In Defence of Solid Material at Sarieva

Artists: Rada Boukova, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Dr Gatev, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Vladimir Ivanov, Ivan Moudov, Maria Nalbantova, Stefan Nikolaev, Nedko Solakov, Radostin Sedevchev, Kamen Stoyanov, RASSIM®

Exhibition title: In Defence of Solid Material

Curated by: Vesselina Sarieva

Venue: Sarieva, Plovidv, Bulgaria

Date: September 10 – October 29, 2021

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Sarieva, Plovidv

“In Defence of Solid Material” in Sarieva Gallery is the main exhibition of PHASE I of the new curatorial project of Vesselina Sarieva FUTURE UNFORGETTABLE.

FUTURE UNFORGETTABLE is a curated multi-genre situation in the sphere of visual arts. This situation creates an environment step by step in six thematic time phases which carry out the realization of main exhibitions, satellite exhibition gestures, documental video series, screening programs, meetings with artists, spatial situations and interventions, open conversations, exhibition and collection tours, publications on thematic tests, accompanied by a recommended bibliography and links.

The phases of FUTURE UNFORGETTABLE will unfold in a programmed temporal span between September and December 2021, at different partnership spaces, galleries, formal and informal locations in Bulgaria, all of which will be announced by the program stages.

The thematic focus of this multi-genre situation is polyphonic and wide-ranging. Through the medium of curatorial analysis and selection, it deals with topics such as contemporary Bulgarian art from the 1980s to the present day, art collecting, mapping of topical art spaces in Bulgaria, contemporary institutional practices, hypotheses on the past and the future. In its separate thematic and temporal phases, FUTURE UNFORGETTABLE brings out specific microfoci points and topics.

The first exhibition, “In Defense of Solid Material”, browses along the historic line of Bulgarian contemporary art by presenting works created between 1973 and 2019 by authors Rada Boukova, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Dr Gatev, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Vladimir Ivanov, Maria Nalbantova, Stefan Nikolaev, Radostin Sedevchev, Nedko Solakov, Kamen Stoyanov, RASSIM®, Ivan Moudov with 0gms.

The exhibition interconnects into a visual environment themes and ideas characteristic of Bulgarian art, presented by the works of the announced authors and their artistic practices, such as: political opposition, institutional deficiency, institutional critique, models of institutionalization, individualism, the relation between name and institution and between body and institution, instrumentalization, operationality, expansion of the body, the body as instrumental and political entity, problems of representation, the oppositions “outside” – “inside”, “community” – “person”, tension and fragility of borders and last but not least – labor.

Works from the exhibition are owned by private collectors from Plovdiv, Sofia, Paris, Brussels.

The entire conception of the exhibition is laid out in part one of the program text by Vesselina Sarieva FUTURE UNFORGETTABLE, available at www.futureunforgettable.com.

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organizer: Open Arts Foundation and Sarieva
with the support of: the collections provided the works, spaces and participants
Some of the activities are supported by the National Culture Fund, Municipal Foundation Plovdiv, 2019

In 2021, the project is being implemented with the financial assistance of the Support Programme for Professional Art Organizations of National Culture Fund.

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The title FUTURE UNFORGETTABLE is inspired by the drawing from Krassimir Terziev’s art project “Future Unforgettable”, 2018, marker on paper, 28 x 35.5 cm., personal collection.

The name “In Defence of Solid Material” is inspired by Dr Gatev’s work In Defence of Solid Material, 1994, part of the collection of Nedko Solakov and Slava Nakovska.

In Defence of Solid Material, 2021, exhibition view, SARIEV Gallery, Plovidv

Radostin Sedevchev, untitled (memory), 2015, iron, concrete, copperfoil, led, tin, gumbichromate print on glass electrical light

Stefan Nikolaev, Untitled (Hammer), 2012, bronze with black patina, 84 x 23 x 7 cm

Pravdoliub Ivanov, Tools, 2013, B&W photo, newspaper, printed paper, 85 x 116 cm framed

Vladimir Ivanov, Merde, 1973, collage and drawing on found newspaper, 31 x 21,5 cm.

Rada Boukova, How we live, 2019, extruded polystyrene, PVC, variable dimensions, 58th Venice Biennale, 2019

Vladimir Ivanov, Еcce homo, 1974, four drawings, pencil on paper, 20 x 20 cm each

Luchezar Boyadjiev, How many nails in a mouth? Self-portrait with 2 kg of 12.5 cm long nails in the mouth (Homage to Günther Uecker), 1992-1995, Passport photographs in a block of 4, 13 x 9 cm

Kamen Stoyanov, A small story about “KULTURA” , 2010, silk screened text on newspaper

Ivan Moudov, 0gms cabinet, 2011, mixed material, 50 x 54 x 88 cm

In Defence of Solid Material, 2021, exhibition view, SARIEV Gallery, Plovidv

RASSIM®, Corrections, 1996-1998, video projection, sound, 6:22 min., (short version: compilation of the first and last film)

Maria Nalbantova, Dry hands, 2019, dimensions variable, towel holder with mirror, towel with embroidery, used gloves

Radostin Sedevchev, untitled (memory), 2015, iron, concrete, copperfoil, led, tin, gumbichromate print on glass electrical light

In Defence of Solid Material, 2021, exhibition view, SARIEV Gallery, Plovidv

Rada Boukova, How we live, 2019, extruded polystyrene, PVC, variable dimensions, 58th Venice Biennale, 2019

Nedko Solakov, Announcement, 1999, message printed on 15,000 postcards and 200 T-shirts. Official participation of Bulgaria in the 48th Venice Biennial, Venice, 1999, Courtesy the artist

In Defence of Solid Material, 2021, exhibition view, SARIEV Gallery, Plovidv