Gergana Tabakova - The clock is broken

Artist: Gergana Tabakova (Bulgarian, contemporary)
Title: The clock is broken
Year: 2023
Medium: Acrylic paint on canvas

Canvas size: 60 × 60 × 2 cm
Signature: Door de kunstenaar ondertekend (gesigneerd op de achterkant van het doek)
Series: Onderdeel van de reeks "Not Very Ordered"

Description and context:

'The clock is broken' is part of Gergana Tabakova’s series 'Not Very Ordered', in which the artist investigates the instability of familiar systems such as time, order, and structure. The title itself suggests a disruption of linear temporality, inviting the viewer into a space where rhythm replaces chronology and intuitive perception challenges fixed rules.

Working between structure and spontaneity, Tabakova constructs compositions that combine repetition with variation. Her visual language draws on textile patterns, architectural ornamentation, and frieze-like arrangements, reinterpreted through a contemporary, painterly approach. These structured elements are interwoven with organic, flowing lines reminiscent of grasses and floral forms, creating a dialogue between constructed and natural systems.

The composition reflects the artist’s ongoing interest in “disordered order”— a condition in which systems remain coherent yet resist strict symmetry or predictability. Influenced by architectural observations, particularly from historical environments such as Città Alta in Bergamo, Tabakova explores how asymmetry and fragmentation can reinforce a sense of unity rather than diminish it.

Within this work, repetition suggests continuity and cyclicality, while subtle disruptions introduce movement and transformation. The painting evokes a suspended state, as if elements are in the process of reorganizing themselves and searching for balance without ever fully resolving into a fixed form.

Provenance: Directly from the artist’s studio
Documentation: Certificate of Authenticity can be provided upon request
Condition: Excellent condition; no visible imperfections
Shipping: The artwork will be carefully packaged and shipped securely. It will be sent stretched on its wooden frame (unframed), with appropriate protective materials to ensure safe delivery.

About the artist:

Gergana Tabakova (b. 1992) is a visual artist based in Sofia, Bulgaria. She holds an MA in Painting and a PhD from the National Academy of Arts, Sofia, where she currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Textile - Art and Design. Her academic and artistic practice centers on the intersection between painting and other visual disciplines.

Tabakova’s work delves into the fundamental components of painting, surface, texture, and color, using them as tools to investigate how notions of order, hierarchy, and balance are culturally constructed and reflected in spatial experience. Architectural and spatial references often appear in her compositions as vehicles for exploring the evolving dialogue between humans and their environments.