Nedko Solakov
12 Feb - 26 Mar 2011
© Nedko Solakov
A Beauty 4, 2001
White artificial fur, black cloth, stuffing materials, acrylic and ink on paper, sand
A Beauty 4, 2001
White artificial fur, black cloth, stuffing materials, acrylic and ink on paper, sand
NEDKO SOLAKOV
Beauty
12 February - 26 March, 2011
Narration is often at the centre of Nedko Solakov’s works and we find it featuring in the new works created for his second solo exhibition at the gallery. A blend of irony, surrealism and romanticism, Solakov’s little stories entwine with the gilt trickles of ancient frames, vivaciously follow the perimeter of the canvasses, or stand out like lapidary captions on paper, transforming the face of the supports and paraphrasing the contents of the images.
The main feature of the exhibition will be the great sculpture ‘A Beauty 4’, a nice, soft, white furry object that can be observed inside. To do this, the visitor is forced to kneel on the ground and assume a clumsy childish position, but the effort is rewarded – in the artist’s words – “with a nice little treat, a splendid crescent moon shining in the tummy”. Thus Solakov invites his audience to follow him, in a gesture that symbolises his eagerness to take part in unreasonable imagination and conceptual positioning.
Starting from the conceptual assumption whereby the artist’s idea is the very essence of the work, he surpasses this position and uses his ideas to give voice to the rules and contradictions of the social system to which the observer belongs. His works thus explain the dynamics of western thought, artistic yet also political and social, inevitably declining as it approaches a strange and unknown horizon.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Nedko Solakov (born 1957, Tcherven 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; Galleria Civica Trento; S.M.A.K., Ghent and Fundação de Serralves, Porto.
Beauty
12 February - 26 March, 2011
Narration is often at the centre of Nedko Solakov’s works and we find it featuring in the new works created for his second solo exhibition at the gallery. A blend of irony, surrealism and romanticism, Solakov’s little stories entwine with the gilt trickles of ancient frames, vivaciously follow the perimeter of the canvasses, or stand out like lapidary captions on paper, transforming the face of the supports and paraphrasing the contents of the images.
The main feature of the exhibition will be the great sculpture ‘A Beauty 4’, a nice, soft, white furry object that can be observed inside. To do this, the visitor is forced to kneel on the ground and assume a clumsy childish position, but the effort is rewarded – in the artist’s words – “with a nice little treat, a splendid crescent moon shining in the tummy”. Thus Solakov invites his audience to follow him, in a gesture that symbolises his eagerness to take part in unreasonable imagination and conceptual positioning.
Starting from the conceptual assumption whereby the artist’s idea is the very essence of the work, he surpasses this position and uses his ideas to give voice to the rules and contradictions of the social system to which the observer belongs. His works thus explain the dynamics of western thought, artistic yet also political and social, inevitably declining as it approaches a strange and unknown horizon.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Nedko Solakov (born 1957, Tcherven 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; Galleria Civica Trento; S.M.A.K., Ghent and Fundação de Serralves, Porto.