re.riddle

MICHAIL MICHAILOV'S "SELF-BRAINWASHING" MAKES U.S. DEBUT DURING SF ART WEEK

CO-PRESENTED BY MINNESOTA STREET PROJECT FOUNDATION AND RE.RIDDLE 

1201 Minnesota Street, San Francisco
January 17 - February 7, 2025 

re.riddle and Minnesota Street Project Foundation are proud to present the U.S. premiere of "Self-Brainwashing," an immersive performance piece by acclaimed artist Michail Michailov. Originally programmed for the Bulgarian Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2022, this captivating work will be performed during SF Art Week in January 2025.

In this groundbreaking performance, participants are invited to wear white protective suits as they become gradually enveloped in ethereal, white foam. The experience creates a compelling duality of sensation—simultaneously delightful and disorienting—as participants find their senses both awakened and challenged by the surrounding foam environment. 

"Self-Brainwashing" emerges at a crucial moment in our cultural dialogue about reality and perception. In an era where multiple realities—augmented, virtual, and artificial—increasingly intersect with and sometimes overshadow our physical world, Michailov's work purposefully employs obscurity as a powerful artistic tool. Through the metaphoric and literal application of encompassing foam, the piece prompts audiences to question: What insights and freedoms might we gain when the familiar becomes unfamiliar?

The performance artfully disrupts visual and physical delineations of space, body, and structure, inviting participants to reconsider their relationship with reality, artifice, illusion and truth in contemporary visual culture. Audience members will be invited to experience the work as either observer or participants.

Minnesota Street Project Foundation
1201 Minnesota Street, San Francisco
January 17 - February 7, 2025 

Public Opening: Friday, January 17

Daily hours of operation (Beginning on Friday, January 17):

Thursdays & Fridays: 

• 5 p.m. doors open; 

• 6:30 p.m.  performance start; 

• 8 p.m. doors close

Saturdays: 

• 2 p.m. doors open; 

• 3:30 p.m. performance start; 

• 5 p.m. doors close

*This is a ticketed event with limited capacity

This work was formerly presented as part of Michailov's solo exhibition "THERE YOU ARE," originally curated by Irina Batkova for the Bulgarian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2022.

Michail Michailov was born in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and currently lives and works in Vienna and Paris. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Veliko Tarnovo (1999-2004) and Art History at the University of Vienna (2002-2007). From 2006-2009 Michailov worked in cooperation with the artist group Gelitin. In 2007, he took part in the summer academy “Situation and Spectacle” at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (lecturer: Cerith Wyn Evans). In addition to several residencies and awards, Michailov received the Drawing Now Paris Art Award (2018). In 2022 Michailov represented Bulgaria at the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. He is currently an artist in residence at ISCP, NY. Michailov has had solo exhibitions at Belvedere Museum in Vienna (2024); re.riddle gallery in San Francisco (2024); Kunstraum Lakeside in Klagenfurt (2023); Galerie Viktor Bucher in Vienna (2023); +359 Gallery in Sofia (2021); Drawing Lab Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Exnergasse (2019); Sotheby's Vienna (2016). Michailov's works are in the various permanent collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria.

About Minnesota Street Project Foundation

Minnesota Street Project Foundation provides critical access to the space and tools necessary for artists, technicians, and curators to create. We collaborate broadly and support unparalleled opportunities for the presentation of contemporary art, fostering discourse, expanding access, and engaging the community at large. Working in community, the Foundation aims to strengthen Bay Area arts enterprise by building and sustaining a robust support infrastructure. Founded in 2019, Minnesota Street Project Foundation is a non-profit organization, which operates alongside Minnesota Street Project and Minnesota Street Project Art Services and is part of a growing contemporary arts campus located in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. 

re.riddle was founded in 2017 by art historian and curator Candace Huey. The art gallery showcases international contemporary artists through socially engaging and multidisciplinary programming. Our mission is to contribute to the discourse on contemporary art in thought provoking and playfully subversive ways. Via new modes of production, reception and consumption, re.riddle places an emphasis on the whimsical with hope that art continues to arouse curiosity and promote an awareness of its profound impact on our daily surroundings and lives. 

For press inquiries:
Temi Adamolekun: temi@pembrokepr.com

For any additional questions, please contact info@minnesotastreetproject.org. We look forward to welcoming you to experience Michail Michailov’s Self-Brainwashing!