Nicolai Angelov spent two weeks in Zalesie Górne as an artist in residence, preceding the opening of the exhibition. The creative process for the artist is as important as a finished object or installation, and space itself is the main medium in his artistic practice. He examines it, transforms its proportions and character, in order to change present situations and create new ones.
The outstanding art critic, Winfried Konnertz, wrote about Angelov's practice: Through permanent transformations of spatial proportions and the nature of space itself, the artist aims towards small "changes" of reality, which are visible in 'situational products'. New situations arise, that develop, change, destroy or invalidate each other on their own. The starting point is existing, found space as such, as well as light, wood, glass, and other materials. The work itself is a process - the whole thing is broken down into its individual parts and created again. The final result is not targeted and defined, which is a reason for the artist to accept each stage (of work) as a provisional one, and thus as a challenge to make further decisions.
My work, says Angelov, is an autocratic question and not a demonstration of the position. I want to recreate the processes I am in, show randomness and incompleteness. After his first visit to Zalesie Górne, in the summer of 2017, he said: I will work with what is present, but also with what is absent - because, according to the deconstructivist idea, what is absent, what is a lack, or silence, is just as important as what is present, visible or spoken. It is the same message for the viewer. The title of the exhibition - "Flex" - a word associated with the adjective flexible - reflects the essence of Angelov's activity in Lescer. He worked with what he found or what he lacked, adapting to the existing conditions. One of the created objects was a self-made camera obscura, that would work only in certain weather conditions. Other objects could only function during sunny days, as their main material was sunlight.
Born in 1965 in Bulgaria. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia, and then at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig and the Berlin University of Fine Arts. He exhibited in Salzburg, Chemnitz, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Moscow, Budapest as well as during the Armory Show New York, Art Cologne, and Art Moscow. In Poland, several of his works could be seen in Elbląg (Galeria El, 2009) and Warsaw (Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, 2000).
Co-financed by the National Center for Culture Poland under the program Kultura Interwencje
The honorary patronage: Ambassador of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Institute of Culture
Partners of the exhibition: Fundusz Popierania Twórczości ZAiKS, Piaseczno minicipality, Grupa CSV, LEDVANCE, Fundacja Odrodzenie
Curator: Ewa Sułek
Producer: Paweł Zaręba
