Vasko Vidmar: You Are the Forest |
Herman Pečarič Gallery Piran, 26.04.24 ─ 18.08.2024,
Opening: Friday, 26. 4. 2024, at 7 p.m. |
Curated by: Ana Papež

In his solo exhibition You are the Forest, at the Herman Pečarič Gallery in Piran, Vasko Vidmar will present works that express his exceptional love and respect for nature. He has been closely connected with nature, and especially with the forest, since childhood, when he spent his scouting years sharpening his sense of exploration, observation and respect for the environment. Brown, earthy tones and shades of colour are thus the main colour of the works on display.
The artist has always been drawn to the details that appear inside the forest itself, on its earth, in the trunks of trees. There, he explored and admired the shadows, the tones and the various shapes that cannot be seen anywhere else but in the forest.
Looking from a distant perspective, his artworks might look simple and decorative, but with a closer inspection the observer immediately sees that they contain many interesting details, especially in the form of various symbols.
He calls them ideograms (sub-paintings), because he says that he often writes rather than draws the paintings. He paints ideograms, which in themselves have no definite meaning, by feeling and instinct, unconsciously, when he feels the need to create and place individual shapes on the ground. Alongside the ideograms, we can also see thicker layers of spilled paint in the paintings, which create a surface variety in the individual works of art and remind us fleetingly of the varied natural surfaces found in the forest.
The artist often uses recycled materials in his works, from discarded canvases, packaging cardboard, old paints and papers to coffee grounds.
In addition, his paintings also feature strokes of pencil, charcoal, watercolour and acrylic paints, pastels and spray paint. It is in the play and interchange of different materials that we can see Vasko Vidmar's special and distinctive artistic language. In this way, his works address us and encourage us to think about the importance of recycling and reusing things that are useless at first sight.
Vasko Vidmar remains active in his environment: he organises various workshops for pre-school children and young people at the Piran Epi-Centre, often collaborates with other cultural institutions, and works as a teacher of technology and engineering at the Centre for Hearing and Speech Communication in Portorož.
Vasko Vidmar (Koper, 1987) graduated from the Art Gymnasium – Fine Arts in Koper in 2007. In 2012 he graduated from the Faculty of Humanities in Koper – Heritage of Europe and the Mediterranean programme. During his studies at the University of Primorska, he opened a small gallery with the witty name Nočdanpiranpuran on Prvomajska Square in Piran. There he created and experimented with different artistic techniques on a daily basis, searching for and exploring his own artistic expression. Between 2011 and 2019, he was also the head of the art department of the Esko Cultural and Artistic Association in Piran, where a variety of exhibitions were held every month by young, not yet established artists from the Coast, other Slovenian towns and abroad. Among other things, it was also one of the organisers of the highly acclaimed Obzidja festival in Piran, where, in addition to concerts, exhibitions of art works by various artists were also held.
He has participated in numerous group exhibitions and has also had several solo presentations.
Among the most important are: sPOPran Piran, Piran (2011), When Doves…, Piran (2012), Under the Palm Tree's Shadow, MKC Koper (2012), Punt for Punto, Piran (2013), Red nu zeleno, Piran (2014), From the Sea to the Fields, Murska Sobota (2015), Artefatto_RESET, Trieste, Italy (2015), Artefatto_IT'S ME, Trieste, Italy (2016), Yellow, Blue Think!, Maribor (2016), OGUS, Srebernik, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2017), KAOS, Kranj (2018), Ideograms II, Pontedera, Italy, Frontignan, France, Ponte de sor and Montargil, Portugal, Ribeira grande, Cape Verde (2018 – 2019), Next Autumn, Piran (2021). He has also received prizes and awards for his artworks, including several Grand Redemption and Special Prizes at the International Ex-tempore Piran in 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Ana Papež