14. 10. – 26. 11. 2021

For over a decade, Bezjak’s work has explored the architectural legacy of socialist regimes. Between 2005 and 2012, he traveled through East and Southeast Europe and the eastern part of Germany in search of buildings that could be considered representative examples of socialist modernist architecture, creating an extensive ouevre that visualizes the “archeology” of this modernism in his own unique photographic style. He photographed residential buildings, hotels, cultural sites and similar architecture in public spaces. Looking at his work, one is struck by a utopian vision of forms mixed with the architectural monotony of this era, yet his photographs reveal the visible wear and tear of these buildings and their place in contemporary life. In 2012, Roman Bezjak continued his visual exploration of socialist architecture in Pyongyang and in 2017 in Tashkent. These two recent series were complemented by his recent work in Skopje, where the post-war modern city has received a partial facelift over several years to a neoclassical and neo-baroque appearance.

The photographs shown in the exhibition at Photon Gallery are from the series Tashkent, a city that can be considered a “symbol of Soviet modernism and an open-air museum of socialist architecture.” The devastating earthquake of 1966 allowed urban planners to realize their vision of modernism in rebuilding the city. As a result, the city became an experimental laboratory of modern architecture with countless prefabricated buildings still in their original state. The architects and “building artists” virtuously combined structural requirements with local tradition, with oriental mosaic ornaments decorating the windowless gable facades of the prefabricated buildings. The façade design with its concrete ornaments serves as sun protection and takes into account the hot climatic conditions of the region. The series gives the viewer an excellent overview of this unique example of modernist architecture in Asia.

Roman Bezjak was born in 1962 in Ptuj, SR Slovenia/Yugoslavia. He studied photography in Dortmund. From 1989 to 1999 he worked worldwide on photo essays for the magazine of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and other German print media. In 1996 he won the German Photography Award. In 2000 he was appointed professor of photography at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. Here he has been dean since 2014. Between 2005 and 2011 he produced the work Archaeology of an Era, Images at Socialist Postwar Modernism. From 2011, Roman Bezjak presented his work in numerous solo exhibitions, including Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, and GoEun Museum of Photography, Busan, South Korea. He participated in exhibitions at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Architekturzentrum Wien and Deichtorhallen Hamburg. Roman published his works in photography books: Socialist Modernism was published by Hatje Cantz in 2011.

Price list
Video tour

Photos from the opening
Exhibition Roman Bezjak: Archeology of an Era on RTV SLO (Slovene)
Interview with Roman Bezjak by Outsider magazine (Slovene)