Zhana Ivanova has a cross-disciplinary artistic practice - she makes performances, installations, videos, public space commissions, sound and text-based pieces. A live performance component is almost always present in her work, with other forms preceding, being the result of, or in some other way relating to performative gestures. She is keen on rearranging and reconfiguring patterns and structures to which we have grown accustomed. Using script-based approaches, she frequently induces live situations, where interpersonal relations are brought forward, unravelled and made to fluctuate. Language plays a key role, and power structures are of central interest. Her constructions are initially formal and rule-governed; yet within them she insistently exposes the ambiguity of her own rules.
Born in Ruse, Bulgaria in 1977, she moved with her mother to England in the early 1990's, and now lives in Amsterdam since 2004. Educated at Queen Mary University College, London and DasArts, Amsterdam. Zhana was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (2012 - 2014) and an artistic research fellow with THIRD, DAS Graduate School, Amsterdam (2021 - 2024).
Presentations of Zhana's work include a.o. Kunsthalle Basel, Astrup Fearnley Museet Oslo, Fondation D’Enterprise Ricard Paris, ARCO Madrid, Elevation1049 Gstaad, Municipal Gallery Coloredo-Mansfeld Prague, De Appel Amsterdam, Playground Festival Leuven, FIAC Paris, Mendes Wood DM Sao Paulo, Ellen de Bruijne Projects Amsterdam, Framer Framed Amsterdam, Centre Pompidou Paris, Roberts Art Foundation London, Lafayette Anticipations Paris, Oude Kerk Amsterdam, Performatik Biennalle Brussels, Museum of Contemporary Art Rijeka, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam.
Engaging in education, Zhana was a core tutor at BEAR Fine Art (2018 - 2024) and Master of Performance Practices (2016 - 2018), both at ArtEZ (Arnhem). She has been a visiting tutor at Sandberg Institute, Rietveld Academie, SNDO (Amsterdam), KABK (Den Haag) a.o. Since 2024 she is a core tutor at DAS Theater, Master of Performance, Amsterdam.
Contact – zhana.ivanova@gmail.com
Representation – Ellen de Bruijne Projects
Supported by Mondriaan Fonds, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
Website by Joel Galvez