(c) Martin Wimmer, 2020

Vasilena Gankovska
Born in 1978, Troyan, Bulgaria
Lives and works in Vienna and Sofia

e-mail: vasilena.gankovska@gmail.com

Solo exhibitions

2022
In the Blind Spot of the Painting, +359 Gallery, Water Tower, Sofia, curated by Vladiya Mihaylova
Proekt Kino Kosmos, Scope BLN, Berlin
Albena — Donauinsel —  Ostia — Seestadt — Varna, Vasilena Gankovska @DIT, invited by OWG3 (Salvatore Viviano)

2019
Cinema Hall – the forgotten common place, Labyrinth Gallery, part of Night 2019, Plovdiv
Contemporary News* Shepard Fairy meets Vasilena Gankovska, Hilger NEXT, Vienna

2018
Moscow Cinema Project, House on the Embankment, Moscow
Visual Strategies – Insights and Methods, (installation), CCI Fabrika, Moscow

2017
Situation 3 – from shape to composition, Studio Mariahilferstraße, Vienna, part of Open Studio Day, Vienna Art Week 2017
Situation 2, part 1, Mandelkern project, Vienna

2016
Situation 1, ongoing project, various locations in Vienna

2015
The Gift of Mr Wittgenstein (with Boris Kostadinov), Bulgarian Cultural Institute, “Haus Wittgenstein”, Vienna

2014
Street Stories, National Endowment Fund 13 Centuries Bulgaria, Sofia
What a Palm Tree Can Tell, Project Room @ NEXT, Hilger NEXT, Vienna

2012
Vasilena Gankovska featuring PERFEKT WORLD, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna

2011
Aperitivo Artistico, performative installation (with Sandra Kosel), Austrian Cultural Forum Rome (Studios)

2008
Urban Melodramas, Vaska Emanouilova Gallery, Sofia

2006
Spiel. Platz, SOHO in Ottakring, Vienna
Park Life, Artothek-Galerie, Vienna

2005
Raum/Zeit (with Markus Dressler), Siemens ArtLab, Vienna

2003
WORK/S (with Kamen Stoyanov), Irida gallery, Sofia

2002
FINE (with Kamen Stoyanov), MAK-GALERIE, Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna

Selected group exhibitions and projects

2023

Eleven, Host Gallery, Sofia
Vasilena Gankovska: Räumlicher Objektivismus, time4artists residency, Vienna
Queer Art Spaces Vienna 2023, Kunsthalle Exnergasse WUK, Vienna, curated by Louise Deininger, Michael Kaufmann, Gerhard Pruegger, Francis Ruyter

2022

Was uns wichtig ist! Herausforderung Kulturerbe, vorarlberg museum, Bregenz, curated by Christa Benzer and Sabine Benzer
Was uns wichtig ist!, Volkskundemuseum, Vienna, curated by Christa Benzer and Sabine Benzer
Ritual gatherings festival 2022, Varna – Kamchiya
Urban Algorithms, Videoscreenings, New York, Toronto, Berlin, Scope BLN and LICHT Years
Artist – Collector – Public, The Hilger Collection, Mestna Galerija Ljubljana

2021

2020

Graffiti and Bananas. Die Kunst der Straße, Nordico Stadtmuseum, Linz, Austria
Live painting performance, viennacontemporary, Vienna, 24 – 27.09.2020
Seestadt – eine visuelle Bestandsaufnahme (ongoing project), visual notes on Seestadt Vienna
Interview with a virus (after W. Burroughs), online project for works.io
Multiple Singularities, xhibit, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Bleischwer, Fabrikraum Project Space, Vienna (with Lara Erel and Jelena Micic)

2019
24 Gabrovo Biennial of humour and satire in art, Museum of humour and satire, Gabrovo, Bulgaria
0 GMS drawer at Vaska Emanouilova Gallery, Sofia, curated by Vladiya Mihailova
Looking at Buildings, Cities and Places, presentation and talk, with Bianca Pedrina, FLUCA, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Sense for a city, a project by Bulgarian Fund for Women in the frame of Plovdiv 2019 (mural)
Doba obnove III, Galerija Reflektor, Uzice, Serbia
Sofia Art Week great but late, curatorial statement (with Jelena Micic), Underground Gallery, Sofia
Notgalerie Kunstland Nord, end of season (Intervention in the public space with Anne Glassner), Notgalerie, Vienna
Shape of Scars, LLLLLLI, Vienna, curated by Boris Kostadinov
Na Raione, Odnushka, Novo Molokovo, Moscow (curated by Simon Mraz)
In situ, CCI Fabrika, Moskau (curated by Anna Kozlovskaya and Kristina Pestova)

2017
Shifting the layers. Young art in the museum, Sofia City Art Gallery, curated by Vladiya Mihaylova
Places of pleasure, Sofia City Art Gallery, curated by Stefka Tsaneva
Donne dimenticate, Bulgarian Cultural Institute, “Haus Wittgenstein”, Vienna
PAST PRESENT FUTURE, group exhibition, ARcc.art Open Space Vienna
Versuchsanordnung widerspenstigen Handelns, a project by Elke Smodics, GALERIE IG BILDENDE KUNST, Vienna (mural)

2016
The Hilger Collection Part 2. Painted Surfaces, HilgerBROTKunsthalle, Vienna
Pay the Artist Now! (curatorial project), GALERIE IG BILDENDE KUNST, Vienna
On being…greeted, Performance by Kamen Stoyanov with Vasilena Gankovska as part of FEMTRAILS, Performance event, curated by Katharina Swoboda (Golden Pixel Cooperative), Spektakel, Vienna
Presentation at vienna contemporary, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna
Ask The Artist, Performance by Kamen Stoyanov, with Vasilena Gankovska and Boris Kostadinov, Cabaret der Künste – Zunfthaus Voltaire, Manifesta 11, Zürich
Objects of Subjectivity, LLLLLI, Vienna

2015
Mature and Angry, Art Today Association Centre for Contemporary Art “Ancient Bath”, Plovdiv (curated by Boris Kostadinov)
Caution: Wet Paint!, Sofia City Art Gallery
Gasthaus, an artist-in-residence project by Yotto Bano, Zsenne Art Space, Brussels

2014
Visual Strategies. Urban Space Reformulated, book project
Cash, Cans & Candy Print Edition, Hilger NEXT, Vienna
Handbuch. Arbeiten im Kulturbereich, a project by trafo. K Vienna

2013
So Close, So Far, National Palace of Culture, Sofia
Disturbances in the Structure, Art Today Association Centre for Contemporary Art “Ancient Bath”, Plovdiv (curated by Ilina Koralova)
Bulgarian Artists in Vienna at the Beginning of the 21st Century, Sofia City Art Gallery
In Ihrem Interesse, Association of Visual Artists, Vienna
Fragile Piece of Art, performance at Hilger Next, Vienna
Cash, Cans & Candy, a street art project, Hilger Next, Vienna

2012
The Keyhole of Mr Wittgenstein, Bulgarian Cultural Institute, “Haus Wittgenstein”, Vienna (curated by Boris Kostadinov)
FRAGILE PIECE OF ART, artistic interventions, various locations, Vienna
Who Left What Behind, Pleven/Bulgaria, Ankara/Turkey
Art@Europarl, European Parliament Art Collection, Parlamentarium, Brussels

2011
Meet Everyone at Once, Start an Artist-Run Space, 0gms Projects, Sofia
Contemporary Art from Bulgaria, Collection of the European Parliament, Brussels
Arsenal – Museum for Contemporary Art Sofia
kommunikation, Flat 1, Vienna

2010
August in Art, international Biennial, Varna
This Obscure Object of My Desire, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna
Here, There and Everywhere. 60 Years – 60 Artists. A selection from the Ernst Hilger Collection, Hilger BROTKunsthalle, Vienna

2009
From Ideology to Economy. Contemporary Bulgarian Art – 20 Years Later, State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, Moscow
Get Connected, Sammlung Alexander Reznikov, Künstlerhaus, Vienna
From Yesterday till Tomorrow. Sofia Monuments, Sofia City Art Gallery

2008
Current Scene Bulgaria, Ludwig Museum Koblenz
Sauna 08, festival for extensive art, Konzerthaus, Vienna
Ansich[t] Wien, Kro Art Gallery, Vienna
BAZA Award, exhibition with the nominees, Sofia Art Gallery
Manuals, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warszaw
Telenovela, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

2007
Between Welcome and Goodbye, Vaska Emanouilova Gallery, Sofia
Galerie Hohenlohe: ein Rückblick, Hohenlohe Gallery, Vienna.
POLLENFLUG Austria, contemporary art from collections in Austria at the Art Cologne

2006
International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Shoumen, Bulgaria

Grants and awards

2020
Grant provided by the City of Vienna Cultural department
2019
State art grant, Austrian Federal Chancellery
2018
Artist in residence, CCI Fabrika, Moscow, grant provided by the Austrian Federal Chancellery
2014
Project funding, Art Department, Austrian Federal Chancellery, Gaudenz B. Ruf Foundation
2011
Artist in residence, Austrian cultural Forum, Rome, Italy
2008
BAZA Art Award, nomination
2007/08
Artist in residence, Cité internationale des Arts in Paris, scholarship provided by the Ministry of Education, Art and Culture of Austria
2007
3d place, Artists competition “Aktie der Österreichischen Post AG”
2002
Herold Austria, Artists competition
2002
Anni and Heinrich Sussmann Stipend
2000
Scholarship, KulturKontakt Austria

Collections

City of Vienna
Austrian Federal Chancellery
Collection of the European Parliament in Brussel
Collection of the City Art Gallery Sofia
National endowment fund “13 centuries Bulgaria”
Ernst Hilger Collection
Scope Berlin
Various private collections in Austria, Bulgaria and Germany