Matjaž Wenzel / Men Face Down
Matjaž Wenzel / Men Face Down
A Generation That Has Experienced Extensive Changes in the Social Fabric and Values, Growing up Idolising the Concept of Humanism Only to Mature into a World of Pragmatic Materialism
promenade in the Maribor City Park, Ulica heroja Tomšiča
4–26 November 2024
opening: Monday, 4 November 2024, 19:00
In November, an exhibition of black-and-white photographs by Matjaž Wenzel entitled Men Face Down will be on display along the promenade of the City Park, where you will follow well-known middle-generation from the world of art and culture in Maribor, in suspense.
In his photography series Men Face Down the artist Matjaž Wenzel places lying bodies of men on the ground surrounded by nature or the built environment. The portrait of a reclining figure placed in an exterior setting, a body turned on its stomach face downwards is the polar opposite of the usual standing or sitting pose. Such a pose immediately evokes a feeling of discomfort in the spectator, a sense that something is wrong and that alludes to misfortune, stupor, and even mortality. The series portrays male middle-aged artists/authors from Maribor, a generation that has undergone sweeping changes in values and the social fabric, growing up with humanism and coming of age in a world of pragmatic materialism. The presentation of public figures from a contrasting point of view as dictated by marketing practice is established both in the artistic aspect of the depiction of the reclining figure, and in the accompanying text that is based on intimate conversations with selected subjects. The honesty and the opening up of the most often ignored and silenced topics is something that establishes new dialogues and lines of reflection. The lying-prone position is thus a punctum, an irritation, a state of appeal, of messaging and warning. Explanations are multi-layered.
Matjaž Wenzel is an artist working in photography, video, and graphic design. He graduated from the University of Maribor in fine art. Following several engagements as an art teacher, he founded the studio MILIMETER for photography and graphic design. He has designed several books and book jackets for different publishing houses. With his photographic works, he has had several solo exhibitions and has shown in numerous group exhibitions at Moderna galerija (Ljubljana), UGM | Maribor Art Gallery, Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles, International Photographic Salon (Tokyo); Pavillon Populaire, Musée Fabre (Montpellier), and Nuit Blanche (Paris), among others. Among the many awards and mentions for his work are best book design for the years 2007, 2017, 2018 (Slovenian Book Fair, Ljubljana), Glazerjeva listina (Maribor, 2011) and a nomination for the Prix Albert Renger-Patzsch (Museum Folkwang, Essen, 2009), Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize (The Photographers’ Gallery, London, 2009), and the OHO Award (Ljubljana, 2007). He lives and works in Maribor, Slovenia.
The exhibition is part of EKO 9 Triennial.
