Zoran Poznič: Phoenix

Zoran Poznič: Phoenix
14 January–19 February 2022
artKIT

You are kindly invited to the opening of Zoran Poznič's exhibition entitled Phoenix, which will take place on Friday, 14 January 2022, at 6 p.m. the artKIT gallery.

INVITATION (PDF)
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION (PDF)

The phoenix, a bird of fire, a mythological creature that, after being burnt, rose from its own ashes and was reborn even mightier, stronger, and wiser. It personifies the eternal rhythm of evolution, which appears in all the cosmic macro and micro world, in all the dimensions, in the different spheres, in all the philosophies of the present and the old world, as hope or desire for renewal and eternal life. Similarly, Zoran Poznič’s robust yet transparent and translucent metal sculpture, which is being assembled and is rising after falling down, shaking off the remnants of the past, sublimates and directly passes from one aggregate state to another. According to Sartre, the transcendence towards the self is a fact, and at the same time a message from the Phoenix; it is possible to transcend a certain quality or state of being and, despite all the falls, to rise again and again. Or to put it in other words, from the ruins, from the ashes of our own selves, we can transcend by varying between the positive and the negative in life and rise to the heights, reaching for the stars of hope and happiness. The Phoenix was oftentimes altered and present in ancient cultures, metaphorically as the magical bird that rose again and was born from its own ashes, and thus embodies the modern man, Homo Technicus. Today, although he/she lives in harmony with technology, he/she is separated from the primary life force shared by nature, he/she is locked in his/her own world without empathy, without fire, and without a spark. The sculpture was designed by the artist in order to give us all as well as to himself hope because his Phoenix is rising, ready to fly and reach the heights. (Olga Butinar Čeh)

Zoran Poznič (1959, Trbovlje) is a Slovenian sculptor, manager in the field of visual arts, and politician. After finishing primary school, he enrolled at the Secondary School of Graphic Arts and Printing in Ljubljana (now the Ljubljana Secondary School of Media and Graphic Arts), from which he graduated in 1979. In the many professions he pursued, his paths led him mainly into the world of fine arts and culture. He has also worked extensively internationally in an interdisciplinary capacity, participating in various projects across Europe. He continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, where he graduated in sculpture in 2007 under the supervision of professors Alen Ožbolt and Sergej Kapus. He continued his postgraduate studies at the same school, at the Department of Video and New Media, where he entered the world of more complex new media projects, including film, 3D modeling, animation, and interactive projects. In 2010 he received his Master's degree in Visual Communication, Video and Media under the supervision of professor Srečo Dragan and assistant professor Dušan Bučar. In 2009 he became the Director of the Public Institute for Culture Delavski dom Trbovlje, and entered the world of new media art with the 2nd edition of the International Festival Speculum Artium. Throughout the project, he closely worked with professor Dragan from ALUO and the Faculty of Computer Science and Informatics. Through continuous project work in the world of new media art, which represents a way of connecting artistic concept and scientific idea, he and his team managed to attract the world's greatest new media theorist, professor, and artist Peter Weibel from ZKM (Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany) to the festival in 2009. He was Minister of Culture from 2019 to 2020 and is currently President of ZDSLU and mentor at KIBLA2LAB. He is living and working in Trbovlje and Maribor.

Admission is free. The visit is possible in accordance with the RVT protocol and the recommendations of the NIJZ.

< Zoran Poznič, Phoenix, 2014, iron construction, metal strips, height cca. 250–300 cm.

artKIT, Glavni trg 14, Maribor
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.