The exhibition There is no magic. There is always a story by Vadim Fishkin and Nika Radić takes place within the project Coexistence: Spaces of Light, led by curator Martina Kontošić. Through the possibilities of rematerialized art production as developed through correlations of sound, light, and movement, the project explores models to reconfigure the attention economy within the gallery space.

In initiating an encounter between works by Radić and Fishkin, the exhibition relates these two strong artistic personalities to enable a dialogue between their practices as well as an interaction with the space of exhibition and the attention and participation of the audience. Fishkin’s practice is concerned with immateriality and ephemerality, and, as described by curator Inke Arns, his installations produce the metaphysical, making it temporarily visible. Radić’s focus is the study of the complex layers of communication, explored through movement, gesture, and verbal expression. Her practice includes a particularly pronounced integration of the exhibition space into her works. While Fishkin’s Doorway (2015) and Radić’s Bubble (2021) seemingly open up new spaces that audiences cannot enter, Vernissage (Radić, 2012) and Magic Button (Fishkin, 2007) form a collaborative installation that communicates openly and directly, with each other, but also with visitors.

There is no magic. There is always a story instigates the collaboration of the authors and overlaying of their works, which—along with carefully devised dynamic of light and sound—opens up new forms of synchronicity within the exhibition space. The artworks coexist with the gallery and allow it to complement the exhibition concept with its own voids, whether of light or the absence thereof, just as visitors simultaneously participate in layers of free interpretation that, given the current social context, can feel both uncomfortable and liberating at the same time.
 
Vadim Fishkin (Penza, USSR, 1965) lived in Moscow until 1996; he currently lives and works in Ljubljana. He studied at the Moscow Institute of Architecture, from which he graduated in 1986. His work explores the relationships between science, personal experience, desire, and the imagination, between metaphysics and pragmatism, and between the artificial and the real. The artist succeeds in uncovering subtle connections that arouse viewers’ curiosity, yet leaves them guessing about the ultimate meaning. Fishkin’s main area of investigation is science and its study methods as he uses technological advances for essentially poetic purposes and many of his installations, sculptures, photographs, and drawings are informed by his distinctive sense of humor. His work has been presented in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including at four Venice Biennials (in 1995, 2003, 2005, 2017); the 1st Valencia Biennial; the Manifesta 1, Rotterdam; the 3rd Istanbul Biennial; the 8th Baltic Triennial of International Art, Vilnius; eva+, Limerick; Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg; the Secession, Vienna; Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris; FRAC Lorraine, Metz; Moderna galerija, Ljubljana, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana, Berlin; Galerija Škuc, Ljubljana; Contemporary Art Center, Moscow; Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig; Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin; Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; Palazzo dell Ragione, Milano; BAWAG Foundation, Vienna; ZKM, Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe; MACRO Museum for Contemporary Art, Rome; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston; and the Drawing Center, New York; 9th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai.

Nika Radić (Zagreb, 1968) studied sculpture at Zagreb Art Academy and art history at the University of Vienna. From the apolitical nature of early works and expression in traditional sculptural forms, in the 2000s she turned to postconceptual artistic practice. Not fully belonging to one context and being used to translating from different languages, as well as translating people’s experiences, she reflects this experience in her art. Her most recent work is the result of research into how other disciplines address the challenges of communication. She has exhibited in numerous exhibitions, the most recent being: My Voice Will Go With You, Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin, Yurei, KIT, Kyoto, Puno putujemo MKC, Split, My Daily Room, Berlin Weekly, Berlin, Doma, MUO, Zagreb. She has won several awards and residencies, including Radoslav Putar Award, the ArtsLink Scholarship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and the Villa Kamogawa by Goethe Institute in Kyoto. She lives and works in Berlin.

Martina Kontošić (Zagreb, 1981) graduated in art history and cultural anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. She is a curator and producer of projects in culture, coordinator and co-leader of projects in the field of new media and production of works by contemporary artists. She works as a collaborator on projects in WHW and Kurziv, publisher of Kulturpunkt.hr.
 
The program is supported by:
City of Zagreb
Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia
Kultura Nova Foundation