Andraz Begus | Republic of Slovenia
I don't see myself as an artist even if what I've been doing can only be art. Doing art was never my choice but more a result of "no choice". It's an irony and a contradiction that not only influences my work but also challenges many aspects of art we've taken for granted. Art always fascinated me more for its absurdity than anything else. And my work is mostly if not always in search of artistic value outside the boundaries of established artistic concepts. Because doing art by doing art is for me as meaningful as re-painting the sky blue.
My work should mostly be classified as conceptual art in the sense that it represents ideas and not self sufficient visual language that is mostly open to various interpretations. For me it's the idea behind the work that counts the most. And these ideas I am dealing with are not artistic in the sense that they would be instructions for building visual experiences classified as art but are ideas that are in search for the boundaries of art. I am not so interested in expressing things or implying meanings but in trying to make the people look at art in a different way. I want to see how far art can reach. I prefer to offer artistic purpose rather than artistic beauty. For me a photo taken by any XY photo journalist in the middle of a war conflict is much more artistic than the Picasso's Guernica could ever be.
I believe that there is a point in which life "defeats" art and this is the point to which I want to bring my art.
I am 36 and I come from Slovenia. I have had a few solo and a few more group exhibitions in my country.
