Shows | sarieva.org

Image on the Edge of Matter

15 March 2024 – 19 May 2024

Press text / Bulgarian Press text / English List of works

Sarieva Gallery, Plovdiv presents the solo show Image on the Edge of Matter by Antwerp based Bulgarian artist Denitsa Todorova. Born in 1984 in Plovdiv, she received her education and pursued her creative path in Belgium. The exhibition includes her specific works on paper which attracted the attention of the professional community and won the author numerous awards.

Her delicate monochrome works produce astonishment with their emotional charge that forestalls the perception of the image itself. It is generated in the almost performative process of their creation – a process where precision and play coexist in symbiosis just as seduction and rejection would. The author initially places a thin sheet of paper on the floor of her studio, completely covers the surface with a layer of graphite powder and proceeds to remove and erase the dark pigment, in order to create a drawing and a composition in different layers. The creative process is extremely energetic, pedantic and continuous. Just as Philippe Van Cauteren observes – the technique is not “graphite on paper” but rather “graphite and paper”. An elemental power is generated from the interaction between the fragile and thin paper, the ethereal pigment and the sharp instruments used for the removal of the dark surface. The breach and removal are reminiscent of sgraffito – a technique for creating monumental murals in public spaces widely known in Eastern Europe during the middle of the last century. Denitsa mentions that in order to make such a drawing, she sometimes prepares not one, but three sheets of paper and blackens them with pigment.
“This is my playground: by giving myself three chances, I have more space to express myself and experiment. There is room for mistakes. Only the best drawing will be shown.”

The author draws inspiration from everyday phenomena, textures, forms and models like water surfaces, reflections, marble structures and firework blasts. These are frivolous effects rather than static scenes. Random, seemingly meaningless details that nonetheless constitute the fabric of reality. Pieter Vermeulen calls them „the noise of materiality“ and adds: „It is often these little things that grant the world its unmistakable character: the crackling of a vinyl record, the throatiness of a voice, the grain of a photograph.” In this sense, although formally possessing such distinguishing marks, Denitsa Todorova’s work does not strike as “abstract” in the literal sense of the term. Her hypersensitivity recalls familiar images, the soft outlines symbolize nature and landscapes, on the surface emerge barely perceptible brightly colored spots which the author self-ironically defines as candy.

The works in Denitsa Todorova’s exhibition Image on the Edge of Matter shown in Sarieva/Gallery, Plovdiv are pre-linguistic and take us back to that innocent moment of thought and will formation when they are still blurred, emotional impressions and spots within a network of infinity. Scribbled and scarred like life itself.

Press

Exhibition "Image on the Edge of Matter" by Denitsa Todorova, Marica, 01.03.2024

"Image on the Edge of Matter" - solo exhibition by Denitsa Todorova, Kulturni novini, 11.03.2024

Opening of the exhibition "Image on the Edge of Matter" by Denitsa Todorova, Pod Tepeto, 11.03.2024

Opening of the exhibition "Image on the Edge of Matter" by Denitsa Todorova, Kapana, 11.03.2024

Image on the Edge of Matter" - the non-existent space of the Bulgarian-Belgian artist Denitsa Todorova, Impressio.dir.bg, 12.03.2024

Image on the Edge of Matter, Kratko info, 13.03.2024

An interview with Denitsa Todorova, Bulgarian National Television, Plovdiv, 14.03.2024

In a new exhibition Denitsa Todorova shows images on the "edge of matter", Dnevnik, 14.03.2024

Exhibition "Image on the Edge of Matter" presents the Plovdiv-born Denitza Todorova, Plovdiv Time, 14.03.2023

"Image on the Edge of Matter" - a delicate play between graphite and paper, Bulgarian National Radio, 15.03.2024

"Image on the Edge of Matter": meeting art with architecture, Nova TV, 18.03.2024