Opening of the exhibition: Tuesday, 12 March at 5 pm at the Lizst Institute and at 7 pm at Photon Gallery.

12. 3. – 17. 5. 2024

Participating artists: Imre Drégely, Balázs Deim, Gábor Máté, Emma Szabó

For several years, the Photon Gallery has been presenting two artists within the regular program of the so-called Artist Dialogue. The  exhibition is usually dedicated to artists of the younger and middle generation from Slovenia, but recently, we have been presenting photo artists from Central and Eastern Europe more often as well. In the Artist Dialogue format, we usually select works and artists who share certain characteristics, be it formal or thematic qualities or a similar aesthetic-conceptual approach. Artists think about the selection of works for the exhibition in the context of a”dialogue” in direct communication, or through the mediation of the gallery’s curator. In recent years, artists have been often selected from the group of finalists of the international competition Different Worlds, which enables them to have an additional and more comprehensive presentation of their work.

This year we are For the first time in the contexts of Artist Dialogue presenting four photo-artists who represent contemporary Hungarian photography – two younger and two older artists, who were teachers or mentors to the two younger colleagues. Thereby, we are slightly expanding the concept of this program unit, which has served for many years as a space for representing local and regional younger artists.

Balázs Deim was the winner of the Photon’s competition three years ago and already had the solo exhibition at our Vienna’ gallery.This time he will be presented to the Ljubljana’s public for the second time. In 2023, following the decision of the international expert jury, Emma Szabo was selected as the winner of the Different Worlds competition, whose photographic installation was then presented in September 2023 as part of the competition finalists’ exhibition.

The artists are placed alongside already established older colleagues, specifically two professors of the Department of Photography at the internationally recognized Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, MOMEin Budapest. The decision to do so is not random; one of the reasons for the international recognition of Hungarian photographers is their educational institutions, schools and academies for photography, of which MOME is probably the most famous. This year’s Artist Dialogue exhibition will be divided into two parts – the Photon Gallery hosts Professor Imre Drégely and his younger colleague Balázs Deim , and the Lizst Institute – Gallery of the Hungarian Cultural Center hosts Professor Gábor Máté and his student Emma Szabo. The exhibition will be open from March 12 to the end of April 2024 and will be accompanied by a small catalogue / brochure in Slovenian, English and Hungarian.

In collaboration with: