Nedko Solakov

Nedko Solakov born 1957, Cherven Bryag, Bulgaria. Lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Solakov’s work combines his traditional education with conceptual practices to create complex, multi-faceted and sharp-witted works. He is a great storyteller, showing an unmistakably poetic desire for short narratives, aphorisms, comparative descriptions, plays on words and semantic double entendres that are the characteristic elements of his idiom. In a wide variety of drawings, paintings, performances and installations, Solakov employs an ironic, metaphoric and poly-semantic style to analyse the role and contradictions inherent not only to the contemporary art system, but also collective "truths" and societal norms connected with human existence.

Nedko Solakov had numerous solo exhibitions. Among others, he exhibited in Tate Modern (London), BOZAR (Brussels), Institute of Contemporary Art (Sofia), Salzburger Kunstverein (Salzburg), Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst / S.M.A.K. (Ghent) and the Israel Museum (Jerusalem). He was part of various group exhibitions, including in the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), Musée national d’Art Moderne — Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Tate Modern (London), Kunsthaus Zurich (Zurich), Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst / S.M.A.K. (Ghent), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow). His works are featured in prestigious collections such as the Musée national d’Art Moderne — Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), MoMA (New York City), Israel Museum (Jerusalem), Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art (Turin), Deutsche Bank Collection (Frankfurt am Main), Fonds national d’art contemporain (Paris), Museum Haus Konstruktiv (Zurich), along many others.