Evgen Čopi-Gorišek “Everywhere, Everywhen”
Boomerang
2026
140 x 114 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on linen
Evgen Čopi-Gorišek Everywhere, Everywhen
Venice, 2026
Evgen Čopi-Gorišek presents his upcoming solo exhibition Everywhere, Everywhen in Venice, curated by Saša Bogojev and organized in collaboration with DUVE Berlin. The exhibition marks a significant moment in the artist’s rapidly evolving international career, bringing together a new body of work that reflects on the complexities of cultural identity, globalization, and the shifting nature of authenticity in contemporary life.
Born in 1994 in Koper, Slovenia, Evgen Čopi-Gorišek is a self taught artist who lives and works between Slovenia and Bassano del Grappa, Italy. Over the past years, he has established a distinctive visual language rooted in figuration, combining influences from pop art and street culture. His works are characterized by vividly colored compositions, where simplified, often smiling faces contrast with carefully rendered bodies and environments. Through the use of oil sticks, acrylics, and spray techniques, he creates layered narratives that explore emotional ambiguity and the performative aspects of identity in an image-driven society.
His practice has been presented internationally through an extensive exhibition program. Recent solo exhibitions include Ocean Size (AOUT Gallery, Beirut, 2025), Gente di Mare (Gana Art Nineone, Seoul, 2024), Bright Light Turned Dark (Stems Gallery, Paris, 2023), American Dream (Bill Brady Gallery, Los Angeles, 2023), Match Point (König Galerie, Berlin, 2023), and Paradise Lost and Found (WOAW Gallery, Hong Kong, 2023). Earlier highlights include exhibitions in Milan, Capri, New York, and Berlin, reflecting a consistent international presence.
French fries with Mayo
2026
90 x 80 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on linen
In addition to his solo presentations, Čopi-Gorišek has participated in major group exhibitions and art fairs worldwide, including Art Dubai, NADA Miami, Untitled Art Fair Miami Beach, and exhibitions in New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Los Angeles, and Ljubljana. His work is held in notable collections such as the Aurora Museum (Shanghai), X Museum (Beijing), the Lian Foundation (Geneva), and the Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art (Ohio). In 2024, his work was also included in institutional exhibitions at Museum MORE (Gorssel, Netherlands) and the Mazovian Centre for Contemporary Art Elektrownia (Poland).
The Venice exhibition introduces a new series of works that further develop his exploration of layered identities and cultural intersections. Works such as Boomerang (2026), French Fries with Mayo (2026), Madonna and Child (2026), Night on Earth (2025), and Four Musketeers (2026) exemplify his ability to merge historical references with contemporary imagery, creating compositions that feel both familiar and disorienting.
Madonna and Child
2026
70 x 60 cm
Acrylic and spray paint on linen
Exhibition Text : Everywhere, Everywhen
According to the sociologist George Ritzer, the world as we know it is undergoing an increasing McDonaldization. This process of society adopting the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant (efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control) extends to every aspect of life, including art and culture. But while it is usually seen as a process driven by mega corporations, steamrolling and erasing differences in favor of sameness, it also absorbs the said differences, turning them into a repeatable format. Be it through kebabs or pizza slices, plastic souvenirs or trinkets, or generic, single-punchline art that loses its origin, it confuses exoticism with consumers’ comfort. And it is precisely this confusion about the ‘standardized difference’ that Evgen Čopi-Gorišek disrupts by layering the global and timeless against the deeply specific and timely.
Through this process, the wealthier, industrialized nations drive cultural and economic trends, shaping what’s valued globally. But the flip side is that the local traditions, histories, and issues of economically less developed regions often get absorbed into these trends. So instead of local identity being erased by the global pressures of large chains, we can see McDonaldized micro-unit business formats being presented as “local” or “authentic.” In that sense, while it is a tool for mass uniformity, it is also an opportunity for greater diversity and innovation. And these changes don’t stop at the economy; such dynamics seep into every aspect of life. Childhood often becomes saturated with global influences, and one has to navigate between what’s ubiquitous and what’s personal, looking for meaning in both.
And as an artist and a young father who’s lived in different corners of Europe in the past 10 years, Čopi-Gorišek is increasingly aware of this phenomenon. Having experienced various environments while surrounded by a similar backdrop, he explores the idea of ever-evolving authenticity in his latest body of work. So, by blending the global and local in unexpected ways, he is working against his art becoming part of a universal language through “cultural homogenization.” And what better place to present these than the iconic city whose history is marked by migration, merchants, artists, and ideas flowing in and out since its golden age!? Placing his contemporary sitters within the grand scenery of Venetian Renaissance paintings (Night on Earth, 2025), he adds another layer to a visual hodgepodge that cannot be easily mass-produced. Rejecting the flattening of specificity, his new body of work reclaims agency through counter-narratives or hybrid forms. Consequently, styles, places, and time periods bleed into one another, creating a visual language that is simultaneously everywhere and everywhen (Madonna and Child and French Fries with Mayo, both 2026). With that, he reflects that contemporary life experience is less about authenticity versus globalization and more about balancing openness with resilience. Recognizing that the story isn’t about the food/tradition/culture being imposed, but about the global system and logic that forces the migration of both people and symbols, he celebrates openness as a way to keep cultural traditions alive, evolving, and relevant (Four Musketeers and Boomerang, both 2026). Through visuals that serve as treasure troves of layered identities, Čopi-Gorišek allows diverse ideas, art forms, and perspectives to function as the heartbeat of reinvention.
Night on Earth,
2025
Acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on linen
200 × 175 cm
Four Musketeers
2026
Acrylic and oil stick on linen
140 × 115 cm
Selected Works in the Exhibition
Boomerang, 2026 — Acrylic and oil stick on linen, 140 × 114 cm
French Fries with Mayo, 2026 — Acrylic and oil stick on linen, 90 × 80 cm
Madonna and Child, 2026 — Acrylic and spray paint on linen, 70 × 60 cm
Night on Earth, 2025 — Acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on linen, 200 × 175 cm
Four Musketeers, 2026 — Acrylic and oil stick on linen, 140 × 115 cm
Biography
Evgen Čopi-Gorišek (b. 1994, Koper, Slovenia) is a self-taught artist working between Slovenia and Bassano del Grappa, Italy. Drawing from pop culture, street art, and art historical references, he has developed a recognizable figurative style defined by bold color, simplified facial expressions, and layered compositions. His work reflects on contemporary identity, the influence of digital culture, and the tension between individuality and collective visual language.
Selected CV Highlights
Upcoming
2026 — Everywhere, Everywhen, Venice (solo exhibition)
Recent Solo Exhibitions
2025 — Ocean Size, AOUT Gallery, Beirut
2024 — Gente di Mare, Gana Art Nineone, Seoul
2023 — Bright Light Turned Dark, Stems Gallery, Paris
2023 — American Dream, Bill Brady Gallery, Los Angeles
2023 — Match Point, König Galerie, Berlin
2023 — Paradise Lost and Found, WOAW Gallery, Hong Kong
Selected Group Exhibitions & Fairs
2025 — Art Busan, Busan
2024 — Art Dubai, Dubai
2024 — Coexist, Los Angeles
2024 — 779 Expo, New York
2023 — NADA Fair, Miami
2022 — Untitled Art Fair, Miami Beach
2022 — Sports Illustrated, New York
Institutional Exhibitions
2024 — Licked by the Waves, Museum MORE, Netherlands
2024 — United in Art, Mazovian Centre for Contemporary Art Elektrownia, Poland
2023 — Invisible Hand, UGM Maribor, Slovenia
Collections
Aurora Museum, Shanghai
X Museum, Beijing
Lian Foundation, Geneva
Pizzuti Collection, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio
With Everywhere, Everywhen, Evgen Čopi-Gorišek continues to position himself among a new generation of European painters redefining figuration through a global lens bridging historical references, contemporary culture, and the evolving narrative of identity in an interconnected world.
