Iva Gueorguieva

Acme is pleased to present a solo exhibition of four new sculptures by Los Angeles based artist Iva Gueorguieva. Composed of found metal, epoxy clay and various printmaking techniques, each sculpture traverses a terrain that is both physically present and illusionistic; a dichotomy which Gueorguieva has explored extensively in her collaged paintings and works on paper. The sculptural works are a natural step in the artist's investigation of the tension between the materiality of paint and support, and the possibility of illusory space.

Gueorguieva's complex sculptures suggest hybrid forms constructed from fragments of figures, landscapes and machines. The sculpture, "Vessel and Horse" resembles a model for a not-yet-built monument or building, while "Old Knight" and "Undone Man," appear more intimate with their human-scale. Gueorguieva's inspiration for these two sculptures is the last drawing in Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree," of the old man sitting on the stump. Lastly, the large-scale wall sculpture "Switching House" addresses the subject of the landscape. Its bulging, sweeping forms evoke the land as it is shaped by human activity: highways, railroad tracks, oil rigs, and industry.

Gueorguieva first started experimenting with cutting and collaging the surfaces of her paintings in order to explore the shallow yet real space produced by the cut and the glued edge. Subsequently, the two-dimensional space transitioned into the three-dimensional space, and the artist proceeded to create armatures that could support the fragments of painted and printed images. The "bodies" for the sculptures are made of found metal scraps, each suggesting a very specific mood and space, and therefore calling for a specific color and image. Gueorguieva then created etching and litho plates for each structure, generating appropriate collage materials that were then draped over the metal and the thin layers of epoxy clay. The surfaces were further complicated by meticulous painting on top of the collage material, blurring the line between the real, sculptural space and the perceived spaces produced by the painted mark.

Iva Gueorguieva (b. 1974, Bulgaria) received an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Recent solo shows include Samsøn, Boston, MA; Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY; Stefan Roepke Gallery, Cologne, Germany; Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, LA, CA; Bravin Lee Programs, New York, NY; LUX Art Institute, Encinitas, CA; Angles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Stichting Outline, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Pomona Museum of Art, Claremont, CA. Notable group shows among others include the Contemporary Art Museum at USF, Tampa, FL; Galerie Lelong, New York, NY; Pasadena Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA; Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX. Her work is included in many public and private collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. She is the recipient of the California Community Foundation mid-career fellowship for 2010 and the Pollock-Krasner Grant for 2006. Her work is represented by ACME. in Los Angeles and Ameringer| McEnery | Yohe in New York.