Italian artist Attilio Taverna delivered the lecture "Dora Vallier's Pure Visibility" in Academia Gallery
2026.04.22
On 20 April 2026, the Italian artist Attilio Taverna delivered the lecture "Dora Vallier's Pure Visibility" in the Academia Gallery. The event was jointly organised by the National Academy of Art and the Italian Cultural Institute in Sofia. It was dedicated to the theoretical legacy of the world-famous art critic of Bulgarian origin Dora Uvalieva, known in the world of humanities as Dora Vallier. The focus of the lecture was the concept of "pure visibility" and its development in Vallier's work. Taverna traced her path from leaving Bulgaria in 1950 to her establishment in Paris as one of the most respected researchers of contemporary art. It was emphasised that her specific interpretations of artists such as Malevich and Mondrian stems from her in-depth knowledge of Byzantine art, the theology of icon, and the works of Pavel Florensky.
During the meeting, Attilio Taverna explained how Vallier connects the “abstract mutation” in art with the scientific breakthroughs in the 20th century. In her fundamental work “Abstract Art”, she examines the changes in understanding of spatiality brought about by non-Euclidean geometry and quantum physics. Taverna shared his experience as an artist, who transfers these complex ideas onto the canvas, exploring the connections between mathematics, architecture and aesthetics.