Exhibition "Man muß die spRACHE quälen, bis sie schreibt", 2017
Veronika Tzekova is a creative practitioner born in 1973, Vratza (Bulgaria), lives and works in Graz (Austria).
Graduated as MFA (Master of Fine Arts) from Dutch Art Institute, Enschede in 2001. In 2004/2005 took part in Transnational Spaces, a postgraduate program by Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau, Germany.
Among others joined the residency programs BLACK SEA CALLING, Graz, Austria, MPRA in Poznan, Poland, Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory, Yerevan, Armenia and KulturKontakt Austria in Vienna. Previously she won UniCredit grant for UNIDEE in Residence International Program, Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, Italy in 2010.
Veronika's projects and art works were exhibited among others in Neue Galerie Graz, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel; Bank Austria Kunstforum, Wien; Mac/Val - Musee d‘art Contemporain du Val de Marne; Casino Luxembourg; Institute for Contemporary Art, Sofia; Archaeological Museum, Poznan; Hilger BROTKunsthalle, Wien; Österreichisches Kulturforum Zagreb; Forum Stadtpark, Graz; Zollamt, Bad Radkersburg; Vukovar Municipal Museum/Galerija Orangerija; designforum Steiermark at Kunsthaus Graz; Sofia Design Week and Designmonat Graz.
Awards and nominations:
First prize in the category "SPEECH + VISION" in the competition "NEW MODERNITY - vision and text, word and image, meaning and form" organised by the magazine "NEW SOCIAL POETRY", Sofia, Bulgaria, 2020
Auslandsstipendium für Bildende Kunst und Film der Stadt Graz, 2018
Föderungspreis des Landes Steiermark für zeitgenössische bildende Kunst, Arbeitsstipendium des Landes Steiermark für zeitgenössische bildende Kunst, 2016
Pimp dein IKEA design competition, first prize, 2013
Gaudenz B. Ruf Award for New Bulgarian Art, Sofia, Bulgaria, nominee in category 'Advanced Artists', 2011
Unlimited, Mtel Awards for Contemporary Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria, nominee, 2011
GO11 AWARD FOR URBAN ALTERNATE USE, nominee, 2011
In the last years I realized multiple projects in public space: Reconstructed Identity (sculpture, Belgrade, Serbia, 2005), SWEETSHIRT (various media and locations, 2003-2005), Space NRGZers (interventions in public space, Como, San Remo, Biella, Italy, 2010), WUMAMPAROI (When You Make a Mistake Put a Rose on It, interventions in public space, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2008-2011), SWITCHABLES (light sculptures, St.Niklaas, Belgium, 2010), Space Appropriators (interventions in public space, Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, 2012 - 2015). FOOOOTBALLLL, land art installation and group performance, in Poznan, Poland and Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2012; Marseille, France, 2017; Montpellier, Gonessе, Cergy-Pontoise, France; Detmold, Germany, Graz, Austria, 2018 and in cooperation, among others, with NOUVELLE SCENE NATIONALE DE CERGY-PONTOISE ET DU VAL D'OISE (l'APOSTROPHE), La Strada Festival and Bildstörung Festival.
Since 2013 I am working on CDoupbles, series dealing with the visual construction and perception of the language. Selection from the CDoupbles was shown in the solo exhibition 'Man muß die spRACHE quälen, bis sie schreibt' in Graz, Austia and a few group exhibitions in different countries. In 2017 I started the syllaBLEndings series (portmanteau from syllable and blendings). SyllaBLEndings in Bulgarian were installed in public space in the centre of Plovdiv, as part of my project kopCHETATa, part of the program of NIGHT Plovdiv, 2017. Since May 2018 selected verses from the syllaBLEndings series are exhibited on light boxes in five public spaces in Graz, Austria. Since August 2020, for a period of one year, works from the both series CDoupbles and SyllaBLEndings will be shown and and exchanged every month, as part of SchAUGEnuss, a pandemic-proofed long-term exhibition at the display window of "Atelier 12", Münzgrabenstraße 24, 8010 Graz, Austria.
| SchAUGEnusss * Pandemic-proofed permanent exhibition with changing exhibits August 2020 -August 2021 Display window of Atelier 12, Münzgrabenstraße 24, 8010 Graz, Austria SchAUGEnuss is an year-long exhibition with works from my series CDoupbles and syllaBLEndings. The exhibits are exchanged monthly. Exhibition views are available in the eponymous photo album on the Facebook page of "SchAUGEnuss". To be viewed 24/7, from August 28, 2020 till August 31, 2021. * Schaugenuss (de)- pleasure (Genuss) of seeing (Schau). A compound word, by which in the middle accidently appears another word - "Auge" (de) - "eye" (en). |
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syllaBLEndings
Verses on light-boxes in public space 2018-ongoing Since May 2018 selected verses from the syllaBLEndings series are exhibited on light boxes in several public spaces in Graz, Austria. The verses are changed every two weeks. To this moment seven light boxes at five locations are hosting the syllaBLEndings: Steiermärkische Landesbibliothek, Cafe Stockwerk, Stadtbibliothek Zanklhof, Kulturvermittlung Steiermark and Cafe König. After each change of the verses on the light boxes, photos are posted in the eponymous album on my Facebook profile, and on my blog under the label CDoupbles :: syllaBLEndings. Flyers with syllaBLEndings verses are produced and distributed in Graz. |
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| My Blog challengedgames.blogspot.co.at The CHAlleNGED GAMES blog was conceived with the hope to stimulate divergence thinking and challenge the viewer to rethink one’s routines and shift his/her perspective on the status quo. The blog was initially dedicated to the CHAlleNGED GAMES series and seeks for extended meaning in playing and its relation to aspects of human existence and production. As with the time I started to experiment with another system - the language, to apply mathematical logic and seek patterns in words, in the last years my publications are mostly about this part of my work. |  |
| My Videos on YouTube on Vimeo |  |
iGRAZ/Space Appropriators is a bilingual (English/German) book, collecting the visual documentation and experience of more than 25 interventions in the public space and some events in which the Space Appropriators were involved. For these few years the project accumulated significant, and I would allow myself to say, impressing visuals and knowledge, embodying divergence thinking and proactive attitude towards one’s environment. ISBN-13: 978-1537617305 Paperback: 160 pages Language: English/German Dimensions: 21.6 x 1 x 21.6 cm |
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| st.art Author: Veronika Tzekova As a manner of artistic creation in many of my recent works I employ existing urban situations, objects, visuals, texts and just add often a small detail, which significantly changes their meaning and/or function. St.art book includes art works in the period 2004-2010, some still in progress at the time and some as ideas developed during 2010. The selection is made to guide the viewer through an artistic process that lead to the birth of ideas such as Space NRGZers and Dadissuasori. The book ends with a couple of blank pages, which are to e filled in with sketches and ideas for new works employing the same approach. |  |
| Veronika Tzekova — veronika.tzekova@gmail.com |
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