The work was inspired by a photo by unknown author. The photo shows Osney Lane, Oxford, UK and in the background the old Morrell's Brewery with its famous chimney. In the foreground a man sits on a chair and contemplates the "other world" that is not necessarily the afterlife but rather all that is beyond our knowledge, our consciousness. In this moment of Contemplation one gets insight about things we usually do not even notice - the deep cosmos and the place of human in it etc. 

Contemplation

Space of Transition (White Dog) (after a photo by © Imagen Subliminal) is about the space/state of transition. The white dog is purified and on its way to some new  space/level of existence

Space of Transition (White Dog)

Inner Space (BlackDog) - after a visualization by © Co Adaptive Architecture refers figuratively to the inner spaces in the human soul, where there are always various spaces:  unknown (the dark space behind the window), undiscovered higher spaces (to which the stairs lead), desired future spaces 9seen through the window in the more sacral  and transformative space etc. ... and there are always some red borders as well. Last not least, we could always sense an unconscious animal component - instincts, here depicted as a sleeping black dog.

Inner Space (BlackDog)

Demolition was inspired by photo  by © James McCauley, an American soldier who served in Iraq. What moves me is the contrast between a seemingly quiet street and the sudden detonation in the background sending clouds of dust in the sky. I see it as a metaphor of any sudden, unforeseen change in life and in human psyche.

Demolition

'Passage' was inspired by a photo of an unknown author. I was impressed by the contrast between the large space in the foreground, then the huge wall and finally the tunnel that passes through it leading to some other side and thus, to some other world. Somewhere on the way to this other space/state the eternal couple stands. We have to find and unite with the 'other' - outside and inside us - in order to get out of our closed space and reach the new one. 

Passage

The work is inspired by a photo by Christian Richters. What impressed me most is the counterpoint between the huge space and the small passing human figure. The hall is rigid and pretending to be eternal with its architectonic] the human figure is ephemeral, passing, tiny, almost disappearing. There are some windows-doors to the outside world that stands to me as the other world, the unknown contrasted to the simple, visible, clear inner structure.
Eternal-transient, known-unknown are the axes along which the painting evolves. 

Museum

The main compositions in the series are created with 3D modeling and simulations of physical forces and phenomena from reality.
 
The title of the series was inspired by a joke among the inhabitants of a secluded place in Upstate New York, which says: "If you want culture, you have to buy yogurt". This saying, mentioned by Louise Pirotta, a US artist, became the occasion for a small challenge between colleagues living in different countries.
Subsequently, I further developed the subject with new images, experimenting with various computer applications.
 
However, aside from the funny beginning, the exhibition refers to those associations, the symbol of which is milk as a primary nutrient and in particular the milk modified by microorganisms. These are the processes of fermentation and transformation, maturation, storage, nutrition, satisfaction of thirst / hunger, feeding with new energy - archetypal states that are essential part of the dynamics of life. In the works of the series, the yogurt is placed in the abstract spaces of sky or nothingness and is thus freed from any concreteness, which renders it the cosmic dimensions characteristic of myths.

More about  the series at its dedicated site:  https://yogurtculture.weebly.com/


* Louise Pirotta's original joke: "I live in an extremely rural secluded area of Upstate NY, pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. They say here if you want culture you have to buy yogurt."

Yogurt Culture 

These are works from the homonymous solo exhibition
30.11 - 14.12.2018
Arosita Gallery, Sofia


I would like this exhibition to offer fewer words and more observation; to let objects speak in silence, and people to feel and think for themselves.

What is an object? Various interpretations of this concept are possible. Here it has the simple meaning of something we can observe. Something we perceive as external to the observer (subject) and which can be seen by him and others. In our (Western) culture "objectively" has acquired the meaning of "commonality" and hence of "real"... because it is assumed that it is not influenced by personal (subjective) feelings or attitudes. However, this is only apparent. In the process of experiencing the object, we put into it our soul, our pre-existing contents. Even when we see something new in an object, we actually find something unknown in ourselves. An endless process in which the subject objectifies himself. Projecting their inner world on objects, the subject experiences themselves in the world.

There are objects in the exhibition that carry a specific idea. Others can be perceived more intuitively. There are also those who are subject to pure contemplation.

Let everyone discover in them what they carry within themselves and if they can... even something else.
 

Slav Nedev
Sofia, 2018.11.23

Objects 

The Post-urban Visions series transcends the existence of today's highly urbanized industrial society and envisages a future (post-urban) state, in which the humans for some reason (probably caused by themselves) are extinct and only remains of their activity (mostly architecture) and shadow-like silhouettes remind of the busy city life.
However in this desolate landscape, the nature slowly regains space (Post-urban Vision No.1) and the life represented by the green leaves (contrasted to steel, concrete and glass) begins anew.
. . .

Post-urban Vision No. 1 was inspired really by a vision I have for some days. It was not some obsession but the image of green vegetation that breaks through some straight geometrical, rectangular, glazed structure appeared repeatedly in my mind long enough for me to decide to paint it. Then this first work opened the way for the rest of the series.

Add

Slav Nedev

Contemplation

Space of Transition (White Dog)

Inner Space (BlackDog)

Demolition

Passage

Museum

Yogurt Culture

Objects

Post-urban Visions (2007 - ongoing)

Opportunities

For Artists

ArtConnect

Support