Jure Kastelic (b.1992, Slovenia) lives and works in London.
Born in Slovenia just after Yugoslavia broke apart, I was taught the lessons of frugality and importance of achieving economic independence from a young age. My research is centered around the unsexy side of money like its origin, issuance, governance and the seemingly related rising inequality, declining purchasing power and the fictional trickle-down-economy. Through paintings and works on paper, accompanied with self published books and public talks, I hope to propagate a basic questioning of the established money system and suggest a working strategy of opting out. I see the role of my art practice as a direct voice of my ongoing research and first-hand experience as an artist leveraging Bitcoin.
I’m interested in the emerging Bitcoin mythology and the impact this new technology has in the new economic reality. I’m fascinated by how value’s derived from scarcity while observing the parallels of moneyness and painting. I’m using acrylic paints to paint at home; minimising costs of storing and shipping; cutting out middlemen consigning my works by offering bitcoin cashback to buyers coming directly to me; and using this same non-inflationary currency as the base of my practice. The frugality of my art practice was primarily shaped by necessity but grew into an efficiency game, including the use of an algorithm rapidly generating sketches for my works. This obsession is counterbalanced with ‘Future memories’ works on paper derived from snapshots I aspire to relive while my future is on hold. Their existence extends as the justification that makes the now more bearable.
Awards and shortlists
2020 Copy&Paste Residency at Platform Southwark, London
2019 Zabludowicz Collection, Testing Ground Masterclass, London
2017 European Month of Photography (EMOP) Arendt Award
2016 Magnum Photos The Graduate Photographers Award, nominated, London
2015 Magnum Photos The Graduate Photographers Award, nominated, London
2014 Art Graduate Prize Worksinprint, Herbert Smith Freehills Exchange House, London
2014 The Curated Ego, 1st place, National Portrait Gallery, London
2012-14 Grant from Slovenian Ministry of Culture
2012 Photo Review Photon, 2nd place, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2010 EMZIN Slovenian Photography of the Year, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Solo exhibitions
2021 Esc, organised by Mare Karina, Tenerife, Canaries, Spain
2020 It's ok until it's not, Ravnikar Gallery Space, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2020 Cold storage, White Crypt, London
2019 New Alchemy, Niagara Falls Project, Brighton, UK
2019 Schumuck Insurance, The Chopping Block Gallery, London
2016 Lepi Loopi / Pretty Loops, Photon Centre for Contemporary Photography, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2016 Lepi Loopi / Pretty Loops, Bozidar Jakac Art Museum, Lamut Art Salon, Kostanjevica na Krki, Slovenia
2014 What I Look at is Never What I Wish to See, Stolp Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia
2010 Uroceni, Sokolski dom, Novo mesto, Slovenia
Selected group exhibitions
2021 Platform Southwark, London (upcoming)
2020 Viral Self-Portrait, Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana, Slovenia
2020 Sinister Figures, Bunker Project Space, online
2020 Jenny from the block, Fotopub Project space, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2019 Winter Salon, Offshoot, London
2019 Even Still Sexy, UGM Studio, Maribor, Slovenia
2019 Prologue, Offshoot Gallery, London
2017 Pit stop on the way to dancing with cosmic forces, Kensington High Street, London
2017 Locus Solus, Wick Woodland, London
2017 Portraits under Surveillance, Musee National d'Histoire et d'Art MNHA, Luxembourg
2017 Looking for the Clouds, Arendt, Luxembourg
2016 Dolenjska Museum, Jakac House - Photo of the Novo mesto Authors, Novo mesto, Slovenia
2016 Fotokub, Brigton Fringe, Brighton, UK
2016 Fotopub Appetizer, Argentina Park Bomb Shelter, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2016 Less Photograhy More Photographic, SP3 Galleria, Treviso, Italy
2015 Fer de Lance, Lausanne Art Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland
2015 Fotopub group exhibition, GT22, Maribor, Slovenia
2015 Copy/Paste, Photon Gallery, Vienna, Austria
2014 Copy/Paste, Photon Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2014 Different worlds: Young Contemporary Photography, Kino Siska & Photon Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2014 Art Graduate Prize, Herbert Smith Freehills Exchange House, London
2014 Slovenian Contemporary Portrait, Stolp Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia
2014 Fluid, Brighton Photo Fringe, Brighton, UK
2014 8 Young Slovenian Artists, Simulaker Gallery, Novo mesto, Slovenia
2014 Slovenian Contemporary Portrait, Simulaker Gallery, Novo mesto, Slovenia
2014 University of Brighton BA (Hons) Photography Degree Show, Brighton, UK
2014 Blog Reblog, Austin Center for Photograhy, Austin, Texas
2013 Slovenian Contemporary Portrait, Fabrica Braco De Prata, Lisbon, Portugal
2013 Fabrications, Space@Create, Brighton, UK
2013 NovaF, Media Nox Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia
2013 Self Publish Be Happy, 89+ Slideshow, London
2013 Blog Reblog, Signal Gallery, New York
2013 These are young people, Skrinja Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia
2013 Face to Face, Second Year Show, Brighton, UK
2013 Ryerson Brighton Digital Group Show, Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto
2012 Photo Ireland Photobook Show, Glasgow, Scotland
2012 C Photobook Show, Brighton, UK
2010 Charity auction of Artists from Dolenjska, Simulaker, Novo mesto, Slovenia
2010 Festival of Contemporary Art of Youth, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2010 EMZIN Slovenian Photography of the Year, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Books
2020 An ode to hodling (edition of 200), selfpublished
2011 Honeymoon (edition of 50), published by Slovenian House of Photography
2010 Uroceni (edition of 20), self published
Talks
2020 Talk with Jure Kirbis, Ravnikar Gallery Space, online
2020 Talk with Jon Sharples, White Crypt, London
2019 Talk with Jon Sharples, Niagara Falls Projects, Brighton, UK
2016 Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts, London
2016 Academy of Fine Arts Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2016 Foto Vist: Screen, Artist talk, Kino Siska, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2014 The Curated Ego: What Makes a Good Selfie?, National Portrait Gallery, London
Collections
Musee National d'Histoire et d'Art MNHA, Luxembourg
Arendt Medernach collection, Luxembourg
Herbert Smith Freehills Collection, London
Photobook Show Collection, London
Booklet/Zine library in Tokyo, Japan
Private collections in London, New York, Ljubljana, Prague, Treviso
Press
Koridor, exhibition review, 2020 (Slovenian)
Le Monde, Le Portfolio, printed 26/03/2016
Le Monde, Au « JT », la tête de l’émoi, online 25/03/2016
Mladina, Vizualni umetnik, ki ga prezema internet, 25/03/2016
Fotografija Magazine, issue 66-67
Fast Company, CoDesign, What Newscasters Look Like When They Deliver Bad News, 30/06/15
Seesaw Magazine, Issue #18