Nedko Solakov
born in 1957 in Cherven Briag, Bulgaria
lives and works in Sofia
Nedko Solakov can surely be called a timeless storyteller. His oeuvre covers painting, photography, video, and drawing and is characterised by a seemingly effortless ability to combine conventional techniques of draughtsmanship and knowledge of art history with the use of playful irony, an emphasis on the absurd and a subversive sense of humour. His narratives have a conceptual freedom, successfully triggering a range of questions and issues about the status and relevance not only of contemporary painting and the context in which it is presented, but also of the human condition in general and common values and beliefs upheld in Western culture.
His regular participation in important exhibitions including the documenta 12 (2007), the Venice Biennial (1993, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2007), the Moscow Biennial (2007), and the Istanbul Biennial (1992, 1995, 2005) have made him one of the best-known international representatives of the younger generation of Bulgarian artists.
Recently, the touring solo exhibition “Emotions” was showcased at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2008), the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, and the Mathildenhoehe, Darmstadt, Germany (both 2009). Further solo presentations were staged at the Sofia City Gallery, Sofia, the Castello di Rivoli, Turin (both 2009), the Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland (2005), the P.S.1, New York (2001), and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2003).
Between 2003 and 2005 a comprehensive mid-career retrospective of his work entitled “A 12 1/3 (and even more) Year Survey” was presented at the Casino Luxembourg, the Rooseum in Malmö, Sweden, and the O.K. Centrum in Linz, Austria.
EXHIBITIONS:
12.06 - 15.09.2010
NEDKO SOLAKOV
"Optimistic Stories"
Solo presentation at ARNDT Berlin
29.4. - 30.5.2010
“Changing The World”
Group exhibition with works by Erik Bulatov, Sophie Calle, William Cordova, Wim Delvoye, Anton Henning, Thomas Hirschhorn, Ilya und Emilia Kabakov, Jitish Kallat, Jon Kessler, Karsten Konrad, Julije Knifer, Enrique Martinez Celaya, Josephine Meckseper, Vik Muniz, Muntean Rosenblum, Julian Rosefeldt, Charles Sandison, Dennis Scholl, Nedko Solakov, Hiroshi Sugito, Ena Swansea, Mathilde Ter Heijne, Keith Tyson, Ralf Ziervogel
at ARNDT, Berlin
03.02. – 21.04.07
Nedko Solakov
“New Noah's Ark, Stupidity and the Wave”
Solo exhibition at Arndt & Partner, Berlin
06.10. – 11.11.2006
Nedko Solakov
“Earlier Works”
Solo exhibition at Arndt & Partner, Zurich
CATALOGUE AVAILABLE
5.5.- 25.5. 2002
Nedko Solakov
"Studies for Romantic Landscapes with Missing Parts (and tips for the average global citizen)"
Solo Exhibition at Arndt & Partner, Berlin
05.09. - 14.11.1998
Nedko Solakov
"Silly”
Solo exhibition at Arndt & Partner, Berlin
20.04. - 02.06.1996
Nedko Solakov
"Desires"
Solo exhibition at Arndt & Partner, Berlin
FURTHER BOOKS AND CATALOGUES:
Nedko Solakov "Emotions", 2008
Nedko Solakov, The Water Pyramid, 2008, Acrylic and ink on gilt carved lime wood, 17.72 x 27.17 x 3.15 in NEDKO SOLAKOV is on view at the Kunstverein Amsterdam and also part of the group exhibitions “By Day, By Night,” Rockbund Museum, Shanghai, China, curated by Hou Hanru, and “A Place out of History” at the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City.
Duration of the exhibition at Kunstverein Amsterdam: 18. September - 21. November 2010
Duration of the exhibition at Rockbund Museum: 25 October 2010 - 03 January 2011
Duration of the exhibition at Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo: 21 September 2010 - 6 March 2011
Handwritten text on icon: The Investment (the money pouch)
Nedko Solakov, The Investment (the money pouch), 2008, acrylic and black drawing ink on gilded carved lime wood, 77 x 83 x 9,5 cm /30,31 x 32,68 x 3,74 in, SOLA0766
Once upon a time there were two investors living in a kind of (financial) paradise. One of them occupied a lovely meadow full of gorgeous flowers and friendly plants while the other preferred to live in the underground part of the same meadow, where the no-less-gorgeous-and-friendly roots of the same flowers and plants also provided a wonderful habitat. Needless to say, the two investors had a common business, too – a pretty conservative one, in a way even the most conservative and old-fashioned business one could find in those days: just a big pouch with a lot of cash in it.
The strange thing was that even though they argued constantly about other things, on that one – to keep the cash in the pouch in the old-fashioned way and not to place it into much more profitable financial operations – they had a silent agreement.
Then a crisis came. It was a devastating time and, like most other investors in the world, the two business partners lost a lot. But all the time, while desperately trying to save their assets, they had in the back of their heads that there was this huge money pouch full of cash that would guarantee their lives and the existence of their families.
There was just one thing that they didn’t take into account –the money pouch, their precious investment, the last hope they had, happened to have its own life and plans for the future as well. And there was no place in the pouch’s plans for the two investors. For a long time she had been dreaming of starting her own business without the two humans and, thanks to the crisis, she got it. “But we love you!” the two investors were trying to comprehend the new situation, an almost impossible task.