Bradwolff & Partners, Amsterdam: September 13 - October 26, 2024
- Patrick Theimer
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
A solo exhibition presented by Bradwolff & Partners. On view May 30 - July 11, 2025.
Bradwolff & Partners opens the new season with the solo exhibition “Recordings” by Iva Gueorguieva. The title refers to Gueorguieva’s process of rubbing, scratching and staining the canvas and gauze allowing the surface and the images to intertwine. “Recordings” is a conceptual commitment to the peripheral, the accidental, and the transient.
Gueorguieva’s work connects with movements such as Abstract Expressionism, CoBra, Dada and Supports/ Surfaces. She builds shallow reliefs by gluing or sewing pieces of gauze, muslin burlap and canvas. This approach emphasizes the tactility of her work and the inherent qualities of the materials. A dialogue emerges between the visual and tactile aspects of her pieces, transforming the canvas from a purely visual surface into a material object with physical presence and agency.
Her large-scale works transform the space and invite visitors into a physical experience. Although her work appears abstract, it often contains narrative elements: human bodies, animals, and symbols connected to memories, traditions, emotions, and political events. Her background in communist Bulgaria and her current life in the United States since 1990 converge in her art.
In 2021 Gueorguieva created Intersection, a project which exists both as live performances and films. Gueorguieva constructs unique environments for each iteration and invites various “characters” to encounter, inhibit and activate the paintings. The films are the result of Gueorguieva witnessing, watching and recording with her camera, a practice of looking akin to “dancing” alongside each character and documenting what happens. Matt McGarvey, her partner and long term collaborator constructs the sonic environment for the encounter during both the live performances and the films. Three films: Intersection/Gretchen 2023, Intersection/Friidom 2023, and Intersection/Night 2024 will be on view during the course of the exhibition.
Iva Gueorguieva (b. 1974, Sofia, Bulgaria) lives and works in Los Angeles. She has held solo exhibitions at the Night Gallery, Benton Museum of Art, UTA Artist Space, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her work is included in collections at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Art, Design and Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara. She has received grants such as the Howard Foundation Grant and the Pollock-Krasner Grant.
To learn more, please visit Bradwolff & Partners
