Razstave v sklopu festivala Celje Fokus v središče zanimanja postavljajo pojav »vsakdanjih banalnosti«, ki se v javnem prostoru in diskurzu pogosto manifestirajo v obliki fotografije in sorodnih optičnih medijev. Sodelujoči umetniki obravnavajo nove načine produkcije in distribucije fotografije v digitalni dobi ter se spopadajo z dokumentarno (in vernakularno) fotografijo kot umetniško formo. Pri tem se pogosto posvečajo vizualnemu beleženju običajnega, vsakdanjega, znanega, dolgočasnega in nezanimivega, bizarnega in absurdnega v posameznikovem neposrednem okolju – torej pojavom, ki so neizpodbitni del življenja tukaj in zdaj. Med osrednjimi motivi umetnikov je moč najti poglede na kulturno krajino, javni prostor, materialni fetišizem, kič in vseprisotni pojav samonanašanja, ki se redno pojavljajo v različnih oblikah vizualne kulture v začetku 21. stoletja. 

Klaus Pichler: This Will Change Your Life Forever

28. 6.–31. 8. 2019

Odprtje razstave: 28. junij ob 19.00

Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje, Prešernova ulica 17, 3000 Celje

Fotograf Klaus Pichler se bo na samostojni razstavi predstavil s serijo This Will Change Your Life Forever, v kateri se loteva antropološke raziskave dometa in vpliva novodobnih ezoteričnih gibanj in njihovih sistemov prepričanj. Protagonisti teh naukov verjamejo, da so odkrili svoj duhovni, politični ali psevdoznanstveni model »resnice«. Avtor je zato dokumentiral in spremljal pojav ezoterizma, ki širi posplošeno in instantno duhovnost, hkrati pa s prodajo povsem banalnih predmetov, ki naj bi predstavljali hitre, učinkovite in cenovno dostopne rešitve za raznovrstne tegobe sodobnega sveta, lastniku pa prinašali trajno srečo in zadovoljstvo, ustvarja predvsem dobiček. 

Normalizacija / Martin Kollar & Borut Krajnc

28. 6.–31. 8. 2019

Odprtje razstave: 28. junij ob 20.30

Likovni salon Celje, Trg celjskih knezov 9, 3000 Celje

Dialoška razstava z naslovom Normalizacija predstavlja dela dveh izjemno senzibilnih fotografov, Boruta Krajnca (Ljubljana) in Martina Kollarja (Bratislava), ki v svojih avtorskih praksah analizirata aktualne družbene pojave v izbranih okoljih nenehno spreminjajočega se sveta. Fotografije na razstavi se posvečajo razmisleku o normativnosti kolektivnega vsakdanjika v dveh popolnoma različnih geografskih in družbenopolitičnih prostorih; v obeh je pojem normalnosti izjemno subjektivna kategorija. Kollarjeva serija Field Trip je rezultat vizualne raziskave o kompleksnosti vsakdanjega življenja v Izraelu, ki je stereotipno povezan predvsem s politikami nadzora ter etnično-religijskimi napetostmi, medtem ko Krajnc predstavlja prikrite manifestacije nezadovoljstva, strahu in nasilja v okvirih pregovorno varne in stabilne Slovenije.

Eat This! / Anja Carr, Anna Ehrenstein, Sara Rman

29. 6.–31. 8. 2019

Odprtje razstave: 29. junij ob 20.30

Galerija Račka Celje, Gosposka ul. 3, 3000 Celje

Razstava Eat This! predstavlja dela treh vizualnih ustvarjalk, ki v svojih večmedijskih praksah delujejo izrazito interdisciplinarno. Anja Carr (Norveška), Anna Ehrenstein (Nemčija/Albanija) in Sara Rman (Slovenija) skozi različne prizme dekonstrukcije spola in identitetnih politik raziskujejo manifestacije kiča in fetiša v vsakdanjem življenju. Pod drobnogled postavljajo telo in njegove pojavnosti, ki v performativnih gestah pretiravanja in drastičnega preoblikovanja dobivajo različne konotacije in pomene. Poigravajo se z ustaljenimi družbenimi normami, medosebnimi odnosi in percepcijami telesa (tako lastnega kot telesa »drugega«) ter prehajajo meje heteronormativnosti, sprejemljivosti in spodobnosti.

The exhibitions of the 2019 Celje Fokus festival spotlight “everyday banalities”, a phenomenon often manifested in public space and discourse through photography and similar lens-based media. The featured artists explore new ways of producing and distributing photography in the digital age and tackle documentary (and vernacular) photography as an art form, frequently focusing on recording visually the mundane, the everyday, the familiar, the tedious and uneventful, the bizarre and absurd in one’s immediate environment – i.e. on what is an indisputable part of life here and now. The artists share their views on, most notably, the cultural landscape, public space, material fetishism, kitsch, and the omnipresent phenomenon of self-reference, all recurrent motifs in various forms of the 21st century visual culture.

Klaus Pichler: This Will Change Your Life Forever

28 June – 31 August 2019

Exhibition opening: 28 June 2019 at 7 pm

Museum of Recent History Celje, Prešernova ulica 17, 3000 Celje

In his solo exhibition, photographer Klaus Pichler displays his series This Will Change Your Life Forever, an anthropological study of the reach and impact of new-age esoteric movements and their belief systems. The author has documented and traced the phenomenon of esotericism, whose protagonists believe they have discovered their spiritual, political, or pseudoscientific model of “truth”. Spreading generic, instant spirituality, esotericism is mainly concerned with making profit by selling entirely trivial items that supposedly provide quick, effective and affordable solutions for modern-day hardships of all sorts while bringing lasting happiness to the owner. 

Normalisation / Martin Kollar & Borut Krajnc

28 June – 31 August 2019

Exhibition opening: 28 June 2019 at 8.30 pm

Likovni salon Gallery, Trg celjskih knezov 9, 3000 Celje

The dialogue exhibition entitled Normalisation showcases the works of two socially sensible photographers, Martin Kollar (Bratislava) and Borut Krajnc (Ljubljana), who in their creative practices analyse topical social phenomena in chosen localities of ever changing world. The photographs at the exhibition thus reflect on the normativeness of everyday trivialities in two completely different geographical and socio-political environments; in both, the notion of normality is a very subjective category. Kollar's series of photographs Field Trip (2011) is a result of an extensive visual exploration on the complexity of everyday life in the state of Israel which is stereotypically related predominantly with politics of control and ethnic-religious tensions, while on the other hand with his documentary based images Krajnc represents latent manifestations of resentment, fear and violence in frames of proverbially safe and stable state of Slovenia.

Eat This! / Anja Carr, Anna Ehrenstein, Sara Rman

29 June – 31 August 2019

Exhibition opening: 29 June 2019 at 8.30 pm

Račka Gallery, Gosposka ul. 3, 3000 Celje

Eat This! is an exhibition featuring the works of three visual artists with a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to their multimedia practices. From varying perspectives on the deconstruction of gender and identity politics, Anja Carr (Norway), Anna Ehrenstein (Germany / Albania) and Sara Rman (Slovenia) explore how kitsch and fetish are manifested in daily life. Their focus is on the body and its materialisations, which acquire new connotations and meanings through the performative gestures of exaggeration and drastic transformation. Playing with entrenched social norms, interpersonal relations and perceptions of the body (both one’s own and that of the “other”), the authors push back the boundaries or heteronormativity, acceptability, and decency.