Patrik Dvorščak: I've never dreamed of eating hungry

The young artist Patrik Dvorščak’s creates stunning, occasionally shocking paintings that depict social collapse; rendered in earthy and pink hues, the manifestations of naked bodies, recurrent caricatures, clusters of penises and vulvas, illegible inscriptions and doodles speak of the meaninglessness of human existence, the resulting perversion and ambivalent self-destructiveness. The chaotic, almost abstract paintings fraught with frustration, grotesque violence and eroticism primarily done in monumental formats illustrate the artist’s interest in the paradoxical nature of humankind, which (even if striving towards order and security) is basically destructive and doomed to failure. The process of evading human consciousness and gradually disrupting the balance also defines the painting’s formative process. This process begins in a completely conventional way, with properly drawn figures, correct proportions, meaningful composition and defined space; it displays a tendency towards control and balance. What ensues is a concise deconstruction of the depicted motifs, a gradual distortion of proportions, simplification of figures, disfigurement of previously recognizable shapes, and systematic abandonment of control. The elements of fragmentariness, conflict, tension, anxiety, exaggerated contrasts, destructive perversion and primitive discord come into prominence. The absurdity and deliberate evasion of human consciousness heighten the intensity of everyday scenes, e.g. walking the dog, milking the cow, riding the bus, mowing the grass. The artist’s work captures, in a highly sincere and ecstatic way, the spirit of the time determined by two parallel realities: routine and obscenity, and the ubiquitous divide between considered moral virtue and compulsive, destructive hedonism. 

Patrik Dvorščak (1995) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana (ALUO) in 2017, and obtained a master's degree with the thesis “The Unconscious and Primitive Human Action” in 2022. He has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions, including Prague and Chile, ŠKUC Gallery, Miklova hiša Gallery in Ribnica, DobraVaga Gallery in Ljubljana, Kino Šiška, ZDSLU Gallery and EX Arte Gallery. He has held solo shows at the Krka Gallery in Novo Mesto and the Ljubljana City Hall, exhibiting not only paintings but also installation art. Dvorščak’s art examines social phenomena and the issues of mass formations, offering an insight into human self-destructiveness and refusal of responsibility. He lives and works in Ljubljana.

Maša Žekš (1993) is an art historian and art critic with a BA in East Asian Studies. She is a contributor to the Koridor online platform, writing exhibition reviews and articles on contemporary art; since 2022 she has been editor of Podobe. She has contributed to the Outsider magazine, Membrana Journal and Radio Študent. She has co-curated exhibitions at the Nova Gorica City Gallery, the Mikel House (Miklova hiša) in Ribnica, the Layer House in Kranj and the Kočevje Art Salon. She is a contributor to the Y Gallery and DobraVaga Gallery and a co-founder of Kritiški pose(la)dek, a project dedicated to contemporary art.