Nedko Solakov

Протест против протеста

March 7, 2013 Do you hope for a short affair with contemporary art? That is exactly what the new One Night Stand Gallery in Sofia offers. The gallery opens doors on March 7th, Thursday, from 7 pm to 10 pm sharp, in one of the basements at 25, Hristo Belchev Street. The first to be presented is the famous artist Nedko Solakov with a site-specific work in the space of the gallery – A Protest against the Protest –his largest narrative installation exhibited in the country so far. However, do not expect to see white walls, proper lighting, and polished floor. Not only are such things not to be wanted at One-Night Stand, which is situated in a basement having until recently functioned as a clothing outlet, it is that the artist himself has no preference for them. His personal protest can be seen by the visitors among abandoned cardboard boxes, cigarette ends, pieces of furniture, hangers and stands, all discarded around by the former inhabitants of the premises. This way Nedko Solakov’s skill to upturn spaces and create paradoxes will be associated with an already turned upside down, deplenished and abandoned place. The idea behind One Night Stand, which took for a name the popular English phrase for a brief sexual encounter, is to be a gallery of the openings. Its founders have put aside the well-known rules of work, regular working hours, and staff, and have shifted focus to the most public, sublime and solemn moment for each exhibition – the opening. In the gallery, just as on a date, works will be shown within a single night, and during the pre-announced hours only.