Gabriel Holzner | Artists in Residence | Kamov Residency

Photo: Michael Frick

• Biography
• The Project
• Organized by

• Gabriel Holzner

  → https://gabrielholzner.com/

  Gabriel Holzner is a multidisciplinary visual artist with a background in communication design, based between Munich and Vienna.

  Their visual language draws from an academic background in design, illustration and printmaking, as well as expressionism, pop art, graffiti and various subcultures.

  Gabriel works mostly with abstracted figurative scenes — precisely formed, sometimes digitally arranged and brought to life with acrylic paint or oil sticks on large-scale canvases or wood panels. Despite their boldly condensed visual language, they address the enduring complexity of living in the world.

  Parallel to their artistic practice, Gabriel runs G.A.B.E., a graphic art studio acting as a creative playground where art, design, fashion, illustration and object-making intersect. The studio produces graphic art-based print editions, souvenirs, public art and collaborations with like-minded partners — all with the aim of making their artworks more widely accessible.

  Gabriel Holzner has had group and solo exhibitions in Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Los Angeles and New York, as well as residencies in Cape Town and Lisbon.

• 23.-30.10.2025.

  In 2023 Gabriel Holzner was invited to South Africa for the Cape Town Art Residency. During the three-month stay, Gabriel developed a morning routine built around a drawing ritual: before doing anything else, they set aside sixty minutes for free drawing. By the end of the residency this ritual had not only become the foundation for all of their paintings, but also turned into a form of meditation that shaped Gabriel’s workdays over the following two years.

  At first, these drawings were more akin to freestyle exercises — flowing graphite lines on large sheets of paper. Over time, they evolved into a kind of visual diary that, regardless of their appearance, captured the artist’s experience during a period of profound personal and societal change.

  For the artist, it was a new approach to draw without knowing what — if anything — the work might eventually become. Accepting these drawings as a journal, without trying to control their quality, themes, or form, was an exercise in its own right. During their stay at the Kamov Residency in Rijeka and together with print studio “Riso and Friends,” Gabriel now intends to create a risograph-printed artwork that traces two years of transitions through this body of drawings.

• Delta 5 and Riso and Friends

  Artists-run space Delta 5, gathers a group of artists on the location of an ex industrial complex in Rijeka. The space of Delta 5 is divided into a number of ateliers/studios and one project room which is used for presentation, production and social purposes of the members and associates of the organisation. The artists of Delta 5 share their interest in the field of production and promotion of contemporary art, design, their critical reflection and reception in public. 

  
  Riso and Friends is one of the initiatives operating within that collective and space; it was launched in 2019 by designer Ana Labudović as a sustainable, specialized print studio for the cultural and independent scene. Over six years of activity, a network of collaborations has been built on local, regional, and international levels. The residency program, established in 2024, serves as an interdisciplinary platform for both local and international artists.