Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva is a Macedonian born artist, living in the United Kingdom,
who creates ambitious sculptural works and site-specific installations. Working with
materials that are unusual, precious, ordinary and ephemeral, from organic materials
and foodstuffs to gold leaf, Hadzi-Vasileva's practice questions notions of death,
identity and beauty. Central to the artist's approach is an interest in responding
to the particularities of a given location, its history, environment and communities. 7
September–31 October 2011
The Wish of the Witness Pied à Terre | Artist in Restaurant, 34 Charlotte Street,
London W1T 2NH. Admission Free. This September two Michelin-starred restaurant Pied
à Terre will present an exhibition of works by Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva, following an
eight-month residency. Hadzi-Vasileva is Pied à Terre's first 'Artist in Restaurant'—an
annual residency scheme for emerging artists. The Wish of the Witness will comprise
ten sculptural and installation works made primarily using raw materials sourced
from the restaurant kitchen, including scallop skirts and corals, quail carcasses,
sheep testicles, fish skins and bones. The resulting works are carefully balanced
between the beautiful and the brutal, recomposing decomposition into exquisite forms.
The Wish of the Witness follows a period of in-depth research by the artist, in close
collaboration with the chefs, and is influenced by the restaurant's daily routines
and menus.
Until 18 September 2011
Compulsive, Obsessive, Repetitive
Towner, The Contemporary Art Museum, Devonshire Park, College Road, Eastbourne BN21
4JJ. Admission Free.
Compulsive, Obsessive, Repetitive is a group show of six artists
who obsessively use small-scale repetitive processes to create large-scale sculptural
installations. Hadzi-Vasileva is exhibiting 'Reoccurring Undulation', a work made
from 960 salmon skin tiles that have undergone intense cleaning and preserving processes
to reveal the latent beauty of this discarded matter.
Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva, Reoccuring Undulation, 2011. Salmon skins on zinc plated tiles,
960 tiles of 20cm x 20cm. Courtesy of the artist.
2010–2011 Raison D'être | Site-Specific Commission SouthGate Project, Bath
Raison D'être
for SouthGate Shopping Centre, Bath, is currently in its third phase of development.
The proposed work, commencing later this year, is influenced by the Bath Abbey Fan
Vaulting, designed by Robert and William Vertue, with reconstruction (c.1860) by
George Gilbert Scott, and the history of theatre and fashion of Bath. As the artist
comments: "The main inspiration behind Raison D'être was the history of Bath being
regarded as a sacred place since ancient times, the hot springs being the focal point
for legend, pilgrimage, worship, healing, enjoyment and commercial activity for thousands
of years." For Raison D'être, Hadzi-Vasileva is creating 12,000 petal shapes, each
20cm x 10cm, made out of specially designed stainless steel woven cloth. The petals
are then joined together using steel strips that will create an edge, which will
be gilded with 23.5-carat gold leaf. The structures will be positioned under two
arched bridges, creating an intriguing and beautiful canopy.
Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva, project for Raison D'être, SouthGate Shopping Centre, Bath
September 2011–October 2012 Parkside Place | Site-Specific Commission, Cambridge
Elpida
Hadzi-Vasileva has been commissioned to develop new site-specific artworks for Parkside
Place in Cambridge. Parkside Place is designed to be one of the most central and
prestigious new residential developments in Cambridge for years. The scheme developed
by Grosvenor, has been designed by Glenn Howells Architects, building contractors
Willmott Dixon, and art consultants, InSite Arts Ltd.
