“A scene flashes. Low-definition episodes of Hannah Montana are watched on a laptop that overheats almost immediately, loading glitter in 480p through the great pedagogical institution of the badly pirated file. Before practice, before research, before curatorial examinations and show openings, there was the split second in which Hannah pulled off the wig and became Miley Stewart (or was it the other way around). The child, let’s call him Karlo, watches the pixelated image, the image of the blonde pop star, a sixteen-year-old drag queen, living a double life. The child watches from his bedroom, in a country still growing into its independence, not yet part of the World, much like the child himself. The child understands, with alarming speed, that the surface is not and can never be superficial. The wig is not a lie, the stage name is not fraudulent, the close-up, the costume change, the neon glow of television; none of these actually conceal the truth. The child believes in Hannah Montana with the same unquestioning devotion with which another child believes in Santa Claus.”

Karlo Štefanek is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores how identity is constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed through self-portraiture and performance. At eighteen, Štefanek moves to Amsterdam, where he begins laying the groundwork for his artistic methodology. The series Self-titled (2022-), which integrates both visual and performative elements, has become a cornerstone of his practice, challenging evolving notions of selfhood and perception. Štefanek has been showcased at CC Amstel, Amsterdam, NL (2022); Stedelijk Museum, Rietveld Uncut, Amsterdam, NL (2023); Treehouse, Amsterdam, NL (2024); 2nd Floor, Groningen, NL (2024); La Biennale, Croatian Pavilion, Venice, IT (2024); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sounded Bodies, Zagreb, HR (2024); SerformanceP Festival, São Paulo, BR (2024); KIC, Zagreb, HR (2025); Vagon Gallery, Banja Luka, BiH (2025); ARL, Dubrovnik, HR (2025); HDLU, 60th Zagreb Salon, Zagreb, HR (2025); EMAD, Perforations, Buenos Aires, AR (2025); Performance in Flux, Immerse, Orlando, US (2025); Biennale del Vesuvio, Naples, IT (2025), amongst others. The artist lives and works between Zagreb, Amsterdam and New York.