Sodobna umetnost (Aljoša Abrahamsberg), 25. oktober 2023 ― Akademski slikar Jurij Kalan se prvič predstavlja s svojimi deli v Mestni galeriji Ljubljana, hkrati pa je to njegova doslej najobsežnejša predstavitev. Umetnik predstavljata zelo visok likovni nivo v sodobni likovni umetnosti, njegov dosedanji opus je zelo obsežen ter večinoma posvečen figuraliki. Na razstavi so predstavljena likovna dela od leta 1991 do 2023, slike večjih in manjših formatov, risbe, fotografije, grafike, kamnite in lesene glave, leseni pobarvani kipi in leseni pobarvani totemi. Likovna dela prikazujejo prizore iz vsakodnevnega življenja. Na slikah in kipih so portreti ljudi in živali iz domačega okolja, torej družinski člani, prijatelji in hišni ljubljenčki. Kalanov likovni jezik je prepoznaven, z veliko mero realizma, toda z dodatki humorja, rahle komičnosti in posebnih pogledov, tudi pogledov od zgoraj navzdol ali pa iz posebno zasukanih položajev ustvarja svet sedanjosti, svet danes živečih in prisotnih ljudi. Slikar je nekakšen likovni zapisovalec življenja, ki nas obkroža. Jurij Kalan gotovo sodi med vidnejše slovenske slikarje, ki prepoznavno zaznamujejo sodobno umetniško dogajanje. The exhibition present artworks created between 1991 and 2023, paintings of larger and smaller formats, drawings, photographs, graphic prints, stone and wooden heads, wooden polychromatic statues, and painted wooden totems. His artworks depict scenes from everyday life. His paintings and statues are portraits of people and animals from his domestic environment, meaning his family members, friends, and house pets. Kalan’s artistic language is recognizable, with a large portion of realism. However, with added humor, a certain degree of comedy, and special views, including top-down views or from particularly warped perspectives, he also creates a world of the present, a world of people living and present today. The painter is a kind of visual recorder of life that surrounds us. Jurij Kalan certainly belongs among the more prominent Slovenian painters who recognizabl