Nedko Solakov: Fear 999

When the curators of Documenta 12 invited Nedko Solakov (b.1957) to participate in the renowned exhibition, the celebrated Bulgarian artist responded with Fears, a monumental series of small drawings that visualize ninety-nine worries and apprehensions. Hung together and filling an entire room, Fears became a high point of the exhibition, touching thousands of viewers with its catalogue of highly personal insecurities — from war, aids and plane crashes to writer’s block, infidelity and the size of one’s cv — that capture the free-floating anxiety of modern life in witty and personal detail.

Detail of Fear 999

‘Here comes Fear #999, which is a pretty basic one and therefore he deserves to be more at the beginning of the line of fears – to be scared to death of showing your fear (of to be scared to death) to the others. Luckily, the guy above seems to deal with this relatively well.’

The Collector's Edition

For this unprecedented Collector’s Edition, Solakov has, on a different page of each specially bound book, added a new drawing and text. Each of these interventions is a unique work in the artist’s own hand, making this edition a singular opportunity to own an original work by the acclaimed artist. Furthermore, each Collector’s Edition includes a signed lithograph made by Solakov specially for this occasion. Titled Fear #999 and enclosed in a handmade portfolio box, the print depicts a postscript — or possibly a preface — to the Fears series: ‘to be scared to death of showing your fear’. Fortunately, Solakov was able to overcome this fear and share with the world his deepest anxieties, creating, in the process, one of the signature artworks of our time.