And the Pursuit of Happiness includes recent works by Bulgarian born artist Yana Dimitrova.
The title of the exhibition is borrowed from the American patriotic phrase “Life Liberty and
the Pursuit of Happiness”. Through the ironic play on words, the place and possible story of
the work is revealed. Suggesting the idea of the American dream, Yana's paintings intend to
question the validity and meaning of that statement, or where and what exactly is that
happiness?

The majority of the exhibited paintings are portraits of Bulgarians living in the US. In the
root of the imagery is a process involving performance, video/photo documentation. Yana' s
"heroes" were instructed to read a poem by Bulgarian writer Ivan Vazov, titled "I am
Bulgarian" - one of the first works of literature which Bulgarian children have to learn. While
videotaping, Yana arranges a pose in the style of Bulgarian patriotic photography from the
late 1700. In result, based on the documentation Yana created the portraits in a heroic,
almost theatrical setting, similar to the imagery from the Bulgarian 18th century portraits.
Opposing the ideals stated in the poem, based on the time and place of the "performance"
this notion fractures concepts, meanings and personal beliefs, and also becomes
historically archived through painting.

Dealing with ideas of social transformations and concepts of nationalism, often through the
use of research or her personal biography, Yana’s focus is the idea of deceptive space.
Panoramic views of rural and urban terrains, architectural interiors, shopping malls
architecture, empty billboards and other monuments of American mass culture also take
place in the exhibition. Some are combined with text, phonetically typed Bulgarian words
with Latin letters, which Yana connects to recent media communication in which the use
of Slavic alphabet is slowly disappearing.

For more information: yana@yanadimitrova.com
Created with the support by chashama visual arts studio program.

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Art House Gallery
309 Peters St
Atlanta, GA 30313

[ i n e r t i a ] consists of recent paintings and installations by artist
Yana Dimitrova.

Based on the search for cultural integration, Yana examines the
psychological state of liminality - being between past, present and future.
Using aircraft objects, paintings and wall installation, Yana focuses on the
psychological experiences of the immigrant.
The cultural vistas that she investigates codify the work and its
foundations in a post-socialist/global society.
Place, and memory, interior and exterior, space and time fracture the limit
between reality and fiction and lead the viewer in the realm of a
rather unconventional and perplexed exhibition space.

Born in Yambol, Bulgaria, Yana Dimitrova moved to the U.S. in the year 2002.
She studied at the National School for Fine Arts and Culture ?Acd.
Ilia Petrov? in Sofia,
Bulgaria
and at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah and Atlanta, GA
where she is currently completing her MFA.
She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, including shows
at Gallery Twenty-Four, Berlin, Germany and shows in UK,
Eastern Europe and the US. She currently lives and works in Atlanta, GA.

For further information and directions: yana@yanadimirova.com