Vadim Fishkin’s work seems to continuously traverse different fields of art, but he never really rests anywhere, only touching on these fields for a moment and connecting them into a new, logical whole with a poetic gesture. The exhibition in Škuc Gallery is the last in the Light Matters series, which provides an examination of Fishkin’s work, as it very subtly discusses the ‘strategy’ or, rather the ‘language’ which is always present in it. Fishkin continues the tradition of the historical avant-gardes and their utopian dreams, while introducing a recognisable personal poetics, which create a constant tension between the different elements in his work, making it almost impossible to link it firmly with any tendency in contemporary visual art. Although the exhibition refers to a specific segment of his work, his ‘language’ remains recognisable outside this field (which mainly examines the issue of the ephemeral) and can be applied to and recognised in his entire body of work. Due to the nature of these projects, it is impossible to reduce Fishkin’s ‘unique artistic language’ to a single denominator, so it is better to highlight specific, long-term aspects and traits which are almost ubiquitous, regardless of whether they focus on exploring the relationship between the viewer, the art work and space or re-examine the issue of technology, its absurdist potential and connection to personal poetics and humour. Yet, as I have mentioned, the exhibition does not attempt to review all the prominent issues in Fishkin’s work, but focuses instead on the issue of the ephemeral, which he has examined throughout the Light Matters exhibition series. The ephemeral has always appeared prominently in Fishkin’s reflections on art, as it is, he says, one of the categories which, besides the non-physical, or rather something on the borderline of a material presence, can be simultaneously tangible and intangible. This thought is incorporated into the Light Matters series and publication that will be published later. His tireless examination of the medium, which is ‘anchored’ to different conceptual points of origin, is astoundingly connected to an individual poetics, which makes the works something more, as it does not seal them in a hermetic discourse, but opens them outwards, particularly in the sense of perceiving and understanding, which is not limited to monolithic perceptions of form and content, but creates an interdependence between the two.

(Excerpt from the text by the curator Tevž Logar,

An Extraordinary Adventure Which Happened)

You are most cordially invited to attend the guided tour of the exhibition with the artist and curator, which will take place on Wednesday, 18 September at 6 pm in Škuc Gallery.

Artworks produced by:

Društvo DUM

Courtesy of Galerija Gregor Podnar