Exhibition: TOWARDS THE SOURCE – works of art created at the plain air in the village of Momchilovtsi

2024.01.15

Study on the egg tempera technique and possibilities for its application in modern painting

15–31 January 2024

Opening: 15 January 2024, 6:00pm, Sofia Press Gallery& Bookstore

29 Slavyanska Street, Sofia

On 15 January 2024, the exhibition "Towards the Source" will be opened in the Sofia Press Gallery-Bookstore, which presents works by the participants in the "Towards the Source" project, including a plein air in the village of Momchilovtsi for the revival of the egg-tempera icon painting technique, applying it in the creation of contemporary works of art. The head of the project is Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD – teacher of Drawing at the National Academy of Art and Head of the Department of Drawing.

It is known that the village of Momchilovtsi has been a gathering centre for woodcarvers, icon painters, mural painters, and stonemasons. Marks of their craftsmanship are visible in the church, the bell tower, and the numerous chapels. The encounter of young artists with the old masters' creativity enriched the young people's knowledge and gave them the opportunity to apply the old technologies in contemporary art. It is not by accident that the village is called the Rhodopian Tarnovo – it attracted the great artist Ivan Mrkvička, who created his painting "Wedding in Momchilovtsi" in this particular place.

During the plein air, Assoc. Prof. Atanasov supervised the demonstrations to illustrate the entire process – from the preparation of the board (gluing the canvas, priming with chalk primer, preparation of egg emulsion with pigments) to the sequence of applying the paints, to the gilding and varnishing of the finished work.

Participants

Students from the Department of Painting, the Department of Mural Painting, and the Department of Printmaking at the National Academy of Art – Sofia and the Burgas Branch:

Simona Yordanova, Aleksandra Nikolova, Lilyana Aleksandrova, Ralitsa Vatseva, Svetoslav Ninov, Filip Filipov, Hanko Sedefchev, Darko Sedefchev, Evtim Voinov, Kostadin Radichev, doctoral student Deyan Yanev

Leader: Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD

The project is financed under the Programme for the Scientific, Creative and Artistic Activities of the National Academy of Art for Year 2023.