Rooms 41 & 54 | Martina Yordanova and Galya Krumova Presenting Ivan Moudov
In his project “Paintings for hotels and music for elevators” the artist puts his finger on a very common yet strangely neglected issue: public buildings interior. All too often, the places that are supposed to cultivate public taste propagate nothing but poor quality. Offering as an alternative entirely „white“ pictures, under whose layers of paint Wi-Fi passwords are seen through (a customary welcome giveaway in hotels), Ivan Moudov not only rekindles the debate on the value of displayed art, but also draws our attention to the dramatic discrepancy between the global hi-tech world and our resistance to recognize its presence in our everyday life. The title „Paintings for Hotels and Music for Elevators“ is a conceptual work in itself.
The exhibition does not involve any music. The author ironically uses the term “elevator music”, which has become synonymous with mediocrity and bad taste, to emphasize the public infatuation with low-quality entertainment. In this way he brings to our attention those aspects of society dealing with cheap brainwashing and manipulation.
Martina Yordanova is a curator and researcher who is currently working at the National Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has also been appointed as director of the 25th Biennial of Humor and Satire in Art in Gabrovo in 2022. Martina is the initiator and curator of “1m2 art” – a project based in Veliko Tarnovo, in which each month a different artist from the local art scene presents his works in a space no bigger than its name. Together with the cultural space TAM in Veliko Tarnovo she manages the visual arts program of the organization.
Galya Krumova is an architect, curator and gallery assistant based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Currently she has founded her own architectural studio NOVAE STUDIO together with her sister Petya Krumova, who is also an architect. Parallel to this Galya works as a gallery assistant at STRUCTURA gallery in Sofia. She describes her curatorial practice more as an experimental one, where she is emerging from different associations related to space, architecture and contemporary art practices.
Ivan Moudov (b. 1975, Sofia) graduated from the National Academy of Art in his hometown in 2002. That same year, he participated in Manifesta 4 in Frankfurt and has been an active part of the global art scene ever since. In 2005 he was involved with the 1stMoscow Biennial, and in 2007 became one of Bulgaria’s representatives at the Venice Biennale.
He is also a frequent collaborator of Galerie Alberta Pane, Paris/Venice and Prometeo Gallery in Milan.