Kontakt Sofia (2011)
/5
Kontakt Sofia…works from the Kontakt Art Collection
22 October–27 November 2011
Sofia City Art Gallery
Curators: Walter Seidl, Maria Vassileva
This exhibition at the Sofia City Gallery presented a large part of the Kontakt Collection, which aims to draw parallels between the various conceptual art practices that have evolved since the 1960s. The entry of art into public space during the 1960s, as well as several of the former Eastern European countries’ entry into the European Union in the new millennium, has led both to a widening of the scope of artistic practices and to the adaptation of artistic strategies pertaining to matters both of public space and of greater global visibility. Many of the artworks in this exhibition make visible the peculiarities of public space artistic strategies and thereby reflect the social climates in their respective countries of origin during the periods in question. The lack of representational institutions for contemporary art in many of the former Eastern European countries is likewise addressed, be it via open criticism or by copying and reflecting on masterpieces of 20th-century art which presentation had been hindered to an equal degree. In also showing works of the latter category, this exhibition aimed to address issues of modernism and of how contemporary art incorporates the principle elements of this movement by creating anti-art features that negate traditional forms of artistic practice while simultaneously calling for a re-canonization of the most recent art-historical developments. The situation in terms of Bulgaria’s art scene has been slightly different than those of many of the neighboring countries. Due to the absence of conceptual practices during the 1960s, the country’s contemporary art scene for the most part only began its development during the mid-1980s—but since then, it has made substantial contributions to the international context. The artists included here, such as Luchezar Boyadjiev, Ivan Moudov and Boryana Rossa, relate to the realm of public and mediatized space, where performative gestures evoke the questioning of political and ethical conditions. At the same time, personal histories attached to places play an important role in the re-contextualization of specific geographic terrains that have increasingly appeared on a more globalized map in recent years.
1, Gen. Gurko St.
Sofia 1000
Bulgaria
22 October–27 November 2011
Sofia City Art Gallery
Curators: Walter Seidl, Maria Vassileva
This exhibition at the Sofia City Gallery presented a large part of the Kontakt Collection, which aims to draw parallels between the various conceptual art practices that have evolved since the 1960s. The entry of art into public space during the 1960s, as well as several of the former Eastern European countries’ entry into the European Union in the new millennium, has led both to a widening of the scope of artistic practices and to the adaptation of artistic strategies pertaining to matters both of public space and of greater global visibility. Many of the artworks in this exhibition make visible the peculiarities of public space artistic strategies and thereby reflect the social climates in their respective countries of origin during the periods in question. The lack of representational institutions for contemporary art in many of the former Eastern European countries is likewise addressed, be it via open criticism or by copying and reflecting on masterpieces of 20th-century art which presentation had been hindered to an equal degree. In also showing works of the latter category, this exhibition aimed to address issues of modernism and of how contemporary art incorporates the principle elements of this movement by creating anti-art features that negate traditional forms of artistic practice while simultaneously calling for a re-canonization of the most recent art-historical developments. The situation in terms of Bulgaria’s art scene has been slightly different than those of many of the neighboring countries. Due to the absence of conceptual practices during the 1960s, the country’s contemporary art scene for the most part only began its development during the mid-1980s—but since then, it has made substantial contributions to the international context. The artists included here, such as Luchezar Boyadjiev, Ivan Moudov and Boryana Rossa, relate to the realm of public and mediatized space, where performative gestures evoke the questioning of political and ethical conditions. At the same time, personal histories attached to places play an important role in the re-contextualization of specific geographic terrains that have increasingly appeared on a more globalized map in recent years.
1, Gen. Gurko St.
Sofia 1000
Bulgaria