Boryana Rossa is an interdisciplinary artist and curator who works in the fields of electronic arts, film, video, performance and photography. In 2004 together with the Russian artist and film maker Oleg Mavromatti, Rossa established UTRAFUTURO–an international group of artists with which she participates in numerous international exhibitions and biennials. In 2012 Rossa completed her PhD on Post Cold -War Gender Performances. Cross-cultural examination of gender representations viewed through Soviet, Russian and Bulgarian film re-enactments, in the Department of Arts, at Rensselaer, Troy, NY. She teaches video, cinema and interdisciplinary arts in the Transmedia Department at Syracuse University, NY. Although she lives mainly in New York she continues being active in her home country.
Rossa’s performances and other works have been shown internationally at venues such as Museum of Contemporary Art (MUMOK), Vienna; Zacheta Gallery, Warsaw; Brooklyn Museum, NY, 1st and 2nd Moscow Biennial for Contemporary Art; 1st Balkan Biennial, Thesaloniki; National Gallery of Fine Arts, Sofia etc. In 2014 she has been awarded Gaudenz B. Ruf Award for contemporary art, and the 2014 NYFA Fellowship Award for Digital/Electronic Arts together with Oleg Mavromatti.
This video is usually installed at the entrance of the exhibition space. The audience has to “pass the face control,” of the two bruised girls who carefully look into each visitor’s eyes. “Official Invitation” reflects gender stereotypes and the gender aspects of the popular role model of the body-guard. The first display of the piece was at the 8th of March International Women’s Day Show at 51 3rd, Troy, NY, back projection on the window display, covered with yogurt.
