The Insectopia exhibition
Gallery behind the Gallery, Hradec Králové
6. 8. - 31. 10. 2021
Opening 5. 8. 2021 | 18:00
The aim of the Gendal’ipen project is to support Romani artists in their production and presentation of professional Romani contemporary art through a variety of activities, thereby showing that Romani contemporary art and its artists wish to be seen and heard and that they have their place in (not only Czech) culture and society. In cooperation with Artivist Lab, Kampus Hybernska and with the participation of the curator Tamara Moyzes, we present the exhibition Insectopia by the young Roma queer artist Robert Gabris.
Robert Gabris (1986, Hnúšťa, SK)
studied scenography at the College of Performing Arts in Bratislava and continued his master's degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. His artwork often goes beyond installation and performance. In his largely autobiographical work, the subject of identity politics often comes up. He is interested in excluded groups or queer bodies, in confronting the norms and boundaries of mainstream society. For him, experimental drawing is a form of resistance to racism or various forms of (social) exclusion. Gabris presented his work primarily in a Central European context, but also in Riga or Shanghai, for example. In recent years he has also exhibited more frequently on the Czech scene, for example at the Matter of Art Biennial (2020), at the Artivist Lab gallery (2019) or at the Moravsky Gallery in Brno (2017). He exhibits his works worldwide and has been awarded the prestigious Recognition Art Award / Strabag International in Austria in 2021, the same year he was nominated for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award in the Czech Republic.
Photographer: Marián Dvorák
Robert Gabris, in his work entitled "Insectopia", which combines the words "insect" and "utopia", artfully depicts the vulnerability of his body, which he transforms into an insect. By doing so, he draws an analogy with the placement/position of ethnic body or culture within ethnological museums. A defenseless insect that is captured, killed and displayed in a museum booth inspires a young artist to protest against the "hegemonic process."
Robert Gabris has a sensitive and engaging artwork attitude. Robert draws his inspiration in excluded groups and queer body, confronting the norms and boundaries of mainstream society. Through traditional media, such as drawing with overlaps in performance or installation, he deals with the intricacies of his own identities – sexual, geographical, and national
