paintings for hotels and music for elevators
19.12.2019 - 25.01.2020
First, Admit You Have a Problem, 2019
In his work Ivan Moudov’s has continuously addressed and challenged various elements of the art world. The visible or invisible rules and codes of collections, museums, exhibitions and exhibition openings, have equally been submitted to a pitiless play of deconstruction and mise-en-abime.
“First, admit you have a problem” is part of this on-going interest, but also the first more humanistic work of the artist. Probably because he is himself not only an artist but also a gallerist and a collector, Moudov takes here a more holistic approach and proposes an exhibition that is basically about healing. In a fast producing and consuming art world, what we all have in common is that no matter on which side of the game we are, we all have a problem.
This revelation has inspired Ivan Moudov to begin the creation of Collectors Anonymous (CA) – a mutual aid system to help collectors recognize their obsession and ultimately give up collecting as we know it, with all the possible repercussions this endeavor might have for the art world as a whole.
In addition Moudov has developed together with Dr. Ivaylo Dimitrov, a psychiatrist and homeopath specialized in addictions and substance dependencies, a complete homeopathic program for recovery from collecting, which will further help the healing process. Homeopathy is known to use infinitely small doses of substances, which normally provoke the same symptoms as the ones it aims to cure.
In this line, Moudov proposes also a more obviously artistic, although more expensive, alternative (or rather a complementary treatment) – the energy paintings. The effect of the paintings is virtually immediate, collectors may not even want to put them on their walls (but they must). Soon these paintings will be the only artwork they own, and once this happens they could easily discard them – they won’t need them anymore, as they won’t be art collectors anymore.
Dessislava Dimova