Nedko Solakov
30 Oct 2010 - 28 Feb 2011
NEDKO SOLAKOV
I miss Socialism, maybe...
30 October, 2010 - 28 February, 2011
Galleria Continua is pleased to announce I miss Socialism, maybe... the first solo exhibition by the Bulgarian artist Nedko Solakov in China.
Solakov’s work is based on a variously articulated reflection on the Western art system and its protagonists, which the artist examines and probes. A constant and ironic questioning of art and its language, but also of the mechanisms that regulate its expression, emerges in all of his output.
The title of the artist’s first personal exhibition in China, I miss Socialism, maybe... is at once provocative and full of questions, and the see-sawing and contradictory feelings that emerge from the uncertain declaration of the title lead us into a strand of the artist’s work. In the show, the artist presents works employing a range of expressive media, such as painting, drawing, video, sculpture and installation, but the underlying thread linking them all is a perceptive, amused gaze that always seems to be scrutinizing the viewer and his or her reactions. Through the irony that distinguishes his work, Solakov presents us with a show that traces, with an attentive critical spirit, a reflection about an important part of his own personal history and that of his home country, Bulgaria.
The delicate and poetic images, and the irony of the brief stories the artist tells and which seem to encapsulate our everyday lives, question in subtle ways constituted authority, perception and the human existence itself. These signs, which are distinctive features of Solakov’s work, have the power to direct and simultaneously to alter the perception of the viewer, creating surprise, amazement and curiosity. In his works the viewer discovers in the space jottings, drawings and phrases that recount stories and anecdotes that throng our unconscious and which accentuate and outline the characteristics of the place, destabilizing the nature of the exhibition space.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Nedko Solakov (born 1957, Cherven Briag, Bulgaria; lives in Sofia) has exhibited extensively in Europe and the United States. His work was featured in Aperto ‘93 (Venice Biennial); the 48th, 49th, 50th and 52nd Venice Biennial; the 3rd , 4th and 9th Istanbul Biennial; São Paulo ‘94; Manifesta 1, Rotterdam; the 2nd and 4th Gwangju Biennial; the 5th Lyon Biennial, Sonsbeek 9, Arnhem, the 4th and 5th Cetinje Biennial, the 1st Lodz Biennial; the 7th Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates; the 3rd Tirana Biennial; the 2nd Seville Biennial; the 2nd Moscow Biennial; documenta 12; 16th Sydney Biennial, and Prospect 1, New Orleans Biennial. Recently he had solo shows at Museu do Chiado, Lisbon; Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam; CCA Kitakyushu, Japan; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelona; Kunsthaus Zurich; Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli, Sofia City Art Gallery and Galleria Borghese, Rome. In 2003-2005 an extensive mid-career "A 12 1/3 (and even more) Year Survey" was presented at Casino Luxembourg, Rooseum Malmoe and O.K Centrum Linz, and in 2008-2009 the “Emotions” solo project was exhibited at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, and Mathildenhoehe, Darmstadt. Among his forthcoming projects are solo exhibitions at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; S.M.A.K., Ghent and Fundação de Serralves, Porto.
I miss Socialism, maybe...
30 October, 2010 - 28 February, 2011
Galleria Continua is pleased to announce I miss Socialism, maybe... the first solo exhibition by the Bulgarian artist Nedko Solakov in China.
Solakov’s work is based on a variously articulated reflection on the Western art system and its protagonists, which the artist examines and probes. A constant and ironic questioning of art and its language, but also of the mechanisms that regulate its expression, emerges in all of his output.
The title of the artist’s first personal exhibition in China, I miss Socialism, maybe... is at once provocative and full of questions, and the see-sawing and contradictory feelings that emerge from the uncertain declaration of the title lead us into a strand of the artist’s work. In the show, the artist presents works employing a range of expressive media, such as painting, drawing, video, sculpture and installation, but the underlying thread linking them all is a perceptive, amused gaze that always seems to be scrutinizing the viewer and his or her reactions. Through the irony that distinguishes his work, Solakov presents us with a show that traces, with an attentive critical spirit, a reflection about an important part of his own personal history and that of his home country, Bulgaria.
The delicate and poetic images, and the irony of the brief stories the artist tells and which seem to encapsulate our everyday lives, question in subtle ways constituted authority, perception and the human existence itself. These signs, which are distinctive features of Solakov’s work, have the power to direct and simultaneously to alter the perception of the viewer, creating surprise, amazement and curiosity. In his works the viewer discovers in the space jottings, drawings and phrases that recount stories and anecdotes that throng our unconscious and which accentuate and outline the characteristics of the place, destabilizing the nature of the exhibition space.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Nedko Solakov (born 1957, Cherven Briag, Bulgaria; lives in Sofia) has exhibited extensively in Europe and the United States. His work was featured in Aperto ‘93 (Venice Biennial); the 48th, 49th, 50th and 52nd Venice Biennial; the 3rd , 4th and 9th Istanbul Biennial; São Paulo ‘94; Manifesta 1, Rotterdam; the 2nd and 4th Gwangju Biennial; the 5th Lyon Biennial, Sonsbeek 9, Arnhem, the 4th and 5th Cetinje Biennial, the 1st Lodz Biennial; the 7th Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates; the 3rd Tirana Biennial; the 2nd Seville Biennial; the 2nd Moscow Biennial; documenta 12; 16th Sydney Biennial, and Prospect 1, New Orleans Biennial. Recently he had solo shows at Museu do Chiado, Lisbon; Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam; CCA Kitakyushu, Japan; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelona; Kunsthaus Zurich; Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli, Sofia City Art Gallery and Galleria Borghese, Rome. In 2003-2005 an extensive mid-career "A 12 1/3 (and even more) Year Survey" was presented at Casino Luxembourg, Rooseum Malmoe and O.K Centrum Linz, and in 2008-2009 the “Emotions” solo project was exhibited at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, and Mathildenhoehe, Darmstadt. Among his forthcoming projects are solo exhibitions at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; S.M.A.K., Ghent and Fundação de Serralves, Porto.