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Let Them Draw

Dimitar Shopov / Ignacio Uriarte / Iv Toshain / Kalin Serapionov / Kamen Stoyanov / Kiril Prashkov / Kosta Tonev / Krassimir Terziev / Luchezar Boyadjiev / Mariela Gemisheva / Nedko Solakov / Nestor Kovachev / Pravdoliub Ivanov / RASSIM® / Valio Tchenkov / Vitto Valentinov / Voin de Voin

27 February 2016 – 1 April 2016

Press release (English) Press release (Bulgarian) Artists' biographies (English) Artists' biographies (Bulgarian)

Opening: 27 February, 2016, 7 pm

Luchezar Boyadjiev, Mariela Gemisheva, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Nestor Kovachev, RASSIM®, Kiril Prashkov, Kalin Serapionov, Dimitar Shopov, Nedko Solakov, Kamen Stoyanov, Valio Tchenkov, Krassimir Terziev, Kosta Tonev, Iv Toshain, Ignacio Uriarte, Vitto Valentinov, Voin de Voin

group show about drawing

When I was invited to curate this show, I asked myself – can I give a brief answer to “What is drawing?”
I tried but I couldn’t because there is always something left beyond the definitions. The show in fact resulted from my desire to prevent viewers to have a simple answer to the same question.
The exhibition showcases drawing in its various guises – as a unique trace; as the vector of a movement; as the movement itself; as a thought-capturing line; or as a way to illustrate a narrative but also as the narration of its own creation. The drawing as a project as an imprint of a controlled gesture or as an autonomous action documented by the means of technology.
All media, materials and ideas are allowed.
Everything that is not ‘prohibited’ by the sentence “Let them draw”.

P.I.
February 2016

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Artists

LUCHEZAR BOYADJIEV is an artist based in Sofia, Bulgaria. His work is about private interpretations of public space and visuality of global cities; about the public vs. private in the artist’s inner world; and about fostering involvement with audiences through breaking up the local/global, the active/passive participant, and the artist/audience devides. His media is installation, photography, drawing, objects, text, video, and lectures. Recent exhibitions: “Stand Out! …& Standstill!”, One Night Stand Gallery, Sofia (solo); “Commercial Show with a Non-Profit Goal”, 0gms–drawer Gallery, Sofia (solo); “Not a Library Artist either”, SALT Galata, Istanbul (2013, solo); “Artist in the Storage”, City Art Gallery, Sofia (2010, solo); “Mature and Angry”, Ancient Bath – CCA, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; “The Grammar of Freedom: Five Lessons”, GARAGE MCA, Moscow and “Art for Change 1985-2015”, Sofia City Gallery, Sofia (2015); “Disconsent”, Ancient Bath – CCA, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2014); “Economics in Art”, MOCAK, Cracow (2013); “The Best of Times, the Worst of Times”, 1st Biennial, Kiev and “The Eye Never Sees itself”, 2nd Biennial, Yekaterinburg (2012); “The Global Contemporary”, ZKM, Karlsruhe (2011).

MARIELA GEMISHEVA is a fashion designer and artist working with performance, installation and object. She is known for her numerous experiments in fashion and art performance. She was a model for photographer Alexander Nishkov – Self portrait (2008). For Mariela Gemisheva art is ‘a practice, communication, process, restlessness – dynamics to meausure your everyday rythm in’, Vladiya Mihaylova, ‘Self-knowledge’ – a conversation with Mariela Gemisheva on fashion, art and the modern woman, Intelligent life, Spring 2008. Provocation is an important element in her work. According to American curator Roger Conover she is unique in her way for converting restrictions into benefits, catalog ‘In search of Balkania’, 2002.

PRAVDOLIUB IVANOV was born in 1964 in Plovdiv. He graduated from the National Art Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria, where he is currently a lecturer. In 1995 he became a Founder Member of the Institute of Contemporary Art – Sofia. Pravdoliub Ivanov has a strong presence on the international art scene. In 2007, together with Ivan Moudov and Stefan Nikolaev he participated in Vessela Nozharova’s curatorial project “A Place You Have Never Been Before” – the Bulgarian official participation at the 52nd Venice Biennial. His works were also presented at the 4th Istanbul Biennial in 1995, Manifesta 3 in Ljubljana, Slovenia – 2003, at the 14th Sydney Biennial, Australia in 2004 and at the 4th Berlin Biennial in 2006. Pravdoliub Ivanov’s works are part of collections such as: Sofia Art Gallery, ERSTE Bank, Austria; European Investment Bank, Luxembourg; European Patent Office, Munich, Sofia City Art Gallery, Vehbi Koc Foundation, Istanbul and Tiroche DeLeon Collection & Art Vantage PCC Limited; private collections of René Block, Berlin, Dr. Heinz and Dr. Kühn, Vienna Austria; Nedko Solakov and Slava Nakovska, Sofia, Spas Roussev, Sofia, London . Pravdoliub's works have been reproduced in magazines such as Frieze, Flash Art, Kunstforum, Аrtforum etc., as well as in publications such as East Art Map. Since 2011 he has been represented by SARIEV Contemporary.

NESTOR KOVACHEV (born 1981 in Bulgaria) received his M.F.A. from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria. He has exhibited his work in the USA and Europe, recently solo show at The Richard J. Massey Foundation New York, (2015) Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, LENTOS Museum, Linz, Gallery Heike Curtze und Petra Seiser Vienna - Berlin, Sofia City Art Gallery, Sofia Arsenal – Museum for Contemporary Art. Nestor Kovachev was selected for Canson Prix Award 2013, Paris, France, shortlisted for BAZA Award 2014, Sofia, Bulgaria and more recently in 2015, Walter Koschatzky Art-Award, Vienna, Austria. His works are in collection of Austria National Bank (OeNB), MdM Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, UniCredit Group’s Art Collection, Italy, Bank Austria Kunstforum, Sofia City Art Gallery, Gaudenz B. Ruf Collection, Switzerland, Luciano Benetton Foundation, Italy. In 2016, The House of Cinema (Dom Kino) will presented in a solo show the series Bronenosets Potemkin, 2014. Nestor lives and works in Vienna, Austria.

RASSIM® - Krassimir Krastev (born in 1972) is among the most prominent heralds of a radical change in the concept of art in the Bulgarian art scene during the 1990s. His most popular series is "Corrections", in which the artist uses his own body to reproduce current social stereotypes – the typical attractive macho man seen in ads, the muscular bodybuilder, the junkie, the "other". This concept has turned him into an emblem of not only the Bulgarian but also of the international art scene. RASSIM has taken part in the exhibitions Body and the East, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana (1998); After the Wall: Art and Culture in post – Communist Europe, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (1999), Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, Berlin (2000); Blood & Honey/Future’s in the Balkans, The ESSL Collection, Vienna (2003); 26.Bienale of contemporary art, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2004); RASSIM number one, horse champ Gallery, Strasbourg, France (2005); Glamour and Globalisation, Phoenix Halle, Dortmund, Germany (2006); REALITY CROSSINGS, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany (2007); EXBODYTYON, Studio 25, Sofia (2008); Transitland. Video Art from Central and Eastern Europe 1989-2009. Transmediale, Berlin (2009); XXL Group. Reminiscences of the 1990’s, Sofia Art Gallery, Sofia (2010); Gender Check. Femininity and Masculinity in Eastern European Art, ZACHETA National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, MUMOK Vienna (2010); {Poem 88}, Tanner-Hill Gallery, Atlanta, USA (2011); ON YOUR MARKS. Body-Sports and Society, Deutsche Hygiene-Museum, Dresden, Germany (2011), RASSIM Broadcast, Studio 25, Sofia (2011),OLYMPISS GAMES, AROSITA Gallery, Sofia( 2012),КRASSIM®ИР, SOFIA ARSENAL-MUSEUM FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, Sofia (2016). In 1997 his exhibition Another Angle was awarded Exhibition of the Year from the Ata-Ray Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria. RASSIM is one of the founders of the XXL Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria.

KIRIL PRASHKOV is born June 30, 1956 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He graduated the National Academy of Arts, Sofia. He is Founding Member of the Institute of Contemporary Art – Sofia. His last individual shows are This Is Not a Text, VIVAcom Art Hall, 2015, Sofia; wdyk (what do you know), 2014, International Hotel, Golden Sands, Varna; Poetry All Around, 2011, Sofia Art Gallery, Sofia; Mind Your Step, 2007, EiBank Gallery, Sofia ; Responsible Painting, 2006, French Institute, Sofia; Quotations, 2005, Moscow’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow. He has taken part in the group shows Art for Change, 2015, Sofia Art Gallery; Change for Sale, 2014, ICA Gallery,Sofia; Disconsent, 2014, The Old Turkish Bath, Plovdiv; Present Unlimited (Sofia Contemporary Festival), 2012,Sofia; Roaming Images, 2011, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki; After the Flight, 2011, ICA Gallery, Sofia; Photo I, Photo You, 2010, Calvert22 Gallery, London; Beyond Credit. Contemporary Art and Mutual Trust, Antrepo №5, Istanbul, and others.

KALIN SERAPIONOV born 1967 in Vratsa, living and working in Sofia. He graduated from the National Art Academy, Sofia. His works have been exhibited in: Hilger Contemparary, Vienna (2004); ATA Center/ICA-Sofia (2005); LCB Depot, Lester, the UK (2008); Neon Campobase, Bologna, Italy (2010); ICA Gallery, Sofia (2013); Contemporary Space, Varna, Bulgaria (2014). He participated in among others: Bulgariaavant-garde, Kunstlerwerkstatt Lothringerstrasse, Munich (1998); After the Wall: Art and culture in post-communist Europe, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (1999); Manifesta 4, Frankfurt am Main (2002); Blood & Honey. Future’s in the Balkans, Essl Collection, Vienna (2003); In the Gorges of the Balkans, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (2003); Neither a White Cube nor a Black Box. History in Present Time, Sofia City Gallery, Sofia (2006); Heterotopias, Biennial of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (2007); Zero Gravity, Center for Contemporary Art, Plovdiv (2008); Sounds & Visions. Artists’ Films and Videos from Europe, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2009); Techniques, ICA-Sofia Gallery, Sofia (2009); Indefinite Destinations, DEPO, Istanbul (2010); Roaming Images, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (2011); Site Inspection, Ludwig Museum, Budapest (2011); Sofia Contemporary Festival, Sofia (2012); Grammar of Freedom / Five Lessons: Works from the Arteast 2000+ Collection, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, in collaboration with Moderna Galerija in Ljubljana (2015); Art for Change, Sofia Art Gallery, Sofia (2015); Focus Bulgaria at viennacontemporary. Exhibition Variofocus (2015).
DIMITAR SHOPOV has a M.A. from the National Academy of Art in Sofia (2007). He works at Theater Sofia and Sfumato as scenographer. He has had three solo shows and participations in numerous group shows in Bulgaria and abroad. In the last 10 year he has been researching the life and work of the artist Gavazov and looking for artefacts connected with him. In 2012 he pubslished a book-catalogue dedicated to the artist. The book was awarded with the South Spring Prize for literature.

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; Prospect 1, New Orleans Biennial, Singapore Biennial 2011 and dOCUMENTA (13). 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, Galleria Borghese, Rome and Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg. 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 Institut Mathildenhoehe, Darmstadt. In 2011-2012 his retrospective “All in Order, with Exceptions” was presented at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Fondazione Galleria Civica Trento (“All in (My) Order, with Exceptions”); S.M.A.K., Ghent and Fundação de Serralves, Porto. His works belong to more than fifty international museums and public collections, among them MoMA New York, Tate Modern, London and Center Pompidou, Paris.

KAMEN STOYANOV born in 1977 in Rousse, Bulgaria. He studied from 1996 to 2003 at the National Academy for Fine Arts in Sofia and from 2000 to 2005 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Over the past few years, his actions, videos, installations, photographic works and performances have been shown, among others, at the following exhibitions: Will I be happy? (Inda Gallery, Budapest, 2016, solo); Urbanauts (Projektraum Viktor Bucher, Vienna, 2015); Past future-future past (Transmediale 2014, Berlin); Unexpected Encountrers (Camera Austria, Graz, 2013); 17th Biennale of Sydney (Sydney,2010); Aichi Triennial (Nagoya, Japan, 2010); At Arm's` Length, (MUMOK, Vienna , 2008, solo); MANIFESTA 7 (Trentino, Italy, 2008). He was awarded, among others, with the following prizes: The Sovereign European Art Prize (2011), Otto Mauer Prize (2011), Alexander Resnikov Award (2010), Kunstpreis Europas Zukunft, (Galerie für Zeitgenoessische Kunst Leipzig, 2008) MUMOK Prize for the Zone1 at the VIENNAFAIR (2007) and with the MAK Schindler Artists and Architects-in-Residence Program in Los Angeles (2012)¬

VALIO TCHENKOV was born 1966 in Svishtov, Bulgaria. He lives and works in Munich, Germany and Oresh, Bulgaria. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia and the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste, Munich. Tchenkov has participated in various exhibitions such as “Poesie Summer Watou”, Belgium, curated by Jan Hoet; ”Fuori Uso”, Pescara, Italy, curated by Agnes Kohlmeyer; “Sweet Case Eluminated”, MAC/VAL Museum Paris, curated by Katia Angelova (a.o.); and ”Conviction”, Dafen Art Museum, China, curated by Wenie Wong (a.o.). In Bulgaria, he has been nominated for the M-tel Unlimited Contemporary Bulgarian Art Award (2011) and participated in the exhibition “Why Duchamp? From Object to Museum and Back (125 years)”, curated by Maria Vassileva (SAMCA, 2012). His first solo exhibition in Bulgaria, “...in a trice and for a while...”, was shown at Sariev Contemporary in 2012. Besides painting, he attends the Roma Pickpocketing Academy to learn how to survive under difficult circumstances.

KRASSIMIR TERZIEV was born in Dobritch (1969). He completed his doctoral thesis in Cultural Anthropology at Sofia University in 2012, and graduated painting at the National Art Academy in Sofia in 1997. His solo shows include: Between the Past that is About to Happen and the Future that has Already Been, the National Gallery, Sofia / Dobritch Art Gallery (2015); Cosmopolis, ICA-Sofia, Sofia (2013); Background Action, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Sofia City Art Gallery (2008/2007). Selection of his international exhibitions: Grammar of Freedom / Five Lessons. Works from the Arteast 2000+ Collection, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow; Art for Change 1985-2015, Sofia Art Gallery, Sofia; Disconsent, Center for Contemporary Art “The Ancient Bath”, Plovdiv (2014); Rencontres Internationales, Cineteca of Madrid; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Extras & Actors, Argos vzw Centre for Art and Media, Brussels (2009); The Projection Project, MuHKA, Antwerp; Mucsarnok/Kunsthalle Budapest (2006); Cinema like never before, Generali Foundation, Vienna, Akademie der Kunste, Berlin (2006-07); New Video, New Europe, TATE Modern, London, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Renaissance Society, Chicago, The Kitchen, NY (2003-05). In 2012 Krassimir was awarded Special Prize for Contemporary Art Unlimited (with Daniela Kostova) and in 2007 the Gaudenz B. Ruf award for new Bulgarian art.

KOSTA TONEV (*1980 Plovdiv, Bulgaria) received a BA from the National Academy of Art in Sofia and an MA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. His recent solo exhibitions include “The Heavenly Bodies, Once Thrown Into a Certain Definite Motion, Always Repeat” at GEMAK in The Hague and “K.” at Pistolet Gallery in Sofia. Amongst others, he has participated in “I and the Others” at Museum der Moderne Salzburg in Salzburg, the “5th Biennial of Young Artists” in Bucharest, “Contemporary Icons” at the Webster University in St. Louis, USA, “Why Duchamp?” at the Museum for Contemporary Art in Sofia, “ArteCittà“ at Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella, Italy, “All I Can Do Is Art” at the Czech Center in Prague. Tonev also curated the exhibition “It’s About Time” at the e-flux Time/Bank in The Hague.

IV TOSHAIN was born in 1980 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has lived and worked in Vienna, Austria since 2001. After studying at Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, Italy, and the National Art Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria, and also after graduating with an MA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria (in the master class of Franz Graf), she has taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions in the USA, Denmark, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, and Germany, (among others). She has exhibited in various locations throughout Europe which include: the Museum for Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, Austria; Belvedere Musum, Vienna, Austria; Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art in Gdansk, Poland; Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria; Künstlerhaus Vienna, Austria; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria; Museo della Permanente in Milan, Italy; Art Expo / MNAC in Bucharest, Romania; and the Museum Sammlung Friedrichshof in Austria. Since 2011 she has been the co/founder, the curator and executive organizer of the PARKFAIR – Avantgarde Art Fair which is for established and emerging contemporary artists – which took place during the Vienna Fair. Since 2012 she has been the co/founder of the Art-Label FXXXi̶s̶m̶ Toshain / Ceeh (Vienna-Sofia-St.Petersburg). The art collective takes a critical stance toward ideologies and is a base for institutional critique activities. In 2012 she was awarded the MIA AWARD 2012 for outstanding achievements of women with international backgrounds who live and work in Austria within the category Art and Culture.

IGNACIO URIARTE was born in 1972 in Krefeld, Germany. From 1992 to 1997, he studied business administration in Madrid and Manheim. Between 1997 and 2002 he worked for corporations such as Siemens, Canon, Interlub and Agilent Technologies in Germany, Spain and Mexico. Parallel to his administrative work, he also studied audiovisual arts in the Centro de Artes Audiovisuales in Guadalajara, Mexico. Since 2003, he has devoted himself to what he calls „office art”. He lives and works in Berlin, since 2007. In 2011, his exhibition The History of the Typewriter recited by Michael Winslow (Nogueras Blanchard Gallery, Barcelona, 2010) won the GAC Award for best exhibition. He is also the recipient of the Crazy Curators Award from the Bratislava Biennial and the “Born 2”, International Art Award of the Galería Casaborne of Antequera, Spain. Ignacio Uriarte’s work has been shown at the Vierter Stock, the Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin, the Feinkost Gallery and the Kunstverein Arnsberg in Germany; the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and the General Store for Contemporary Art in Australia; the Proje4L / Museum of Contemporary Art in Istanbul; the Hangar and Nogueras Blanchard Galleries in Barcelona; as well as in France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, the United States, Japan and Singapore.

VITTO VALENTINOV (born in 1977 in Sofia, Bulgaria) works in the field of mixed media and interactive art installations. He studied mural painting at the National Academy of Arts, Sofia, (1997-1999) after which he graduated from the AKI Academy for Art & Design (1999-2004), and DAI-Dutch Art Institute (2004-2006) in Enschede, the Netherlands. In 2006, he returned to Bulgaria and specialized in Film Directing at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (2007-2009). In 2006 he made his film debut with the short film „Falling on the Fovea”, a joint project accomplished with Kristina Yanachkova, which participated in „The Projection Project” exhibition at the MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp. Valentinov has numerous participations in exhibitions and festivals in Bulgaria and abroad (among them: Biennale de Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam; Sofia Design Week Festival, Contempo International Art Festival, TEDxBG, Space SSEE Gallery, Daejeon, South Korea, CEC Artslink Residency in Cincinnati, USA, ICA - Institute of Contemporary Art, Sofia, SAMCA - Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Art, Bulgaria, Vienna Contemporary - Focus Bulgaria).

VOIN DE VOIN (b. 1978) lives and works in Sofia and Brussels. He has studied at the Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam; the Ecole International de Cinema et Realisation (EICAR), Paris; the Amsterdam School of the Arts – de Theaterschool; and Goldsmiths College, London. He holds an M.A. from the DasArts Institute for Advanced Study and the Performance Arts, Amsterdam, and is the co-founder (with Snezhanka Mihaylova) of the Institute for Performance Art and Theory. Selected group exhibitions: Thought for Food, WILD GALLERY, Brussels (2014); Doubt, Connection, Sufferance, Aisthesis, Eros, ArtInternational, Istanbul (2014); Contemporary Modifications, Espace Wallonie, Brussels (2014); Moon Voyage 36 (as curator), The Fridge, Sofia (2014); Bulgarische Arbeit, geh8 Kunstraum & Ateliers e.V., Dresden (2014); Аnn and the Giant Appel, lecture performance, De Appel Institute for Contemporary Art, Amsterdam (2014); Para Dice, Kunstverein Ausgburg (2012); Radical Languages (curators: Maaike Gouwenberg & Joanna Zielińska), Round Robin (performance, part of Critical Art Ensemble Program), dOCUMENTA (13), (2012); Ai Wei Wei is in China, Тhe Bunker, Berlin (2011). He has also taken part in performances at the Melbourne International Theatre Festival; Hetveem Theatre, Amsterdam; Tanja Leighton Gallery, Berlin; France Fiction Gallery, Paris; Kunstverein Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe; Museum Cartier, Vienna; Living Art Museum, Iceland; Atelier de Vertus, Paris / Berlin; Szene Art Lab, Brussels; Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair; and De Appel Art Centre, Amsterdam. Voin de Voin is the recipient of awards from the Mondrian Fondation for Visual Arts, Amsterdam (2008) and Das Arts Stichting for the Arts (2006-2008).

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