Bulgarian-born artist Eva Davidova is a graduate of the Fine Art Academy, University of Sofia and the School of Fine Arts, Complutense University, Madrid. She has on her record 2002 and 2004 Grants for a project at the Holo Center in New York from the Shearwater Foundation, 2001 Workshop on contemporary media directed by Xavier Utray, Foundation Marcelino BotМn, Santander, Spain, Studio and residency in London award from The Delfina Studios Trust. Her latest exhibitions are 2004 Utopia Parkway Gallery, Madrid, 2002 Utopia Parkway Gallery, Madrid, 2000 Por Amor a Arte Gallery, Oporto, 2000 Carmen Claramunt Gallery, Barcelona, 1999 Colegio de Arquitectos, Lerida.
Eva Davidova answered questions of Novinite.com Editor-in-Chief Milena Hristova
Q: Could you tell us more about the works that you display in your latest exhibition?
A: For the first time in my life I am showing exclusively new media art. Produced in the last two years these are three series in different formats:
"Location One and Two" are 11 short video animations which explore the interactions between person and the space surrounding, giving to this space organic qualities and changing the nature of objects and actions which take part. The action of man on substance...
"Here" is the name of several big, manipulated digital photos in which objects and bodies are mixed in common deconstruction, allowing invisible connections to become the center of the image.
"Feeding Alice" is an installation of five holograms and grass that confronts the painful and extremely realistic artificiality of the holograms and the organic presence of the smell of natural grass and the associations to it. It's a sort of immersion in our needs and dependencies in aesthetic, personal or social aspects, but referred always in an extremely intimate way.
Q: Do you plan to display your works in Bulgaria? What would you expect to be the response of the Bulgarian audience?
A: I hope so, may be next year. I think there is a generation of young artist in Bulgaria who are producing new media art, in the same way as in other countries. It would be interesting to discover the similarities and differences, the common themes and the ones, which could be new. I have no doubt that Bulgarian audience is very exigent and capable, so I believe my work would be looked at and commented in an interesting way. I think it will be an important responsibility for me to be known and accepted in Bulgaria.
Q: How would you describe the difference between the taste for art and paintings of Bulgarian and Spanish people?
A: The roots of Bulgarian and Spanish art are different. We must not forget that Spain gave to the world El Greco, Velбsquez, Zurbarбn, Goya, Picasso, Dalн, Mirу and many others. Bulgaria was a key in the development of the Orthodox Church imagery and this is present in many ways until today.
Now, in the new information era, with all the new ways of communication that have brought closer the ideas and their visual expressions, the differences are becoming smaller. I haven't had the chance to closely follow development of tendencies in Bulgaria, but probably between the young public and collectors there are more similarities than differences.
In Spain, vanguard art market develops fast alongside more traditional collections. The public is responding to new ideas, it is eager to break boundaries and to participate in the making of international art scene. The little I know about Bulgarian contemporary art, through the artists whose work I've known in New York, Madrid or elsewhere, makes me think that the goals are similar.
I have mixed feelings about this globalization of tastes and searches as it could bring too much unification to the art, but because it is unstoppable and in a way creates a dialog between artists and public from very different backgrounds, it should be studied and used.
Q: What inspires you in your art?
A: Fernando Savater, a Spanish philosopher, says that one only writes out of enthusiasm or out of indignation... There are so much of both!
There is also the slow process of observation, accumulation of images and ideas, and concepts development. Layers of enthusiasm build up over the ones of indignation and I try to respond emotionally, but also to extract from the world around the particular concepts that define reality in my vision.
Q: How do the political events in Spain and the terror attacks in particular have reflected on the works of the Spanish artists?
A: Artists have in their power to see and express in hundreds of different ways the tragedies and the social discontent. Sometimes even before the actual events take place they are sensed and warned upon from artists. Every new work after the horror carries a burden within, whether it is obvious or not. Probably, only after some years we could analyze the magnitude of the effect upon the history of contemporary art, but the changes are already taking place. I also believe that as the events are international and not exclusively local, the response from the artists is very complex and includes a broad reflection not only on the tragedy itself, but also on all of its causes.
Q: Who are the artists with whom you have worked and have left in you a lasting impression?
A: I have met extremely interesting artists and in some occasions briefly interacted in seminars or projects with them, but my work is mainly done alone. It was a great experience to work with students in Germany alongside other artists from US, Denmark, France, Poland and Spain. In Barcelona I had the chance to participate in a major Urban Intervention Project with some well known as Joan Brossa, and many young international artists.
From the people I personally know and admire as artists I could mention Eduardo Arroyo, Antoni Muntadas, Robert Janz, Xavier Utray, Zush, Franz Erhard Walther...
They are very different from each other, as my influences are. If I have to talk about all the artists, which have made an impression to me, I would need pages, but from the big contemporary names, Louise Bourgois, Bill Viola or Rebecca Horn, painters as Francis Bacon or Miquel Barcelo, and some very young video artists, as Haluck Akaci or Sergio Prego. Very important for me were the Bulgarian artists Zlatio Boiadzhiev, Dimitar Kazakov, and Christo, as a major international figure.
Q: Would you ever return to Bulgaria? What could make you take such a decision?
A: I wouldn't say return... After living in so many places, I believe I never left any of them. As Elias Caneti said, my homeland is my language, and my particular language, the artwork I am doing, is formed by my Bulgarian childhood, by my interaction with the art world of New York and, of course, by the years I spent as a student and artist in Spain. It is important for an artist to work with every bit of his/her language and to be in the place where this capacity is nourished. I would like to spend time in Bulgaria and understand the changes that are taking place. It will be important for me after so many years and with all I have accumulated, to see and feel the world of my first impressions and to find my own position towards the social, political and cultural developments...
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