Tadej Vaukman, San Lorenzo Flower, 2024
Tadej Vaukman, Angel or a bird II, 2025
27 March – 24 May 2026
raum AU Gallery, Partizanska pot 12, Slovenj Gradec
You are warmly invited to the opening of Tadej Vaukman’s exhibition, Milan and His Sour Soup, at the raum AU Gallery in Slovenj Gradec, on Friday, 27 March 2026, at 7:00 p.m. The Exhibition will be on view until 24 May 2026. The exhibition is curated by Tadej Pogačar.
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The show is a modified version of the solo exhibition, A Good Son: Manifesting the Table by the Door, which was shown at the P74 Gallery in Ljubljana. The new exhibition at the raum AU Gallery is specific to the new location and local context. During his New York residency, which he attended as a 2020 OHO Group Award winner, Tadej Vaukman accidentally discovered David Michael Wojnarowitz’s book, Weight of the Earth, in a bookstore. He had not previously known this American artist, but his autobiography, featuring transcriptions of audio recordings, made a profound impression on him. Vaukman identified with the atmosphere that permeates the book. Wojnarowitz filmed himself in his own room, in that same city, lonely and ill. This work marks the starting point of Tadej Vaukman’s new project and the moment when he realised he had to take a step forward. He’s always had an affinity for the book as a medium, and his photography has been frequently published in fanzines and artist books.
What followed was a series of self-portrait photographs; its novelty lies in a direct physical intervention into a photograph. The artist applied thick layers of paint mixture and bodily fluids to each photograph, gradually covering the face. It is an experiment with a technique that produces minimal variation among the same motifs. Spontaneity and uncensoredness give us the feeling of immersion in the narrative. A sense of unease prevails, as if we are observing something we should not be.
Tadej Vaukman’s photography directly relates to topics such as passing and death, as images, in the final instance, represent dead matter. We are dealing with the artist’s personal perspective on events that have deeply affected him. Raised by his grandparents, their relationship was characterised by routine, loyalty, compromises, and love. While his earlier series and projects examined the wider context of his life and social surroundings, he is now more focused on himself. Physical intervention in photographic images, gestures, or writings can be linked to his will to expose himself, most clearly expressed through a recurring motif, namely, the self-portrait.
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Tadej Vaukman (b. 1984, Dravograd) is an independent artist and photographer. He lives and works in Ljubljana. In recent years, he has exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions. Solo exhibitions include: A Good Son: Manifesting the Table by the Door, P74 Gallery, Ljubljana (2026); San Lorenzo, Ravnikar, Ljubljana (2024); Ritual Purification, P74 Gallery, Ljubljana (2020); Larry #2, Pivka House of Culture, Pivka (2017); Spaghetti Boys, P74 Gallery, Ljubljana (2016); Larry, GT22, Maribor (2015). Group exhibitions include: VIII. Blind Date Convention, P74 Gallery, Ljubljana (2025); Edvard, Cankar Centre, Ljubljana (2024); Novo, New, Nouveau, Now, Ravnikar, Ljubljana (2023); Viennacontemporary 2019, NSK: State in Time, Vienna; OHO Group Award Nominees Exhibition 2019, P74 Centre and Gallery, Ljubljana; Precarious Environments: 17 Cases of Contemporary Photography in Slovenia, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana (2019); Grandheroes, Guillaume Daeppen, Gallery for Urban Art, Basel, Switzerland (2018); Triennial of Contemporary Art in Koroška, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška, Slovenj Gradec (2018); and ZINES! Contemporary Zine Production, International Centre for Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (2017). He is the author of two photobooks, Dick Skinners (2015) and Grandheroes (2018), both published by Rostfrei Publishing.
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In collaboration with raum AU, Slovenj Gradec
