Artificial Light
Annual Exhibition :: 18.12 :: 2019 - 18.01 :: 2020
Artificial Light
Artists: Neno Belchev, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Mariana Vassileva, Stela Vasileva, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Miná Minov, Ivan Moudov, Kiril Pashkov, Kalin Serapionov
Curator: Daniela Radeva
Contemporary Space Gallery, 23 Marko Balabanov Str., Varna
December 18, 2019 – January 18, 2020
Contemporary Space Gallery marks its seventh anniversary with an exhibition dedicated to light. The works that have been created within 1993 and 2019 either comment on the idea of light, or use light as an artistic medium, or refer to the meaning of its concept in art, without any direct relation. The subject has always been relevant in art. The refraction of light conjures the illusion of color; it is key in forming 3D-shapes in image. Light is a visualization of the idea of the divine in Christian art. Without light, photography is impossible; it is indispensable as a means of creating moods. Light can be a metaphor for mind flashes, for enlightenment, for good. And we all sometimes say “I’ve lightened up.”
The “artificial light” here does not directly refer to electricity and not all the works in the exhibition emit light. It is about light as an element that is fundamental to visual art – because of the coincidence of the root in the words “art” and “artificial”. Whether natural or electric, light is always immaterial, it is difficult to capture and retain it in a still image or in unequivocal content. Nowadays, this “artistic medium” has much more potential to influence mood directly – for example, in the so-called “enveloping” installations of Olafur Eliasson, James Turrell and Stela Vasileva as well. In other cases, the combination of text and neon light may set the idea in art against the aggressive advertising slogan, as in the works of, for example, Tracey Emin and, certainly, Kalin Serapionov as well. Through light one can even make a link between medieval and conceptual art of the 20th century, as this happens in some works by Pravdoliub Ivanov and Luchezar Boyadjiev, but also in works by Marcel Duchamp, Dan Flavin or even Urs Fischer.
The exhibition is an initiative of the Contemporary Space Gallery and is organized with the support of the Sofia City Art Gallery. Some of the works are owned by the Contemporary Art and Photography Fund of the Sofia City Art Gallery.