This retrospective jubilee exhibition, hosted by the Sofia City Art Gallery, commemorates the 110th anniversary of Ivan Nenov’s birth. He was among the most avant-garde artists of the 1930’s, who earned a special place in the history of Bulgarian visual arts.

The artist’s works belong to, various fields, namely painting, graphic arts, ceramic arts and applied arts, all of them revealing his idiosyncratic style. Regardless of the passing of time, his works never grew old, neither did they lose their lyricism and exquisiteness. They owe their appeal to their plasticity, the use of gentle, light colors, which kept their freshness, regardless of the years that have passed, as well as to the specific use of line, that singles out his work. It is the use of line that lends monumentality and plasticity to his works, contributing to their inimitable power of expression.

The exhibition features works, belonging to different stages of Ivan Nenov’s career as an artist. It aims to reveal the artist’s multi-faceted work, which involves the use of various styles, as well as the artistic processes and approaches, showing the free spirit of a person relying on the power of his mind. The documentary aspect of the exhibition is also of interest, as it features drawings (sketches), documents and photographs, related to the artist’s life and career. Some of them are exhibited for the first time.

The exhibition features more than 80 paintings, graphic art and ceramic art works belonging to the Sofia City Art Gallery, the National Art Gallery, the Historical Museum of the Town of Balchik, the Plovdiv City Art Gallery, the “Old Plovidv” Municipal Institute, the Stara Zagora City Art Gallery, the “Iliya Petrov” Razgrad City Art Gallery, the “Dimitar Dobrovich” Sliven City Art Gallery, The “Iliya Beshkov” Pleven City Art Gallery, the Ruse City Art Gallery, the “Ivan Funev” Vratsa City Art Gallery, the “Svetlin Rusev” Donation-Collection – city of Pleven, the “Svetlin Rusev” Studio-Collection – Sofia, the “Boyan Radev” collection and other private collections. The exhibition was organized with support from and in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, the “Archives” State Agency.

An exhibition catalogue is available in Bulgarian and English.

NADEZHDA KOUTEVA FROM SAMOTHRAKI TO SOFIA

17 April 2012 - 12 May 2012

Nadezhda Kouteva is an artist exceptionally consistent in her plastic pursuits. The structure of her paintings is characterized by a slight, anxious vibration as if an ethereal breeze is swaying the space and everything within it, blowing harder at times, tilting trees and people. Architecture plays an increasingly important role in her works perhaps because it quietens the gusts of wind so as not to blow the people away. Those people are restless – like embarrassed extras accidentally gotten into the shot, hastening to get out of it at the risk of being broken up by its end. When decked out in national costume, their demeanour changes and their frieze movement turns into ritual chain dance and chant sung from music on an invisible stave for which the picture space is often not sufficient – then Nadezhda Kuteva arranges them on the next line dividing the space in belts. As melody carriers they are impersonal, unrecognizable, rhythmic accents rather than a presence charged with meaning, even when caught in the foreground. The drawings in the exhibition reveal the attention with which architectural objects are composed, the main goal being the vibrating of the space between and within them. The significance of space in her most successful works is dominant, that is why the place preferred for still life is the window sill. When skies and sea waves are not sufficient, the reflections of the clouds passing by come to the aid.

In this traveller’s exhibition temples take a special place. Something happens in the reflected light around St. Geroge’s Rotunda, the silhouettes of the visitors in the Russian Church are reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance, the saints walk about together with the worshippers in the half-demolished Nessebar church of St. John Theologian where light and winds rush in from all directions.

Works in the collections of The National Art Gallery, Sofia City Art Gallery, the Art Galleries of Gabrovo, Kjustendil, Plovdiv, Sliven, Stara Zagora; The Humour and Satire House, Gabrovo, Poland, Slovakia and Private Collections in Bulgaria, England, Germany, Korea, USA, France, Holland, Japan.