Issue 2 of Art Studies Quarterly magazine has been published
150 years ago, Trapko Vassilev (1876–1971), the founder of gallery work in Bulgaria, was born. This is why the topic of issue 2 of the Art Studies Quarterly journal is the Exposition – between display and expression. It implies insight into the analysis of how certain spatial characteristics (formal parameters) relate to the presentation and sharing of ideas, ideologies, and experiences. A current issue for decades has been the expansion of the concept of “design” across its various stages of development and the emergence of names that define the specificity of this type of artistic activity: spatial layout, exhibition design, advertising design. In the layout of the exhibition space, the architectural features of the building and the possibility of adapting or reforming a certain gallery room are of particular importance, a not-so-easy task. Today, it is increasingly evident that one of the main components in the construction of the concept in exhibition halls is the design of the space, as exhibition design includes scenographic solutions, visual and lighting effects, multimedia, digital technologies, etc. Another important issue is the transformation of the work into a mediator, into a major connecting component in the concept–display–expression–suggestion paradigm.
The included texts by Angela Daneva, Atanas Totlyakov, Iva Veleva, Iveta Chelebieva, Irina Genova, Meglena Zapreva and Natasha Noeva are dedicated to significant issues, objects and interpretations related to the nature of thematic discourse. Articles problematise specific exhibition spaces in terms of architecture, interior design, fund formation, education, temporary exhibitions, art historians, audiences, and power. The urban environment is also considered an exhibition area; the question of how spatiality is perceived beyond its physical characteristics is raised. Modernity is not missed – the functioning of works of art in the era of digital saturation and artificial intelligence.
Natasha Noeva, Assist. Prof., PhD – еditor
