In his exhibition Sudoku, artist Matic Flajs explores the connections between the world of skateboarding and visual art, which he considers to be large parts of his life.
He observes how these two fields intertwine and transform, constantly developing new insights that allow him to gain a deeper understanding of one through the other. He is convinced that skateboarding goes beyond mere sports and can be understood as a unique genre of art. The author’s approach to individual works and the exhibition as a whole evokes associations with the creation of skateboarding videos and the recording of individual tricks. It is associated with a process where the desired result is known in advance, but in order to achieve it, all the variables have to be put in the right place, as in solving a sudoku. It stems from the importance of individual expression, which is characteristic of skateboarding, which frees the artist from a more general understanding of sport as body art.
For the artist, the reality of skateboarding represents more than just physical movement. It is an environment where space, time and the people he surrounds himself with become influences and an integral part of his creative process. He explores the materials and objects of the urban infrastructure, which serve him as a potential “canvas” for creation. At the same time, he delves into the feelings triggered by everyday objects – from the excitement of curbs to ordinary trash cans, which in the world of skateboarding can become expressive means that leave traces and also act as signs of non-verbal communication between skaters. The author’s reflection on the specific shape of the skateboard, which differs from other sports props, has led him to a new way of illustrating and styling. It represents a motif that appears in various forms in all his works, or the work represents one part of his reality in the world of skateboarding.
Matic Flajs (1994) graduated from the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana, majoring in graphic design and later attended the Faculty of Design. Although he works in various media, he defines himself as an illustrator. He has exhibited in the group exhibitions Prints and Impressions 2 (2022) and the 35th Graphic Biennial at the MGLC (2023), and solo exhibitions at Zine Vitrine in DobraVaga (2019) and the Postojna Youth Centre (2020). In 2019, together with Urban Cerjak and Žiga Artnak, he founded the artist collective Sreda v sredo, which dedicates its existence to artistic printmaking, with an emphasis on intaglio printing.
Curator: Urška Kleindienst
Free admission.
7. 5.–1. 6. 2024
Organisation: DobraVaga / Kino Šiška.
