15. 06. 2025
In this picture, the viewer looks at a familiar object—a door handle, which usually allows entry. But here, isolated against an empty background, it loses its function. With the caption "This is not a passage," the artist paraphrases Magritte's famous work This is not a pipe, thereby undermining our self-evident connection between image and meaning. In the space of the former customs office – the area of former border controls – the hook takes on additional weight. It represents the promise of movement, passage, freedom, which may, however, be merely an illusion. Has the border really disappeared? Does it still exist in language, bureaucracy, memory?This image does not depict a passage. It is merely its symbol – or its mirrored emptiness.
/ Luka Širok (1982) is a visual artist from Kanal ob Soči. He graduated from the Max Fabiani Art School in Gorizia (Liceo Artistico Max Fabiani di Gorizia) and received a degree with honors in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice (Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia). His works are included in the permanent collections of the Dolenjska Museum, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, the Fonticus Gallery in Grožnjan, and the Benetton – Imago Mundi international collection. He has received several awards, including the award at the Art Days in Novo Mesto (2022) and the Timeraiser award for painting in Padua (2019). He lives and works in the Goriška Brda region.
