Born in 1980, Yuri Zupancic is an artist from Kansas living and working in Paris, France. Largely self-taught, he creates and exhibits paintings, sculptures, video art, installations, and hybrids of these mediums. Represented by Galerie KO21 in Paris, Yuri’s works have also been exhibited at galleries, museums, art fairs, and unconventional spaces in London, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, Sydney.
Yuri works extensively with the Estate of William S. Burroughs to promote WSB’s artistic and literary legacy worldwide, including important roles in exhibitions at Pompidou Center and the Royal Academy of the Arts. Originally from Dodge City, Kansas, Yuri keeps a home in Lawrence, Kansas, where he co-founded Fresh Produce Art Collective and DotDotDot Artspace and continues to collaborate with the artists and organizers of Seedco Studios.
Yuri’s work has been featured in publications such as Huffington Post and his current exhibition, Screen Deep, is now on display in the front gallery.
Artist Statement:
The works in this exhibition are intuitive responses to constantly juggling online activity and physical
experience. It’s an exploration of the space ‘between’ where virtual, tangible, and mental spheres
overlap -where apps and avatars mingle with emotions and physical sensations. Art is my way to
assess this hybrid existence and steer towards a future which is more of an upgrade than a downgrade.
Video chatting has enabled me to sustain important long-distance relationships and forced me to reevaluate
concepts of context, presence, intimacy, and even identity. ‘Here’ and ‘there’ are not as far
apart now. Two-dimensional screens have become palpable windows for interaction, no longer
relegated to tele-reality or rudimentary communication. And we’ve only just begun to connect. But
not without risk.
As the felt presence of tech grows exponentially, the devices themselves are shrinking towards
invisibility. Instead of taking up space in the room, our tech expands the space around it, opening new
portals, connecting homes and workspaces around the world. With this proliferation comes new
awareness, accountability, and free exchange of ideas. But privacy is disappearing. And with it our
capacity for internal reflection. Hyperconnectivity does not encourage meditation or independent
thinking. We must force our machines to work in our best interests -not theirs. Everyday life is being
‘augmented’ in a hurry. My aim is to benefit from these marvelous advances without losing control of
our own evolution.