Tenyu Pindarev Jubilee exhibition
24 March 2006 - 22 April 2006
Tenyu Pindarev is one of the acknowledged senior artists among Bulgarian cartoonists. More than 60 years of creative activity have secured him an honorary place not only on the pages of all comic publications but also in the minds of thousands of viewers for whom the simplified, expressive humour has long become the trade mark of a unique and unforgettable style.
At the time he started his career as a cartoonist Tenyu Pindarev was already an accomplished artist and also a person with sensitive civil consciousness. The abrupt and curving line of his cartoons gains in spirituality from his dignified human stand that denies cruelty, injustice and hypocrisy, ridicules stupidity, loathes moral debauchery and sympathizes with the wrongly treated simplicity and goodness. His humour is sparing and forgiving and warmed by his understanding of the innocent vices of man.
He also works in the field of graphic art and is the author of a number of lithographic cycles. He illustrates books, comic literature mainly. He is the author of numerous posters as well as comic portraits of eminent Bulgarians.
The exhibition in Sofia Art Gallery is dedicated to his 85th anniversary and includes 70 works from different periods of his creative career. Among them are the cycles devoted to Aleko Konstantinov and Choudomir, some friendly comic portraits of famous people, mainly artists whom the author loved and respected as well as lots of cartoons on different topics, some of which have become emblematic as a reflection of important events in the political and spiritual world.
What presents a particular interest is the piece called At Stoyan Venev's Jubilee Exhibition in 1964 which was created between 1998-2001. It includes 204 comic portraits of eminent culture makers of that period.
Tenyu Pindarev was born in 1921 in the town of Kazanluk. In 1946 he graduated in painting from the Academy of Arts under Professor Ilia Petrov. In 1948 he was appointed artistic editor in "Sturshel" newspaper where he worked until 1980. Then he spent four years on the editorial staff of "Caricature" magazine. He took part in numerous cartoon exhibitions at home and abroad – Gabrovo, Moscow, Berlin, Havana, Prague, Budapest etc. He has also got a prize for excellent presentation in Montreal and first prize from the international exhibition in Trento, Italy. Works of his are among the possessions of the National Art Gallery, the House of Humour and Satire in Gabrovo, the art galleries of Kazanluk, Plovdiv, Varna, Turgovishte, Razgrad and private home and foreign collectors. Holder of the Medal Order of Cyril and Methodius. Honorary citizen of the town of Kazanluk.
Illustrator Lyuben Zidarov's The Complete and Incomplete Andersen
"I have illustrated Andersen's fairy tales four times at different points of my career as an illustrator, which is a strong proof of how long I have carried this author inside.
For me, however, he also proved to be the most difficult one since the fairy tales read by an adult were no longer stories about people and animals but a whole world carrying the philosophy and wisdom of the eternal in the moral code of mankind.
In the course of many years I collected documental material about the time of Andersen and my trip to Denmark gave me the unique chance to immerse in the atmosphere of his world.
It gave me the opportunity to make a new attempt at the last, fourth and unfortunately not completed edition, to turn my back on precise information and to plunge into the psychological substance of fairy tales.
The distance of time will undoubtedly decide whether the new illustrations are the best ones and if, despite my professional experience, they are not much the worse for the lack of the romanticism and imperfection of a young beginner …"
Lyuben Zidarov
ACTION: CONTEMPORARY ART Sasho Stoitzov. Waterfall
The aim of "Action: Contemporary Art" is to enrich the "Contemporary Art and Photography" collection of Sofia Art Gallery and to stimulate the most innovative trends in Bulgarian art. It is the gallery staff's deep conviction that the mission of the museum is to follow, choose and preserve the best examples of both the past and present art history. The absence of a Museum of contemporary art makes this function even more necessary under the existing circumstances. For more than 20 years several generations of artists have been working in the field of the modern means of expression without their works being placed in museum collections. This disconcerting fact makes us undertake more active steps towards the preservation of this particular art.
After the exhibitions of Nadezhda Oleg Lyahova and Boryana Dragoeva in 2004 and 2005, Sofia Art Gallery is now showing the donation of artist Sasho Stoitsov. The "Waterfall" installation includes acrylic board plastic pieces, drawings, oils and prints.
Sasho Stoitzov's name (b. 1952) is among the most renowned ones in the history of contemporary Bulgarian art. Having started his career as a painter he was among the first artists to respond to the changes in the late eighties of the 20th century. His works dating from that time are among the classics of the Bulgarian avant-garde. Sasho Stoitzov is one of the few artists whose name is associated with the notion of Soc-Art.
Since 1998 the artist has been living and working in New York. After a few years' break Sasho Stoitzov made a striking comeback to his homeland first with the "Naturally" exhibition in the National Art Gallery in 2004 and then with the "Waterfall"
exhibition (first shown in Solers Gallery in 2005).
With "Waterfall" Sasho Stoitsov has tried to create a minimalist depiction of nature and in a specific, unobtrusive yet expressive manner to convey the sense of elemental power and authenticity.
Sofia Art Gallery and the 8th of March Group present: REFLECTIONS MULTIPLIED Adelina Popnedeleva, Alla Georgieva, Anna Hen-Yossifova, Elena Karamihailova, Elisaveta Konsoulova-Vazova, Princess Evdokia, Mariela Gemisheva, Nadezhda Oleg Lyahova, Nevena Gancheva, Nina Kovacheva, Silvia Lazarova, Todorka Bourova, Tzana Ivanova-Boyadjieva, Vera Ivanova
The exhibition is a try at a mirror reconsideration of history. It is a "tête-à-tête"" of two generations of lady artists: the first "bunch" of graduates from art academies in Bulgaria who advocated the right of the "fair sex" to deal seriously with art, and artists who in late 20th century understood art as an avenue to convey messages and to provoke public opinion.
The mirror approach in the construction of the exhibition is not a haphazard choice. First, the mirror is an attribute, which is invariably associated with the female principle. Second, the mirror is a common motif in the pictures of the lady artists from the early 20th century whereas the series of self-portraits from the end of the century just allude to it. Third, the mirror carries divine and magic characteristics that are typical of art and women alike. Fourth, speculum (the Latin word for mirror) is a gyno examination instrument, which is interpreted by Luce Irigaray as a symbol of the male penetration into the opposite sex based on the idea of "nonexistence" and cavity. This is how feminism is incorporated into the subject. Fifth, the mirror refers to thinking because of the etymology of the word speculum – from speculor meaning "to speculate" in the sense of "to think" or "to reflect". This adds to the ambition of the provocative nature of the exhibition. Last but not least the speculum is associated with a spectacular performance (spectaculum), which is the quintessence of any exhibition.
Probably the opposition (or juxtaposition) seems audacious from the perspective of the tolerant theory of art. However, almost seventy years and many other lady artists are intervening between these two generations… The contrast is deliberate as sometimes it best expresses the essence and, moreover, the approach has its raison d'être. The two groups of artists have many things in common. The former protested and asked to attend the nude painting classes in the Art Academy, to have their artworks displayed in general exhibitions side by side with the works of artists from the opposite sex, to organize their own exhibitions and to be treated in a serious way. The latter tried to raise taboo questions that for many years before them were unuttered in the guise of fear and inertia. The former were trained abroad and brought home the trends of Impressionism and Expressionism. The latter experimented with media and means of expression that previously were not employed in Bulgarian art. As regards the subject matter, the affinity is undeniable: both groups are definitely introspective. Self-portrait appears to be the commonest choice. Understandably, the reasons are far from being identical. In the early 20th century the self-portrait stood for growing self-confidence and self-consciousness. At the end of the century the self-portrait was the vehicle of inner drama and anxiety and raised many questions. The exhibition seeks to highlight the similarities and dissimilarities in the attitude to the still life, the male nude body and the portrait. In fact the real mirror is the spectator who is the "looking glass" of destinies, ambitions and achievements that, while being distant from each other in time, are kindred in a deeply intrinsic way.
Are reflections possible in this parade of mirrors? Will it be possible to catch the image or will the image dissolve and disappear into the infinity of variations? We count not on the categoricalness achieved but on diversity. The purpose of the exhibition is to multiply the reflections and to make the diversity, intricacy and even confusion of the reflections provoke a discussion.
Maria Vassileva
Exhibition Curator