Little Bird Place

Opening – 30.09.2023 (Saturday) – 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Kaloyan Iliev Kokimoto’s frequent appearance in solo and group exhibitions sometimes makes us think we know his work well, but artists of his calibre always manage to surprise their audiences. In the exhibition Wild Wild East, which is also his first collaboration with Little Bird Place Gallery, we will discover a narrative that conditions his deep connection with the animal world and his characteristic ability to mix fiction and reality in a search for and rediscovery of the limits of our own imaginary world. The appearance of his iconic characters, presented in the form of drawings, prints, collages, paintings and objects, captivates and fills the space with a percussive dose of irony that is not an end in itself, but a cleverly employed technique.

The main character in the presented exposition is a comic hybrid of a half-human – half-cat or the imaginary alter ego of the author, bearing the name Kokimoto. Maneki-neko, or the Waving Cat, which has become a symbol of good luck and fortune, dates back to the 17th century. Since then, it has permanently established itself among the symbols of popular culture and can be seen at every shop or restaurant entrance greeting visitors and bestowing them with good fortune. Similarly, you can find Kokimoto’s alter ego in his works, hopping from drawing to collage, appearing suddenly and inappropriately, witnessing incidents and events and commenting on them through his reality. He skillfully handles the images and characters imprinted in our consciousness, which he provokes and places in extraordinary and unfamiliar circumstances, conquering and filling the space occupied by iconic signs and symbols, And so Kokimoto’s alter ego knows no boundaries and can be seen literally everywhere.

The other intrusive character, or rather antihero, that has permanently settled into Kokimoto’s life and become his pet is the computer worm Kido. This self-replicating creature was discovered back in 2005 in the artist’s computer, and ever since then they have coexisted, at first literally, then through the works in which Kido began to appear and multiply in our imagination.

A strong palette, a vivacious style and a pop sensitivity characterize the work of Kaloyan Iliev-Kokimoto, who does not conceal his inspiration from the Japanese kawaii culture that played a decisive role in catalyzing a global phenomenon that has also reached art, namely the aesthetics of cuteness, that which seems to us endearing, sweet and appealing at the same time. It is often used to present extremely sinister and unpleasant scenarios, to critique contemporary events and our way of life, global phenomena and problems, just as it happens in the current exhibition Wild Wild East.

In an interview, Umberto Eco states that in order to be able to understand our present existence and to be able to explain it rationally so that we can continue on our path at all, we need to create fictions. It is these which help to make sense of and process what is happening around us. The micro-narratives in Kokimoto’s oeuvre are fictions, reimagined from real life, which are reflected in his works and come back to us, the viewers, as a nuanced exploration of human behavior, grounded in historical and art historical references and a sharp sense of humor.

Martina Yordanova