Jan Durina is a Slovak interdisciplinary artist who utilizes a diversity of medium to develop personas and grow the complex narratives they exist in. Through performance, photography, and sound Durina unfolds the nuance of each narrative, grappling with themes of loneliness, loss, the boundaries between nature and the body, and the distortions of the human mind as experienced within an ever developing gender and identity. Through this process Durina produces art works in the form of music, performance, film, and photography, seamlessly and confidently moving between exhibitionary to performance contexts.
Jan Durina’s artworks are represented in permanent collections of Slovak National Gallery (Bratislava, Slovakia), Gallery of Peter Michal Bohun (Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia), Museum of Arts and Design Benešov (Benešov, Czech republic) and numerous private collections.
Education
2020 – Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (Czech Republic) – Doctoral Studies in Art Research
2012 – 2014 Academy of fine arts and design in Bratislava (Slovakia) – Department of Intermedia
2007 – 2011 Faculty of Arts, Technical University in Kosice (Slovakia) – Department of New Media (prof. Anna Tretter)
2009 – 2010 Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (Poland) – Photography Studio (prof. Agata Pankiewicz)
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 WEAK SEASON, MUD (Museum of Arts and Design), Benešov u Prahy, Czech Republic
2022 RACING THOUGHTS, Galéria Tabačka, Košice, Slovakia
2020 DEVIL NINJA THORAX, 30th Month of Photography, SEDF / Galéria Martina Martinčeka, Bratislava, Slovakia
2019 HUMAN THIRST (Pauline Canavesio & Jan Durina), ACUD GALERIE, Berlin, Germany
2019 HASARSIZ, Hayy Open Space, Izmir, Turkey
2019 Horal, Ľudovít Fulla Gallery (SNG), Ruzomberok, Slovakia
2017 Recent Works, Hosek Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2016 Chlapcova hlava, A.M.180 Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2015 Studies, Jiri Svestka Gallery Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2014 I dream of you, Henry, YMCA, Bratislava, Slovakia
2013 Présentation de l’artist Jan Durina, Galerie La Traverse, Marseille, France
2012 Sometimes I Fight, Sometimes I Give Up (Photomonth in Krakow), F.A.I.T. gallery, Poland
2012 To není obraz, To je stín, Make Up gallery, Kosice, Slovakia
2011 Twenty three years in that house, but the boy might still be alive, Sourmilk Art Gallery, Menzago di Sumirago, Italy
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 [UPCOMING] Ties That Bind, Organ Vida Festival, Zagreb, Croatia
2024 [UPCOMING] Caution Hot (Prague Pride 2024), Langhans Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2024 Hours Against the Clock, KVOST, Berlin, Germany
2021 Disappearing Body, The Schaubmar Mill (Slovak National Gallery), Pezinok, Slovakia
2021 HMLA, FOG gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
2020 Bratislava Design Week, Apponyi Palace & ZOYA gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
2020 LUCA2020, Karpuchina Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2020 Brave New Normal (curated by Václav Janoščík), Cursor Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2020 20/20, Ľudovít Fulla Gallery, Ružomberok, Slovakia
2019 LIPTOV: HOME AND EXILE (Influential Visual Artists since 1950s), Liptov Gallery of Peter Michal Bohúň, Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia
2019 Stories of (After) Life, Nitra Gallery, Nitra, Slovakia
2019 Ecology of desire – Exhibiton of finalists of the Oskár Čepan Award, East Slovak Gallery, Kosice, Slovakia
2018 Hrádocký výber, Rumansky Art Centre, Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia
2017 SEXPOSED – Uncensored, Galerie Školská (curated by Artedu), Prague, Czech Republic
2016 Oyster!, Zoya Museum (curated by Jiri Svestka), Modra, Slovakia
2014 Light Strip underneath My Lashes, Bunker – Nitrianska galéria, Nitra Slovakia
2013 Photography or Painting?, Flatgallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
2013 Minimalni trvanlivost, Galerie Emila Filly, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic
2010 Nepokojné médium (Slovak photography 1990-2010), Dom Umenia, Bratislava, Slovakia
2009 Self – Identity 2, The East Slovak Gallery, Kosice, Slovakia
2009 Self – Identity 1, Gallery of Peter Michal Bohúň, Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia
Curatorial Projects
2021 P𝘦𝘦l (my t𝘦ndance was never meant to be a scar), A.M.180 Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
ARTISTS: Pauline Canavesio, Luna Faye Naumer Mateos, Sedami Gracia Elvis Theodor Ophelia Azilinon, Miriama Kardošová, Eliška Konečná, Dominika Moravčíková, Sarahsson, Dominik Styk
Art Performances & Collaborations
2023 In Conversations: Compositions of Subjects and Meanings, performance, Kunsthalle Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
2022 Romeo & Hellion “Additional Feel: MAD CITY”, National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2021 BORA X ROMEO & HELLION (collaborative performance by Pauline Canavesio, Miriama Kardošová, Jan Durina and David Čerťanský), Berliner Festspiele – The Sun Machine Is Coming Down (Unguarded Stage), ICC, Berlin, Germany
2021 BORA X ROMEO & HELLION (collaborative performance by Pauline Canavesio, Miriama Kardošová, Jan Durina and David Čerťanský), Signals Festival, Funkhaus, Berlin, Germany
2021 ROMEO & HELLION ー Additional Feel (collaborative performance with Miriama Kardošová), FIST Festival (Curated by Kapitál), A4, Bratislava, Slovakia
2021 When All Weeping Dries ~* Listening for Generational Grief (collaboration with Dominika Moravčíková for Bratislava BAK Summer Spring School – Art During Death), Slovakia
2020 Creepy Teepee ŞABBATシƇALL (collaboration with Miriama Kardošová and Penumbra Vortex), Radio Laude / Planeta Za, Prague, Czech Republic
2020 Súčasné Maskulinity (collaboration with KAPITÁL #10/2020), Slovakia
2019 SCHOOL OF HARMS (collaboration with Tamara Antonijevic, Henrike Kohpeiß and Philipp Wüschner), Ruine der Franziskaner Klosterkirche (Klosterruine Berlin), Berlin, Germany MORE INFORMATION
2017 Gelber Himmel (participation in performance piece by Miriama Kardošová), Hosek Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2016 HORAL 1/3 / 2/3 / 3/3 (Performance Trilogy), Hosek Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2014 WOLF (Light Strip underneath My Lashes), Bunker – Nitrianska galéria, Nitra, Slovakia
Selected Music Performances with Audiovisual Project FOR YOU KATRINA
2018 Klangstärke°18 Festival, Hildesheim, Germany
2018 Macao, Milan, Italy
2018 Säule (Berghain), Berlin, Germany
2018 KIOSK FESTIVAL, Zilina, Slovakia
2018 KHIDI, Tbilisi, Georgia
2018 DGTL FMNSM Festival, Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden, Germany
2018 UMBO, Zürich, Switzerland
2018 Intruder Alert, Warsaw, Poland
2017 A4, Bratislava, Slovakia
2017 ParkingStoneXIII, Paris, France
2017 Creepy Teepee 2K17, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic
Residencies
2019 Hayy Open Space Izmir, Turkey (with K.A.I.R. programme)
2013 Galerie La Traverse Marseille, France (with K.A.I.R. programme)
Awards
2022 FUTURES (European Photography Platform focused on amplifying emerging artists in contemporary photography), Nominated by Fotograf magazine (CZ), 2022
2019 The Oskár Čepan Award, Finalist of The Oskár Čepan Award 2019