Jaka Babnik: Vprašanje pogleda / A Matter of View

Jaka Babnik: “Vprašanje pogleda”

Otvoritev: 17. 4. 2026, ob 19.00

[Scroll down for English version]

Razstava Vprašanje pogleda predstavlja pregled skoraj dvajsetletnega delovanja fotografa in umetnika Jake Babnika, ki je v obdobju 2007-2026 ustvaril in predstavil vrsto odmevnih umetniških projektov, tako v razstavni kot v knjižni obliki. V svoji umetniški praksi skozi podobe analizira najrazličnejše sodobne družbene fenomene. Njegov osrednji ustvarjalni postopek je opazovanje in beleženje sprememb v kulturni krajini svojega neposrednega okolja, ki so vselej pogojene s kompleksnimi zgodovinskimi, družbenimi in političnimi okoliščinami. Obseg pojavov, ki jih s svojimi deli tako ali drugače naslavlja, je živopisen in odraža njegovo poglobljeno zanimanje za obče stanje duha sodobne družbe, ki se sooča s številnimi notranjimi paradoksi in nesorazmerji.

Babnik se v svojih delih poslužuje raznolikih izraznih in tehničnih sredstev, ki so običajno podrejena vnaprej zastavljenim idejnim zasnovam. Čeprav je v veliki meri lovec na podobe, ki deluje na izrazito dokumentaren način, se mestoma poslužuje tudi režirane studijske fotografije, predstavljanja arhivskega gradiva ali vzpostavljanja celostnega prostorskega ambienta. V preteklih letih se je posvečal zlasti vizualizaciji idej o svetu in družbi, o času in prostoru, o človeku in njegovi okolici; okolici in družbi, ki jo človek ureja in oblikuje po svoji meri. V svojih delih, ki ga mnogo bolj kot na tehnični in formalni zanimajo na vsebinski ravni, pod vprašaj postavlja zgodovinske, politične in kulturne pojave, kot so minljivost javnih diskurzov in javne pojavnosti, kratkovidnost zgodovinskega spomina, uniformnost vsakdanjega življenja, nenasitnost človeških aspiracij in banalnost konvencij vizualne kulture. V svojih delih vedno znova razmišlja o “naučeni predvidljivosti“ človeške vrste v odnosu do družbene stvarnosti in vizualne kulture.

Jaka Babnik (1979) je diplomiral iz sociologije in zgodovine na Filozofski fakulteti v Ljubljani. Od leta 1996 deluje kot samostojni umetnik, fotograf, založnik in filmar. Uveljavil se je z odmevnimi razstavnimi in knjižnimi projekti kot so so We Are Dogs! (2007-2009), Jebodrom (2012-2014), Holy Land (2015-2017), Why So Serious? (2016-2017), Heroji mojega časa (2016-2017), Top lokacija (2017), Pigmalion (2017-2019), Time Levelling (2020), Vaje v slogu (2019-2021), Moving Pictures (2022-2024), Bitno je šta vaše oči vide (2022-2024) in Prostorska predvidljivost (2024-2026). Od leta 2012 skupaj z Boštjanom Pavletičem vodi neodvisno založbo Rostfrei Publishing. Živi in deluje v Ljubljani.

Razstava bo na ogled do 30. 8. 2026.

Jaka Babnik: Vprašanje pogleda

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Jaka Babnik: “A Matter of View”

Opening: 17 April 2026, at 7pm

The exhibition A Matter of View showcases a mid-career retrospective of photographer and artist Jaka Babnik, who in the past nearly twenty years, roughly in the period 2007-2026, made and publicly presented number of impactful pieces, both in the form of an exhibition and a photobook. In his artistic practice, he analyses a wide variety of contemporary social and societal phenomena through images. His central creative process is to observe and document changes in the cultural landscape of his immediate surroundings, which are always conditioned by complex historical, social, and political circumstances. The range of phenomena that he addresses in his works is diverse and reflects his profound interest in the general state of mind within contemporary society, which is faced with numerous internal paradoxes and imbalances.

In his works Babnik employs a variety of creative and technical means that usually follow his preconceived ideas and narratives. Although he is very much on the side of taking photographs (as opposed to making photographs), working in a distinctly documentary manner, he occasionally uses staged studio photography, organises and displays archival materials and makes integrated spatial ambiences. In recent years he has often visualised preconceived ideas about the world and society, about Zeitgeist, and about humans and their surroundings – surroundings and society that we humans arrange and shape in our own way. In his works, which interest him more on a contextual level than from a technical and formal aspect, he questions various historical, political and cultural phenomena, such as the transience of public discourses and public appearances, the myopia of historical memory, the uniformity of everyday life, the insatiability of human aspirations and the banality of conventions of visual culture. In his pieces, he invariably reflects on the “learned predictability” of the humankind in relation to social processes and visual culture.

Jaka Babnik (1979) graduated from social studies and history at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and has been working as a photographer and cinematographer since 1996. Currently he works as a photographer, artist and publisher who gained local and international acclaim with projects such as We Are Dogs! (2007-2009), Jebodrom (2012-2014), Holy Land (2015-2017), Why So Serious? (2016-2017), Heroes of My Time (2016-2017), Pygmalion (2017-2019), Time Levelling (2020), Exercises in Style (2019-2021), Moving Pictures (2022-2024), It Matters What Your Eyes Can See (2022-2024) and Spatial Predictability (2024-2026). He is co-founder and co-owner (together with Boštjan Pavletič) of the independent publishing house Rostfrei Publishing that, since 2012, produces artists’ books and photobooks. He lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The exhibition will be on display until 30 August 2026.

Jaka Babnik: A Matter of View