Over the past few years, Martian Tabakov established himself as one of the most prominent young sculptors in Bulgaria. He received classic academic training at the National Academy of Art, Sofia, where he worked on contemporary art projects and developed an interest for objects, materials and installation. His works spread outwards in space creating a meaningful environment comprising a multitude of individual figures and fragments.

The current exhibition at the Vaska Emanuilova Gallery revolves around the idea of the architectural design of the human world and all things human, as well as its possible transformations and reincarnations. There was a preview of some of the works featured in the exhibition at the artist’s studio this past August. Thus, he developed more in-depth communication with the viewers building upon the initial idea. The artist included new works in the exhibition put up at the Vaska Emanuilova Gallery, specially created for it, further developing his initial concept.

The exhibition features anthropomorphic ceramic figures placed on top of tufted rugs or incorporated into metal cube structures; trees made of natural (tree fiber) material assembled by putting together in space individual fragments/ pieces in a fashion hinting at cubism; columns reminiscent of piles of organic material made of plaster with solid square-shaped concrete foundations. Even though the artist has come up with a presentation that constitutes an organic whole, the combinations of all building elements are unexpected and in contrast to one another.

Regarding The Circumstances We Create Are The Ones That Change Us the artist says, ‘Striving to create more and more comfortable living conditions we give up on our natural capabilities of dealing with life.’ The environment created by Martian Tabakov at the Vaska Emanuilova Gallery reveals a mirror of human alienation and loneliness hidden behind the concept of comfort.

Biography:

Martian Tabakov is an artist who lives and works in Sofia. He works in various genres including sculpture, drawing, installation, and sound object trying to find the points of intersection between them. He also participates in theater projects as a scenographer and musician.

He graduated from the National Academy of Art, Sofia, majoring in sculpture. He specialized in Antwerp, Belgium for a year. He has participated in numerous collective and solo exhibitions and projects in Bulgaria and abroad, namely Austria, France, Turkey, Serbia, Belgium, Czechia, Slovakia. He has been more and more interested in working at venues not meant to be utilized as gallery space.

Even though the artist attained strong stylization, one of the archetypal images featured in his work is the human body. His  figures are most frequently presented in dynamic positions that recreate the juxtaposition of the will to live and the harsh unpredictable environment that can easily swallow them. He frequently develops an elaborate environment in his projects aiming to reveal the aforementioned dynamic.

One of the approaches the artist takes in his work involves the creation of a certain number of components for a specific composition which can be freely rearranged afterwards to fit each specific exhibition venue. This is conducive to highly adaptive projects, each new presentation constituting a different artwork.