curated by Laura Barreca

The Bulgarian artist Nedko Solakov is the protagonist of the fourth event promoted within the ambit of Contemporary Commissions, a project born out of the synergy between public and private bodies in order to valorize and promote reflection on the masterpieces of the past through the gaze of contemporary artists.

The Passage (a commissioned art work’s story), a project created by Solakov for this occasion, is a reflection on the ideal encounter between two masters from the history of art that took place in the major exhibition Caravaggio and Bacon that recently closed at the Galleria Borghese.
Nedko Solakov’s installation is composed of paintings placed on artist’s easels either side of the Uccelliera, accompanied by the joyful presence of characteristic “fellows” (little people), symbols of an optimistic and ironic vision. This is the result of a path followed by the artist from the moment of the commission to the exhibition of the work to the public. The realisation of the work intertwines with a very personal event in the life of the artist, the recent loss of his father. The “passage” in which the public is invited to participate is therefore an account of particularly intense episode experienced by Nedko Solakov over the last few months and marked by profound reflection on the meaning of life, the past and the future.