Simon Kocjančič
Hideout
In his years-long project which has resulted in a book titled Hideout (2022), painter Simon Kocjančič turned to analogue photography. Between 2012 and 2019, he created a series in which he photographed the interiors of the homes of strangers to whose homes he was invited as a painting contractor.
Simon Kocjančič, Hideout, 2022. Courtesy of the Private Print, Skopje.
Simon Kocjančič, Hideout, 2022. Courtesy of the Private Print, Skopje.
Simon Kocjančič, Hideout, 2022. Courtesy of the Private Print, Skopje.His photographs document spaces caught in a specific moment in time – they are a visual diary of the lives of unnamed and unseen subjects, as the images of various interiors that Kocjančič photographed do not exist anymore.
Despite his move away from painting, parallels between Hideout and Kocjančič’s primary medium are clearly noticeable. His canvases can be understood as a catalogue of sometimes distinct and readable, and at other times elusive and abstract images, created on the basis of a personal experience of things the artist sees and notices. In other words, Kocjančič’s work is a personal examination of the world that surrounds him, and it exists at the crossroads of the public and the intimate, the obvious and the mysterious. The series of photographs the book revolves around echoes a similar creative process; we are observing an observer, the artist is directing our gaze and, through a shared experience, revealing a world entirely unknown to us, but only to a certain extent. In personal items, decor, walls and ceilings of these mysterious homes, we keep looking for what’s familiar, recognisable, agreeable and comfortable, but often end up with something strange, unintelligible, unusual and bizarre.
Despite his move away from painting, parallels between Hideout and Kocjančič’s primary medium are clearly noticeable. His canvases can be understood as a catalogue of sometimes distinct and readable, and at other times elusive and abstract images, created on the basis of a personal experience of things the artist sees and notices. In other words, Kocjančič’s work is a personal examination of the world that surrounds him, and it exists at the crossroads of the public and the intimate, the obvious and the mysterious. The series of photographs the book revolves around echoes a similar creative process; we are observing an observer, the artist is directing our gaze and, through a shared experience, revealing a world entirely unknown to us, but only to a certain extent. In personal items, decor, walls and ceilings of these mysterious homes, we keep looking for what’s familiar, recognisable, agreeable and comfortable, but often end up with something strange, unintelligible, unusual and bizarre.
Simon Kocjančič, Hideout, 2022. Courtesy of the Private Print, Skopje.
Simon Kocjančič (1979) works in the fields of painting, drawing, graphic art, photography and art zine making. He studied painting at the College of Visual Arts in Ljubljana and has exhibited his work in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad, among others at RAVNIKAR GALLERY SPACE, Alkatraz, ŠKUC, P74 and MGLC in Ljubljana, Hiša kulture in Pivka, Neurotitan in Berlin, hoast – artist-run space in Vienna and Flash Show in Budapest. He is also a regular on the international art fair circuit and has exhibited at viennacontemporary, VOLTA Basel and Positions Berlin Art Fair.
Etc. is a annual magazine, dedicated to showcasing current artistic production from the Baltic to the Balkans.
Based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, each issue is dedicated to a relevant topic in art and life. Founded to promote emerging artists, its goal is to initiate a dialogue, inspire collaborations, and challenge set views.