As part of OFF-Biennále Budapest, Liget Gallery will host Comfort Zone, a group exhibition curated by ETC. Magazine.

Comfort Zone
Artists: Nikola Dimitrović, Petra Korent, Jelisaveta Rapaić, Marijo Zupanov
Curated by ETC. Magazine (Hana Čeferin, Ajda Ana Kocutar, Lara Mejač)
8 - 15 May,. 2025
Liget Gallery, Budapest


 ETC. is an annual showcase magazine based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, presenting contemporary art from the Balkans to the Baltics. Under the title Comfort Zone, its fourth issue explores the multitude of ways in which we seek comfort – in the context of the body, family, relationships, and community in general – while also acknowledging the discomfort on the other side of the same coin. Through a selection of projects from the magazine’s pages, the exhibition at Liget Gallery will focus on questions of intimacy, queer perspectives, gender roles and gendered spaces. The artists approach these topics through a variety of media, with a sincerity and openness proving once again that the personal is political and that seeking comfort is an act of agency.

ETC. is a magazine dedicated to exploring current artistic production from the Balkans to the Baltics, bringing together artists, curators, writers, and publishers in the field of contemporary art. With each issue, the magazine addresses current issues in the fields of society, environment, and art, and is thus designed as a platform for diverse voices and opinions from across Europe. The aim of the publication is to create a platform for the presentation of current artistic production, and thus to contribute to a better connection between local contemporary art and the international art scene.

 

Nikola Dimitrović
Nikola Dimitrović’s video work The Favored (2022) consists of a series of tranquil sequences showing the artist in the act of crocheting – an activity historically associated with women – in decidedly non-feminine spaces. By performing this act in public spaces with strong connotations of masculinity, Dimitrović proposes not only the re-evaluation of traditionally male and female roles but also of public space and its (un)accessibility.
Nikola Dimitrović (1990) gained his master’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in the Department of Painting in 2019. He won the award for “Best Film” in the Experimental Film/Video Art selection at the Martovski Festival in 2024. In the same year, his work was included in the 60th October Salon in Belgrade. His artistic practice is characterised by a variety of media, approaches and styles, but unified in themes and interests. The focus of his work is the reflection of the personal towards collective issues, intertwining of sexual and religious elements and re-examination of tradition through deconstruction of social norms and relations. He lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia.

Jelisaveta Rapaić
Jelisaveta Rapaić focuses on examining individual and collective ways of coping with the “anxieties of high-pressure contemporary culture”, such as precarity, mental health, wellness and womanhood. More often than not her art seeks physical interactions. Human dog beds (2023) is a series of three figural soft sculptures, that force the spectator to contorse into a fetal position which is often linked to most intimate moments such as pillow talk or immobilising doom scroll depression.
Jelisaveta Rapaić (1997) is an artist, independent curator, researcher and educator from Belgrade, Serbia. She has gained her Bachelor’s degree at the Textile Design department of the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade (2019), and her Master’s in Intermedia at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (2021). Currently, she is a candidate for a PhD in Art Theory at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava with the research topic Feminist Interpretations in Contemporary Textile and Fibre Art. Until its abolishment in early 2024 by the newly elected government, she worked as a public program curator and PR for Kunsthalle Bratislava. She exhibited her works in various galleries and festivals internationally, such as DAS WEISSE HAUS in Vienna (2024), Obrat Gallery in Maribor (2024), Exile Gallery in Vienna (2024), Ravnikar Gallery Space in Ljubljana (2024), PAF Gallery in Olomouc (2023), UGM in Maribor (2023), Glassbox Nord in Paris (2023), Medium in Bratislava (2022) and Apart Collective in Bratislava (2022). She took part at the Cite Internationale des Arts artist residency in Paris (2021), BAK (basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht) Summer Winter School in Bratislava (2019), WHW Akademija in Zagreb (2023), GuestRooms Maribor (2024) and Question Me and Answer in Vienna (2024). She currently lives and works in Bratislava.

Marijo Zupanov
Marijo Zupanov’s Daddy Issues (2023) series is an intimate exploration of queerness, sexuality and human connection. Originating from his desire to explore erotica in photography, the project began when he brought a camera to a casual hookup, resulting in a roll of film that captured both the beauty and brutality of the moment. The title of the series emerged only later after a friend teased him about his attraction to a certain type of man. Rather than focusing on sex, the images delve into themes of trust and vulnerability, capturing moments of fleeting intimacy.
Marijo Zupanov (Marijo Župan, 1989) obtained his Photography degree in 2014 from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (ALUO) at the University of Ljubljana. His first solo exhibition titled Results was presented at Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb (2014), and the following year at Waldinger Gallery, Osijek. In 2017, he presented his second solo exhibition as part of the Prepih/Draught project at MSUM+ in Ljubljana. Notable subsequent exhibitions include Under the Tuck (Alkatraz Gallery, 2022) and Pleasures (Club Tiffany/Škuc Gallery, 2023). His photos have been published regularly in Slovene magazines Tribuna (2012–2014) and ELLE Slovenia (2018–2023) as well as French Crash and German Tush (2016–2023). He lives and works as a photographer in Ljubljana.

Petra Korent
Love and intimacy are at the forefront of Petra Korent’s body of work. Unabashed, sincere, beautiful and messy. Since 2017, when she was 20 years old, she has been documenting her sex life, moments of comfortable solitude as well as eventual family life in black and white drawings. Eight years later, the result is an extensive portrayal of her relationships throughout the years, of sexual exploration and a young woman’s self-reflection.
Petra Korent (1997) is a visual artist working primarily in the field of illustration. In 2017, she presented her work to the public for the first time with a solo exhibition as part of the ZINE VITRINE programme at DobraVaga Gallery in Ljubljana. Since then, she has actively participated in many group and solo exhibitions around the Balkans. In her work, she explores different media beginning with simple line drawing and expanding to textile, sculpture, woodwork and painting. She always focuses on fond moments, whether intimate or mundane, recording her sentiments towards herself and others, and seeking inspiration in her familiar environment and its surrounding objects and incidents. She is a member of the Ljubljana-based artistic collective Podmladek.

Photo: Barnabás Neogrády-Kiss