Nedko Solakov in front of “A Wallpaper (on the 23rd floor)”, 2010 – 2011, in the Deutsche Bank Towers. Frankfurt January 2011. Photo © Alex Kraus
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Nedko Solakov, A Very Sad Self-Portrait, 1984. Courtesy the artist
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Nedko Solakov, Toilettes, 2006. handwritten texts on various surfaces in the toilets of Les Abattoirs Museum, Toulouse, 2006. Courtesy the artist
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Nedko Solakov, Toilettes, 2006. handwritten texts on various surfaces in the toilets of Les Abattoirs Museum, Toulouse, 2006. Courtesy the artist
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Nedko Solakov, A Wallpaper (on the 23rd floor) (detail), 2010 – 2011, Deutsche Bank Collection. © Nedko Solakov. Photo © Alex Kraus
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Nedko Solakov, from the series “Murmurings”, 2007. Deutsche Bank Collection. © Nedko Solakov
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Nedko Solakov, from the series “Murmurings”, 2007. Deutsche Bank Collection. © Nedko Solakov
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Nedko Solakov, from the series “Murmurings”, 2007. Deutsche Bank Collection. © Nedko Solakov
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Nedko Solakov, Top Secret, 1990. Collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands. Courtesy the artist
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Nedko Solakov is one of the most important protagonists of contemporary European art. An alert observer of contemporary life, Solakov’s drawings, paintings, and installations call not only the art system into question, but also collective "truths" and the contradictions of human existence. An entire floor in the Deutsche Bank Towers in Frankfurt is dedicated to his drawings; he has also created a commissioned piece here. Now, with the show All in Order, with Exceptions, the Ikon Gallery is presenting the first major show of the 1957-born Bulgarian in Great Britain. Deutsche Bank, long committed to the exhibition space in Birmingham’s city center as Corporate Patron, is the project’s main sponsor.
All in Order, with Exceptions is a chronological presentation that begins with Solakov’s first figurative paintings, whose cartoon-like aesthetic carries into his later paper works, and progresses to his most recent installations. The show includes Top Secret (1989/90), Solakov’s best known work about the young artist’s early collaboration with the Bulgarian secret police, which he ended in 1983. When the work was exhibited for the first time in the spring of 1990, at the pinnacle of political change following many long years of communist rule, it unleashed a wave of controversy.
Solakov will also be present in the Deutsche Bank Lounge at the London Frieze Art Fair. On view is a selection of his works from the corporate collection as well as The Yellow Blob Story, a wall piece currently on show at the Ikon Gallery that he will recreate for the Lounge. The cooperation between Deutsche Bank and the Ikon Gallery will continue into 2012: starting in mid-May, the gallery shows Yto Barrada: Riffs, the exhibition of the Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year 2011.
A.D.
Nedko Solakov
All in Order, with Exceptions
September 21 – November 13, 2011
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
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