Kristian Kožul: 1573. Fools, Villains, and Castles

Opening: Friday, 11 September 2026, at 7pm

The exhibition of Zagreb-based artist Kristian Kožul, entitled 1573. Fools, Villains, and Castles, showcases his most recent sculptural cycle in a distinct ambience of the former monastery church of GBJ. As it is common in his practice, the artist uses a wide variety of sculptural materials, while he focuses profoundly on confronting specific historical as well as current, but still utterly topical, sociopolitical contexts.

With his comprehensive series, Kožul addresses modern understanding of authority, repression, civil disobedience, rebellion and self-sacrifice for ideology, whilst referring to in Slovenian and Croatian cultural milieu an exceptionally significant historical event: the Great Peasant Revolt of 1573. In a complex spatial arrangements, whilst introducing the grotesque and gloomy iconography so characteristic of the depictions of the peasant revolt, he aims to question the symbolic significance of this event today, in an era of the complete dominance of individualism, neoliberalism, consumerism and autonomous technologies. Furthermore, he addresses fundamental questions about the proverbial Darwinian nature of humankind, which is believed to always follow the law of the strongest and the most ruthless.

“Kožul’s figures are imposing, as if they were made for commemorative or protocol purposes, however, they can also be perceived as grotesque and ironic – precisely because of their pomposity. The stylised images of former dignitaries and their class opponents offer a critical insight into the spirit of the space and time, for they are caricatures of feudalism, which ideologically justified social inequality and established a peculiar caste system, as well as mirror the 21st century, a period in which social and societal inequality is returning in a slightly more complex form, since privileges are no longer based solely on the bloodline.”
From the essay by Miha Colner: The Faces of New Feudalism in the exhibition catalogue.

The exhibition is on display until 14 February 2027.