Sevda Chkoutova Sevda Chkoutova

SEVDA CHKOUTOVA / NAKED

Sevda Chkoutova's drawings confront us with the theme of childhood in an unusual way. They shock and fascinate, cast a spell on us, but make you think. In the technique of graphite and chalk on paper, the artist works for days and concentrates on her oversized sheets. The drawing, probably the most direct medium of human gesture, conveys concentrated reality here. The artist uses children's photos from her circle of friends as a template and inspiration for her intensive portraits.
It shows the wide range of childish emotions from excitement to anger and fear. The child's universe is full of difficult-to-understand thoughts and fantasies that are reflected in the exaggerated expression of the faces. Sevda Chkoutova loves children, she looked after children and studied. She knows her strengths and weaknesses, never idealizes them, but expresses strong compassion and understanding in her work. Soft nuances can be heard, reflections on your own childhood. The immediacy of the soul can be felt in Sevda Chkoutova's drawings. Barbara Baum, Strabag Art Forum

The children depicted show the naked truth. The child's body is never depicted in a pornographic-voyeuristic sense, but with the innocent and natural joy of children in being naked. Your body awareness is at the beginning of a development that goes hand in hand with sexual curiosity, joyful excitement and the desire to play. What children do is not always aesthetic, they spit, are dirty, loud, get on your nerves, but they are always creative, spontaneous, thirsty for knowledge and open. Precious childhood is often accompanied by dark shadows, even though children live in a world of light, a universe of shimmering, dreamy thoughts.
Wonderful floral-biomorphic ornamentation in the background of the drawing frames the depicted child like a protection, an environment that is not defined in more detail, but which reminds of untouched nature. Barbara Baum, Strabag Art Forum

The accuracy with which gestures and glances are captured resists any kind of romanticism, but it does leave room for discreet, humorous and prudent approaches to the subject, which includes wildness, wit and impetuousness as well as fear and anxiety. Play mixes with pure seriousness, reality with fiction.
With virtuoso mastery of materials, Chkoutova's pictures testify to the necessary sensitivity towards these diverse moods. The disturbing and at the same time attractive effect of the sheets results not least from the intensive and reflective examination of the medium of drawing.
Sabine Mostegl, Vienna base

SEVDA CHKOUTOVA

1978 born in Sofia, Bulgaria
1996 Graduated from High School of Applied Arts, Sofia
1998-2002 studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, master class Sue Williams; Muntean / Rosenblum
2004/2005 stay in Chicago
Lives and works in Vienna

> Sevda Chkoutova

Exhibitions (selection)

2006  
Childs Play; Galerie Chobot, Wien
Galerie am Großneumarkt, Hamburg
Contact.by.art.pl; Solvay, Krakau (Bet.)

2005  
Galerie Griffin, Chicago
Gallery 1633, Chicago, USA (Bet.)

2004  
Zeichnungen; Galerie am Großneumarkt, Hamburg

2003  
Landscapes; Galerie Chobot, Wien (mit Christoph Buchegger)

2003
Malerin male mir; Galerie Chobot, Wien (Bet.)

2002  
Sweet Harmony; Galerie Chobot, Wien
Junge Kunst, ART Innsbruck (Bet.)
Kunst Wien, MAK-Kunstmesse, Wien (Bet.)

2001  
Triagonal; Kupferstichkabinett Akademie der bildenden Künste, Wien (Bet.)
Graffinova – Internationale Ausstellung für Grafik; Vaasa, FL (Bet.)

2000  
Galerie 11, Sofia
Galerie Griffin, Chicago, USA

1999  
Meisterklasse Sue Williams; Kupferstichkabinett Akademie der bildenden
Künste, Wien (Bet.)

1996  
Galerie Nava, Sofia, BG
Women - creators on the two seas; Ausst.der UNESCO, Thessaloniki (Bet.)