Michail Michailov
40х40х10 cm, brushes placed on a pedestal made of MDF
The box contains an object from the "round squares" series. In this series white pedestals and exhibition platforms are transformed with brushes and brooms into futuristic cleaning objects, whose exact function has yet to be found. The concept implies, that the white object, which is usually supposed to help the art object, achieve a neutral effect anditself becomes an object that removes things. So conceptually it has the opposite effect to its original use. A contradiction that is found in philosophical explanatory terms, such as "round squares", is expressed artistically. The white classical socle virtually implodes in its meaning through a simple additional gesture.
Michail Michailov (born in 1983 in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria) is a visual artist living and working between Vienna and Paris. His multidisciplinary practice spans drawing, performance, video, and installation, often exploring themes such as the body, identity, everyday rituals, and the invisible traces of existence. With subtle irony and poetic precision, Michailov investigates the tension between presence and absence, the absurd and the banal, and the individual’s place within systems of control and cleanliness.<>br
He studied Fine Arts at the Faculty of Visual Arts in Veliko Tarnovo (1999–2004) and Art History at the University of Vienna (2002–2007). In 2007, he participated in the Summer Academy "Situation and Spectacle" at the Paul Klee Centre in Bern (CH), led by Cerith Wyn Evans. Between 2006 and 2009, he collaborated on several projects with the Viennese artist group Gelitin.
In 2022, he represented Bulgaria with thе project "There You Are" at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. His work has been shown in various museum institutions across Europe and is recognisable for its introspectiveness, delicate irony and focus on the aesthetics of vulnerability and the invisible.
Website: michailmichailov.com
In 2022, he represented Bulgaria with thе project "There You Are" at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. His work has been shown in various museum institutions across Europe and is recognisable for its introspectiveness, delicate irony and focus on the aesthetics of vulnerability and the invisible.
Website: michailmichailov.com