Stanka Usha Tsonkova
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria
Lives in Sofia
A.P. Chehov Street
5th floor, at 4
Sofia 1113
mob: +359 888012727
Graduated College of Photography Sofia/ Bulgaria, 1974
FotoFest-1990,catalogue:
“Stanka Tsonkova /Usha/, one of the few women photographers working as an artist, turns inward to contemplate her own life as woman, mother and photographer-and the difficulty of maintaining that equilibrium.”
Resent:
https://gigapanos.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/Call_Me_Usha_2024/index.html
2023-24 City Art Gallery- “Call me Usha” retrospective, curator Vera Mlechevska
Publications:
2019 Catalogue "Open Art Files: Notes and footnotes"
2013 EYEMAZING book
2012 NYArts magazine, December
2012 EYEMAZING Magazine, Spring issue
2010 Imago- Slovak photomagazine- portfolio “The self- portraiture of Stanka Usha Tsonkova: Broken Mirrors fixed with duct tape” by Rafaelo Kazakov
Collaboration:
2016 Host of BUTOH workshop with master Katsura Kan- May 2016, followed by performance and lecture.
2012 Photo and video installation for Keiko Hashimoto’s “Soft Edges” Butoh dance performance in collaboration with the dancer
Museum Collections:
Musee de L’Elysee, Lausanne 1990
National Library, Paris 1990
Shadai Galerry, Tokyo 2001
Japan Foundation, Tokyo 2003
Zental- und Landesbibliothek Berlin 2008
National Art Gallery, Sofia 1994
City Art Gallery, Plovdiv 1998
Private collections in the USA, Japan/ Eikoh Hosoe's collection/, France, England, Germany,Bulgaria etc.
Selected Awards:
ArtSlant Showcase Awards:
2013 Showcase Winner
2012 Showcase Winner 6th, 4th, 1st
2011 2nd Showcase Winner
2010 1st Showcase Winner
2003 Grant from Japan Foundation for the project “Embrace-Stone Garden”/6 months/
2001 First prize of The Review of Bulgarian Photography/1990-2001/ Photographer of the decade
1990 Award in the Art of Today-Budapest, Hungary
1989 Grand Prix-SIRP, Royan- France
1986 Grand Prix-SIRP, Royan-France/Salon International of the Research Photography/
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2023-24 City Art Gallery- “Call me Usha” retrospective, curator Vera Mlechevska
2023 Toplocentrala- “A Wave Washed a Trace Away”, curator Vera Mlechevska
2008 Bulgarian Consulate in New York- exhibition “Dance Clothes”
2006 Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial-outdoor exhibition “Silence Dimensions”
2003 Tokyo Designer’s Block- at IDEE Designer’s Shop
2003 Tokyo-Christmas Exhibition at “Pacific” IDEE Designer’s Shop
2003 Kamakura/Japan/-October, Cafe Gallery “Arukamak”
2002 Boviel Gallery- Plovdiv/International Week of Photography/
2001 Shadai Gallery- Tokyo
1998 Week of Photography- indoor installation “Gipsy Princess”- Plovdiv
1998 Berlin-exhibition for the opening of the “Methenzentrum in Kreuzberg”, work-shop
1994 Month of Photography- Bratislava
1993 Berlin-exhibition and work-shop
1990 La Roshelle- France
1988 Pforzheim- West Germany
1987 The Pataky Gallery- Budapest
Various solo exhibitions, awards, workshops in Bulgaria from 1979 to 2023
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2023 Personal Reality- Sofia Arsenal-MCA
2023 A Few Ways to Win the World , Doza Gallery, curators: Vera Mlechevska, Desislava Dimova
2023 MIRRORS AND WINDOWS:
SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE COLLECTION OF RAFAELO KAZAKOV
Synthesis gallery,
Curators: Nadezhda Pavlova and Nikola Mihov
2022 Time and Matter- Arosita Gallery, Sofia; Curator Vera Mlechevska
2022 Life as Experiment/ Photography as Life- group exhibition at Sofia Arsenal-Museum for Contemporary Art/ National Art Gallery; Curator Katerina Gadjeva
2022 National Gallery of Art, Sofia- exhibition "Sparks of Imagination/ On the Frequences of Boeus"; Curator Vera Mlechevska
2022 Echo- Gallery Sariev, Plovdiv,; Curator Veselina Sarieva
2020- "Genealogy"-group exhibition at ONE Gallery- Sofia, July 2020
2019 Gallery Kapana, Plovdiv- Exhibition "Open Art Files: Notes and footnotes"- Contemporary Bulgarian Art
2012 Broadway Gallery at Verge Art Fair Miami December 2012
2008 Behind Walls- Noorderlicht Photofestival, The Netherlands
2008 A-A-H project- Sofia
2007 Prague, Bratislava- Contemporary Photography /BPA and Friends/
2006 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial-Japan
2004 Contemporary Bulgarian Photography/BPA and Friends/-City Gallery-Sofia
2004 August in Art- indoor installation “Embrace-Stone Garden”-Varna
2003 Tokyo Designer’s Block-October, exhibition at IDEE Designer’s Shop Gallery
2002 International Week of Photography-Plovdiv
2001 Review of Bulgarian Photography/1990-2001/-National Palace of Culture, Sofia
1997 Process-Space-Art Festival-Balchik, Bulgaria/gypsy fashion, dance performance, video/
1994 Contemporary Bulgarian Photography- National Art Gallery, Sofia
1990 FotoFest-Houston, USA
1990 Biennale of the Research Photography-Paris, France
1989 East European Photography-Musee de L’Elysee, Lausanne, Swiss
1989 Looking East-Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1987 88 Art of Today-Budapest, Hungary
1988 Baroque in the Photography-Cant, France
1979-89 Biennale of Bulgarian Photography, Sofia