Daniela Kostova (born 1974) is a contemporary Bulgarian visual artist known for her photography and video based installations.

Life and career

Daniela Kostova was born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

and received her M.F.A. from the Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and the National Art Academy in Sofia. Her works have been exhibited in places such as the

Queens Museum of Art The Queens Museum, formerly the Queens Museum of Art, is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States. The museum was founded in 1972, and has among its p ...

, the Institute for Contemporary Art (Sofia), the

Kunsthalle Wien Kunsthalle Wien is the city of Vienna's institution for international contemporary art and discourse with two locations, in the Museumsquartier and at Karlsplatz. Kunsthalle Wien does not have a collection of its own, but instead dedicates its c ...

(

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) and others. In 2006, 2007 and 2009 Kostova received travel grants from the New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA), the American Foundation for Bulgaria and the

European Cultural Foundation The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) is a Netherlands-based independent cultural foundation. Its mission is to “make a tangible impact on civil society, citizen initiatives, public opinion and policy proposals to combat the fragmenting forces ...

. In 2011, she won the Unlimited Award for Contemporary Bulgarian Art and at the same year she started together with Stanislava Georgieva the Bulgarian Artists in America (BAA). In 2016 Kostova exhibited as an A.I.R. Gallery Fellow and was a resident at the Center for Art and Urbanism (ZK/U) in Berlin. In 2019 curator Philippe Batka selected one of Kostova's works for the 12th year of wrapping the

Ringturm Ringturm (Ring Tower) is a prominent skyscraper in Vienna, Austria, and is the headquarters of the Vienna Insurance Group. It was built from 1953 to 1955 after a design by Erich Boltenstern at the Schottenring. The tower is tall, with of office ...

building in Vienna, Austria. Kostova lives and works in New York City. She is the Director of Curatorial Projects at Radiator Gallery and a Board Member of the CEC Artslink exchange program. Kostova was Director and curator of Irida Art Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria (2000–03).

Works and installations

Kostova's work addresses issues of geography and cultural representation. In 2004 Kostova's installation Fixing Reality was created by placing a large blue screen in several public settings in the United States. The screen digitally projected images of her home country Bulgaria in an attempt to bridge the geographic and social gaps between the two countries. In 2019 her art work “Cosmonaut 1001″ which features a baby astronaut with communist and capitalist patches on its suit and a white dove sitting on his helmet, was selected as part of the public installation project Future Dreaming to cover the Ringturm building in Vienna. The artistic wrapping of the building was officially opened on 26 June at a ceremony attended by Austrian Foreign and Culture Minister

Alexander Schallenberg Alexander Georg Nicolas Schallenberg (; born 20 June 1969) is an Austrian diplomat, jurist and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Chancellor Karl Nehammer since 2021, previously holding the office from ...

and Bulgaria’s Deputy Culture Minister Amelia Gesheva. The 4,000 square meter artwork was covering the facade of the Ringturm facing the Danube Canal in the center of Vienna throughout the summer of 2019, comprising a total of 30 printed sheets, each around 3 meter wide and up to 63 meter long. A recurring topic in Kostova's work is the perception of "Safe Play" and what it stands for in different cultures and social contexts. Her installations "Adventure Playground" and "Loose" are both covering this topic. In 2017 her installation “Stuck” which was a large-scale photo-

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

, was commissioned for the exhibition “Shifting Layers” at the Sofia City Art Gallery in Bulgaria. The installation was a reflection on living conditions affected by climate change, and the realization that things can dramatically turn overnight, shifting from play into tragedy.

Selected exhibitions

* Future Dreaming, public installation, 2019, Ringturm building, Vienna * The Higher Ground, site-specific installation, 2018, Shoestrings Gallery, NYC * Adventure Playground, site-specific installation, 2017, Cindy Rucker Gallery, NYC * Stuck, site-specific installation, 2017, Sofia City Gallery * Loose, site-specific installation, 2016,

A.I.R. Gallery A.I.R. Gallery (Artists in Residence) is the first all female artists cooperative gallery in the United States. It was founded in 1972 with the objective of providing a professional and permanent exhibition space for women artists during a time i ...

, NYC * It's Delovely, site-specific installation, 2015, Academic Gallery, NYC * Play Date, site-specific installation, 2015, Backerstrasse4 Gallery, Vienna * Flip-House, site-specific installation, 2013

* Site-specific installation, 2008, Estacion Indianilla Museum, Mexico * Site-specific installation, 2005,

, Vienna

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kostova, Daniela 1974 births Living people 21st-century Bulgarian artists Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Bulgarian women artists