Veli & Amos: This Is Not a Commercial.com
Šentjakobski most (Šentjakob Bridge)
23. May–18. June 2022
light installation

Slovenian-Swiss tandem’s project is a large lighting inscription that seemingly adheres to public advertising’s formal language and semantics but at the same time it perverts it and makes it ironic. The lettering represents a slogan inviting us to think about the meaning of (free) public space and its exploitation by capitalist powers, while indirectly also addressing the role of art in public space. The project is a playful yet critical commentary of current economic models that significantly contribute to the degradation of urban areas due to commercialization and gentrification. On the other hand, the project addresses survival strategies of a contemporary artist in a neo-liberal society by questioning, or rather exposing the relationship between street art and the so-called commissioned art or commercial projects.

VELI & AMOS is a Slovenian-Swiss tandem who works between Ljubljana and Zürich. Veli Silver was born in 1983 in Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Amos Angeles in 1986 in Zürich (Switzerland). Veli Silver studied Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and at the Portuguese academy Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto. Amos Angeles studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and graduated at the University of the Arts in Zürich. As a tandem they collaborate since 2008. Their artistic vocabulary draws from the tradition of graffiti, street art and activism; they are interested in exploring public space and the role art plays in it.

Supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.