Private Idano 

Private Idano 

Opening: 15 September 2017 in the presence of the artist, during the NIGHT/Plovdiv 2017 

Artist talk: 11 September 2017, 6:30 p.m., Goethe - Institut Bulgaria, Sofia

Love Dive (Diet Pelican Froth) by Mike Bouchet - 15,16,17 September 2017, Stefan Stambolov Sq, Pelicans’ Fountain, Plovdiv


SARIEV Contemporary, Plovdiv is delighted to present “Private Idano”, Mike Bouchet’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. Various works by the artist were presented for the first time in Bulgaria at AMERICANAESOTERICA, a group show curated in 2015 by Aaron Moulton for the gallery.

The exhibition Private Idano presents a focused selection of recent works from 2015-2017. These works relate to Bouchet’s interest in the power of mass image production, the application of behavioral suggestion, social controls, celebrity culture, the provocation of private desire and the history of baroque painting.

The paintings and drawings in the exhibition are part of an ongoing series referred to by the artist as “Tapestry Cartoons”. This series was started in 2004. The artist collages posters from commercial film advertisements, and then produces paintings and drawings from these collages. The transfer of the promotional information onto more traditional materials synthesizes the seemingly oppositional pictures into an uncanny new artwork that both reinforces and undermines the power of the source image.

The title of the exhibition, “Private Idano”, (pronounced “I Dunno”), is a twist of the phrase “Private Idaho”. This is an English language joke about someone who is off in their own mental state. It can be a temporary trance state; or a general longstanding mood; or even about an individual who is practically insane. It means being in some other mind “state” that is far away. The artist feels strongly that the contemporary landscape, with all its conflicting fictions and realities, engenders this type of mindset across much of the modern life. Private Idano refers to the idea that privately, in our deepest thoughts, that we are not quite sure about our day to day decisions, and that our individual sense of reality is possibly ungrounded; a feeling that is a “private I-don’t-know”.

“For the NIGHT/Plovdiv 15,16,17 September 2017 the artist will realize the sculpture Love Dive (Diet Pelican Froth). The Pelicans’ Fountain on Stefan Stambolov Sq. in Plovdiv will be filled up with the artist’s self-produced Diet Cola.


Mike Bouchet was born 1970 in Castro Valley, CA. Studied at UCLA from 1991-1994. Lives and works in Frankfurt/Main since 2004. 
Artists’s biennale participations include Manifesta 11, 2016, Zurich, Switzerland, 30th São Paulo Biennial, 2012, Brasil, 53rd Biennale di Venezia, 2009, Venice, Italy, 2nd Moscow Biennial, 2007, Russia, 4th Berlin Biennial, 2006, Berlin, Germany, 1st Ghent Quadrennial, 2001, S.M.A.K., Gent, Belgium 
Recent solo shows include Tender, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, USA (2017); Carpe Denim (Rear View Mirror), Marlborough Chelsea, New York, USA (2017); Push, Galerie Parisa Kind, Frankfurt, Germany (2016); Bounty, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany (2016); MR2, Alaia, Paris, France (2016); Y ASK Y, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, Sweden (2015); Power Lunch, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany (2014); Mike Bouchet, Marlborough Gallery Monaco, Monte Carlo (2014); Spanish Donkey A-Hole Sport Drink Bilbao Sunscreen Model Drawings, with Paul McCarthy, Portikus Museum, Frankfurt, Germany (2014). 
His recent group shows include: On Elizabeth, Olsen Gruin, New York, USA (2017); Borderlines of the sculptural 1: Paper, Städtische Museen Heilbronn, Heilbronn, Germany (2017); Modern Sculpture, Galeria Casado Santapau, Madrid, Spain (2017); History of Nothing, White Cube, London, UK (2016); Prototypology, Gagosian Gallery, Rome, Italy (2016); Impromptu, The Box, Los Angeles, USA (2016); Paulin, Paulin, Paulin, Gallery Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France (2015); Americanaesoterica, SARIEV Contemporary, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2015); Brunch Over Troubled Water, Plutschow Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland (2015); Six Advertisements, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, USA (2015); EAGLES II, Malrborough Madrid, Madrid, Spain (2015); Sigmund Freud and the Play on the Burden of Representation, 21er Haus, Vienna, Austria (2014); The Go Between, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy (2014); Group Spirit, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany (2014). 
Works by Mike Bouchet are part of public and private collections such as CAPC Musée d‘Art Contemporain, Bordeaux, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, FNAC, Fonds National D’Art Contemporain, Paris, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Belvedere Museum, Wien, DekaBank Frankfurt, DZ Bank Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt, Permanent Floor at Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt, Margulies Collection, Miami, Pinault collection, The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection, Beijing, Bernard Arnault Collection, Paris.


Kindly supported by Goethe-Institut Bulgaria
 

List of works can be downloaded here

 

What video the sculpture Love Dive (Diet Pelican Froth) here:


The show in the media:

The challenge of being a contemporary artist – Interview with Mike Bouchet
Bulgarian National Television, Morning block ‘’The Day Starts with Culture’’ – BNT 1 – 12.09.2017
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To fill up a founfain with soda – Interview with Mike Bouchet
bTV , Morning block "Before noon" – 14.09.2017
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Тhousands of people visited NIGHT/Plovdiv – Report from Plovdiv
Bulgarian National Television, Central News – BNT 1 – 15.09.2017 
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A soft drink flowed from the fountain in front of Plovdiv Municipality – Video report
Bulgarian National Television, News – BNT 2 – 15.09.2017
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A diet soft drink streamed from a fountain in Plovdiv – Interview with Mike Bouchet
Bulgaria on Air, News – 15.09.2017
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Love Dive (diet pelican froth) - article
SARIEV Contemporary, News - 24.10.2017
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Jubilee program – Interview with Vesselina Sarieva
AMICA, print issue, three pages – September 2017

What does the dollar smell like? – Interview with Mike Bouchet
EVA, web and print issue, two pages – September 2017
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What likes… Mike Bouchet – Interview 
Nash Dom (Our Home), print issue, whole page – September 2017

Night of the museums and galleries starts in Plovdiv – Article 
Mediapool.bg, web issue – 15.09.2017
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From the fountain with coke to the sculptures hidden around the city: the wonders of the NIGHT/Plovdiv, starting today – Article 
Dnevnik, web and print issue – 15.09.2017
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Мike Bouchet presents his first solo show in Bulgaria at NIGHT/Plovdiv 2017 – Article
View Sofia, web issue – 07.09.2017 
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Mike Bouchet
Programata, web and print issue – 11.09.2017
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The world-famous artist Mike Bouchet with first solo show in Bulgaria – Article 
Ladyzone, web issue – 11.09.2017 
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Тhree is a happy number – Article
VIJ Sofia, web and print issue – 10.09.2017
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Mike Bouchet: The artist in the role of the jester who mocks everything – Interview with MIke Bouchet
Webcafe, web issue – 14.09.2017
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Mike Bouchet filled the fountain in Plovdiv with diet coke – Article
ELLE, web and print issue – 15.09.2017
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Мike Bouchet fills a fountain with coke in Plovdiv – Article
EVA, web and print issue – 15.09.2017
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Contemporary art, counter-culture and diet coke by Mike Bouchet – Interview
Boyscout, web issue – 12.09.2017
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Mike Bouchet presents his first solo exhibition in Bulgaria – Article
Momichetata ot Grada (The Girls from the City), web issue – 30.08.2017
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Mike Bouchet presents his first solo show in Bulgaria at NIGHT/Plovdiv 2017 – Article
Kulturni novini, web issue – 10.09.2017
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