Nedko Solakov, Ears, 2016, aluminum, acrylic, marker pen. Installation view.
Nedko Solakov
Gesellschaft für projektive Ästhetik, Georg Kargl
The tailcoat is the traditional costume of the magician, who is the artist’s alter ego. The mannequin sculpture A Magician’s Nightmare, 2016, clad in the aforementioned garment, is, like everything by the Bulgarian turbo-conceptualist Nedko Solakov, rife with mystery and rueful humor. Solakov’s art is highly personal but also political; spirited and witty, humorous and ironic, it unites critique with self-criticism—and sometimes glimpses of something darker. Some writing on the linen straps hanging from pockets hidden in the tailcoat reveals the wearer’s hidden hostility: I HATE PEOPLE, IN GENERAL. MOST OF THEM DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE AND I HAVE TO ENTERTAIN THEM, INSTEAD OF SHOOTING THEM DEAD.
Solakov is a raconteur, and he set up his exhibition “Stories” comprising completely new as well as reassembled pieces—as a cheerful narrative stroll through the gallery. In the
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