a crocodile, a snail, a spider, a pangolin and a flowering cactus. They make sense of aspects of human nature, such as extinction, mourning, care, as well as mutual socio-political dilemmas related to the Croatian currency.

He is joined by the works of Ron Preinfalk, who has been accompanied from the very beginning of his artistic career by his love for graffiti, street creations and free expression in terms of the use of different materials, the constant recycling of the bearers of painting and involvement in the public space. At the exhibition, he presents paintings and drawings created in the last year. For the sake of consistency and the genesis of an extremely fruitful production, the latter is complemented by individual older works and graffiti placed at the very front of the gallery. The somewhat paradoxical placement of street art in the conventional exhibition spaces of the gallery present to the public a restrained insight into subculture, but also illustrates the way in which art language develops and the production, which in this case is extremely extensive and, as usual, unencumbered.

The longest wall in the gallery is occupied by Žiga Kariž's conceptually designed meta-work called "Nice one, nose again". In a spatially inventive way and in a subtle search for new interpretations, the practical installation work brings together the same works of art that the artist showed in the exhibition Nos in kljun (Nose and Beak) in the Bežigrad Gallery 2 this autumn. Multiples of the olfactory organ act as an occasional showcase for latecomers who failed to make an appearance in Bežigrad in September. The author, who confidently creates at the intersection of painting, conceptual art and new media, draws ambivalence and symbolic impulses for shemophysically condensed noses and beaks from current political events, scandals in the world of art, popular culture, and last but not least, Slovenian poetry and European history.

The dynamic layout of the exhibition, the diverse use of media and the title itself are directly related to dedication, uncompromisingness, directness, humour and phlegmatic expression, which in one way or another characterize the working methods of the selected authors. At first glance, incompatible and extremely diverse creators are connected by direct, telling and accessible works, interspersed with humour, cynicism, criticism and the ever-present affinity for form and zeal for the search for new forms. At first glance, uncomplicated works attract with a tame atmosphere and artistic simplicity, and with their socio-political, activist and personal starting point and formal ingenuity, they also satisfy an audience eager for concepts, paradoxes and pathos. If RONE84 admires the raw urban aesthetics of Slovenian railways, Denis Krašković approaches the life cycle and human stupidity in a polished, colourful and deceptively naive way. Their different attachment to the surroundings and public space is reflected on the one hand in semi-adrenaline sports and vandalism, and on the other in a demonstration of the soft power of the stylized animal kingdom; the enhanced works of Žiga Kariž then explore the prejudices of prejudices with bolder and more direct connections to the modern metaphorical world. Their steadfast uncompromising directness holds up a relentless mirror to us under the guise of lively colours and pleasant shapes, and in fragments also reflects fragments of themselves.



Žiga Kariž (1973), with his creative practice that stretches back to the mid-90s, is not only one of the most important but also one of the most controversial contemporary painters. He exhibits his work both at home and abroad. He represented Slovenia in the Slovenian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2003, and in 2007, he officially changed his name to Janez Janša and began collaborating with the artists Janez Janša and Janez Janša. They are also the owners of the Janez Janša® registered trade mark. For several years, together with a group of artists, he has managed the artist-run space Galerija Gallery and the publishing platform for multiples Made in China. Since 2010, he has been teaching Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana.

Denis Krašković (1972) was born in Zagreb, where he finished the School of Applied Arts and Design. He graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1994, under the mentorship of Professor Stanko Jančić. In 2012, he completed a master’s degree in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, under the mentorship of Professor Jože Barši. In 1997, he started teaching sculpture-related subjects at the School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb. He first became an assistant professor in 2008, and later an associate professor at the Department of Fine Arts of the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek. As part of his work as a teacher, he founded the Jarčevac International Student Fine Arts Workshop (wood sculpting), and led many other creative projects for students. In 2015 and 2016, he was a visiting professor at the Department of Sculpture of the Faculty of Music and Visual Arts in Pecs, Hungary. He is the recipient of many awards and recognitions for his work as both an artist and a teacher. He won, among other things, the 2000 Grand Prix at the Youth Salon in Zagreb, the 2015 Grand Prix at the Zagorje Art Salon, the Special Jury Prize at the XI Triennial of Croatian Sculpture in 2012, and was awarded the second prize at The Residents video competition in Olomouc, the Czech Republic. His Journey to the End of the World of General Umberto Nobile’s Expedition was ranked by Q Strip magazine in 2015 amongst the top five Croatian comic books of all time. He has exhibited at numerous solo and group exhibitions in both Croatia and abroad – from Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Pula, Dubrovnik, to Berlin, Budapest, Turin, Prague, Krakow, Vienna, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, etc. He is the author of fascinating public sculptures, such as The Whale sculpture on Jarun Lake, The Walrus and The Lamb sculptures outside the Arena in Zagreb, and two monumental sculptures, Neanderthal I and II, in Krapina. His public wooden sculptures Goodness in Kostanjevica on the Krka River and A Monument to a Happy Childhood in Kočevje in Slovenia should also be singled out. He has been a member of the Croatian Freelance Artists’ Association since 2019 and has worked as a freelance artist ever since.

Ron Preinfalk a.k.a. RONE84 (1973) is one of the most recognizable Slovenian graffiti artists, who has been transferring his creative energy uncompromisingly from sketchbooks to the streets for more than two decades. He graduated from the Famul Stuart School of Applied Arts in Ljubljana, at the department of classical graphics, where he also assisted with classical gravure printing for several years, and taught graphic technology for four years. He is engaged in painting and painting interventions in public spaces. He presented his work at numerous solo and group exhibitions: Bažato Gallery (2022), Kos Gallery (2020), Ravnikar Gallery (2018), Pivka House of Culture (2016), Tam-Tam Gallery (2015), Strupena Gallery (2012), Independent Biennial (2011), Street Art, MGLC (2004). In 2013, he published the artist's book entitled and the beat goes on, in which he presents a selection of more than 350 of his favourite drawings, which he had been compiling in his sketchbooks since 1988. After being recognized at the Brumen design festival in Ljubljana and presented at the Art Book Fair in New York, the book has been included in the permanent MoMA Artists' Book Collection. Preinfalk lives and works in Ljubljana as an independent creator.