Dvir / Paris
Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Thursday: 11:00 – 19:00
Friday – Saturday: 12:00 – 19:00
Nedko Solakov
Negotations, 2003
video installation
variable dimensions
Edition of 5
Further images
'Negotiations, 2003 Dvir Gallery Tel Aviv Text as part of the work Negotiations: In general I am not so brave. Even though sometimes I do things that may be considered...
"Negotiations, 2003
Dvir Gallery Tel Aviv
Text as part of the work Negotiations:
In general I am not so brave. Even though sometimes I do things that may be considered to go beyond common sense or secure behaviour, I have to confess that I am kind of a coward when I have to exist under dangerous circumstances. Therefore when I was invited by the Dvir Gallery in Tel Aviv to do a project in their space, I accepted with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was flattered that one of the best galleries in the region would like to work with me, but on the other, my mind was completely blocked by: “What if, when I am in Tel Aviv, I get involved (to put it mildly) in one of those accidents that occasionally makes the headlines?”
After a lot of torment and hesitation I decided to take the only reasonable step, no matter how naïve and unusual this step may sound. As I am from and live in Sofia, Bulgaria, I contacted Mrs Benvenisti-Gabay, a representative of the Israeli State there and Mr Dassouki, a representative of the Palestinian Authority in Bulgaria with the request that, if possible, during my brief visit to Israel in the Autumn of 2003, the Israelis and Palestinians could have a temporary cease-fire in order for me to do my exhibition.
Nedko Solakov "
For quite some time I have resisted making watercolours again. My last proper ones
were done some twenty years ago. Meanwhile, I more or less mastered my relatively well-known “sepia, black and white ink, and wash on 850-gram paper” drawings, which in general were produced in series containing 7, 9, 12 and even up to 99 and 123 works. I made thousands. And then, just like that, in late October 2016, I put some protective white sheets on my second table, which I always kept clean, placed a jar of water on it, dug out my old watercolour brushes and paints, and just started painting on the same heavy paper. It was a kind of revelation when I again discovered the obvious - that the colour adds a dimension which I could not achieve with the ink, even though sometimes the sepia, black and white, and wash give the sense of polychromy. And then, step by step, story by story, colour after colour - or rather, on top of each other - the “Stories in Colour” came to light. Some of the stories are still a bit sad and perhaps not so optimistic, and my sense of humour may have become more like a middle-aged man’s as well, which in my case means more childish. Which is okay, I guess.
Nedko Solakov
February 2017
Dvir Gallery Tel Aviv
Text as part of the work Negotiations:
In general I am not so brave. Even though sometimes I do things that may be considered to go beyond common sense or secure behaviour, I have to confess that I am kind of a coward when I have to exist under dangerous circumstances. Therefore when I was invited by the Dvir Gallery in Tel Aviv to do a project in their space, I accepted with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was flattered that one of the best galleries in the region would like to work with me, but on the other, my mind was completely blocked by: “What if, when I am in Tel Aviv, I get involved (to put it mildly) in one of those accidents that occasionally makes the headlines?”
After a lot of torment and hesitation I decided to take the only reasonable step, no matter how naïve and unusual this step may sound. As I am from and live in Sofia, Bulgaria, I contacted Mrs Benvenisti-Gabay, a representative of the Israeli State there and Mr Dassouki, a representative of the Palestinian Authority in Bulgaria with the request that, if possible, during my brief visit to Israel in the Autumn of 2003, the Israelis and Palestinians could have a temporary cease-fire in order for me to do my exhibition.
Nedko Solakov "
For quite some time I have resisted making watercolours again. My last proper ones
were done some twenty years ago. Meanwhile, I more or less mastered my relatively well-known “sepia, black and white ink, and wash on 850-gram paper” drawings, which in general were produced in series containing 7, 9, 12 and even up to 99 and 123 works. I made thousands. And then, just like that, in late October 2016, I put some protective white sheets on my second table, which I always kept clean, placed a jar of water on it, dug out my old watercolour brushes and paints, and just started painting on the same heavy paper. It was a kind of revelation when I again discovered the obvious - that the colour adds a dimension which I could not achieve with the ink, even though sometimes the sepia, black and white, and wash give the sense of polychromy. And then, step by step, story by story, colour after colour - or rather, on top of each other - the “Stories in Colour” came to light. Some of the stories are still a bit sad and perhaps not so optimistic, and my sense of humour may have become more like a middle-aged man’s as well, which in my case means more childish. Which is okay, I guess.
Nedko Solakov
February 2017