‘Contemporary Icons: Recent Art from Bulgaria’ Opens in Vienna July 13
"Cosmonaut" by Daniella Kostova, 2012
“Contemporary Icons: Recent Art from Bulgaria,” an exhibit curated by art professor Jeffrey Hughes and organized in Vienna by adjunct professor Michael Schneider was the first exhibition of contemporary Bulgarian art in the Midwest and is now the first Hunt Gallery exhibition to travel internationally.
First exhibited in the Hunt Gallery on the Webster Groves campus in March, “Contemporary Icons” demonstrates the range of important and vibrant works being created by artists in (or from) Bulgaria. Each of the artists included has been represented in major international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, the Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art and Manifesta, etc.
The exhibition is comprised of works in various media including installation, video, photography and painting. While not specifically political in nature, many of the works in the exhibition are directly linked to the theme of a post-Communist Bulgaria and how images can symbolically critique or even subvert structures of power.
The exhibition will be at the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in the significant Modernist edifice, the Wittgenstein Haus, which was declared a national Austrian monument. Paul Englemann and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889- 1951) designed and built the structure from 1926 to 1928 for Margarethe Stonborough-Wittgenstein, the philosopher’s sister.
Featured artists include:
Daniela Kostova
Vladimir Mitrev
Ivan Moudov
Houben Tcherkelov
Kosta Tonev
Desislava Kostadinova Unger
Borjana Ventzislava
The exhibition opens Friday, July 13, 6 – 9 p.m., with words of welcome from Arthur Hirsh, director, Webster University Vienna. It runs through Aug. 24. The Wittgenstein Haus, located at A-1030, Parkgasse 18, Vienna, Austria, is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – noon and 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Category: Webster Events
