Ears, 2016

Basel 2018
Ears

Georg Kargl Fine Arts

Other Materials
aluminum casts, white and black acrylic paint, 82 x 53 x 30 cm each; handwritten text (or vinyl, based on the original handwriting)
131.0 x 179.5 x 30.0 （厘米）
51.6 x 70.7 x 11.8 （吋）
Text handwritten on the wall: An upside-down State Security Ear with righteous informers and a normally-positioned State Security Ear with sinful informers are maintaining homeland security in a state that is not really home for either of them, but is very secure as an apparatus, and well balanced, too. Bulgarian artist Nedko Solakov (born 1957) is a storyteller par excellence. He tells stories with humor and irony and in his narratives, he deals with universal subjects as well as autobiographical elements. As an alert observer of contemporary life, Solakov’s drawings, paintings, and installations call not only the art system into question, but also often global socioeconomical and political conditions as well as collective "truths" and the contradictions of human existence. Rather than adhering to classical compositional rules, his works are framed according to story lines. These non-linear narratives are often dispersed, multi-directional, or interwoven in networks. As they unfold, they form a territory that is both visual and discursive, both physical and fictional.