PRIMOZJEZASTUDIO: OBJECTS

Opening Ceremony: Friday, 23 October 2026, 18.00

Some objects merely occupy space, while others actively shape it. Through their presence, proportions and character, they define its atmosphere, guide our movements and open up possibilities beyond their intended function. Primož Jeza’s objects belong to the latter category. Their distinctive artistic language combines formal refinement, technological inventiveness and a unique sense of irony that transcends conventional solutions. Each object is an independent spatial player, while also contributing to a broader reflection on how design can create new ways of using space and living in it.

The exhibition presents a selection of works from various periods of Primož Jeza’s career. From individual creations to developed product families, it reveals a continuity of design that eludes stylistic definitions and fleeting trends. Modernist clarity meets experimentation, technical precision meets imagination, while distinctive forms invite different interpretations.

At the heart of the exhibition is Nico Less, a chair that draws on and builds upon the legacy of Slovenian industrial design through contemporary materials, technologies and production approaches. A tribute to the great Slovenian industrial designer Niko Kralj, it goes beyond a mere design reference, carrying forward a modernist exploration of structural logic, functionality and the possibilities of serial production. A thermoformed felt shell replaces traditional pressed plywood, while its well-considered design allows for the development of various typological and functional variations. Nico Less is thus not a finished product, but rather the starting point for a comprehensive furniture system. Variations in bases, proportions, materials and intended uses generate a family of related pieces that, while maintaining a shared identity, address the diverse needs of contemporary living. It is precisely in the relationship between a distinctive foundation and the unrestricted freedom of further development that the essence of Jeza’s method is revealed: the design concept is not a definitive solution, but a structure that facilitates change, adaptation and new interpretations. Alongside the main collection, VE ZOFA, FRANKENSTEIN’S BRIDE and NICO LESS BACKPACK extend the principles of modularity and adaptability to other spatial contexts, while the experimental ONEANDHALFMILLIONCHAIR opens up a space for freer artistic expression.

The exhibition in Cankarjev dom’s Grand Reception Hall is not conceived as a chronological overview, but rather as a dialogue between objects, their typological characteristics and variations in their execution. It traces a creative practice that does not build its identity on the finality of form, but on the capacity for continual reinvention.

More than a furniture exhibition, OBJECTS is a reflection on objects that exceed their immediate utility – a reflection on design that does not dictate how we live but makes room for life.
 

Exhibition author: Primož Jeza (PRIMOZJEZASTUDIO)
Exhibition layout and design: PRIMOZJEZASTUDIO and KABINET01
Project Manager: Ana Miklavž, KABINET01
CD Exhibitions Programme Director: Katarina Hergouth
CD Exhibition Organisers: Katja Ogrin and Damjan Gorenjc
CD Public Relations: Zvezdana Lazar Bursać
Exhibition setup: Cankarjev dom technical team
At the opening: Presentation of Primož Jeza’s monograph, OBJEKTI
Monograph design: Jaka Rozman, KABINET01
Production: Cultural and Congress Centre, Ljubljana; Designers' Association of Slovenia