The BODY / Човешкото тяло

2022.02.16

22 February – 18 March 2022
 
Venue: Sofia Press Bookstore Gallery, 29 Slavyanska Str., Sofia
Vernissage: 22 February (Tuesday), 3:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Curator Konstantin Kostov
 

Participants in the exhibition

Teachers

Prof. Andrey Daniel, Prof. Ivan Dimov, Asst. Dr. Pravdolyub Ivanov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov and Ch. Asst. Dr. Konstantin Kostov

Painting students, Bachelor's and Master's degree, Atelier 51, National Academy of Art -- Sofia

Artemiy Ovchinkov, Vanessa Velizarova, Dara Zhelyazkova, Ivo Rangelov, Radostina Yordanova, Anna Koristashevska, Daniela Panayotova, Angela Urumova, Iliana Hristova, Liliyana Ignatova, Pavlinka Dimova, Svetoslav Hristov, Hristina Papadopoulou, Bilyana Tokmakchieva, Kostadin Radichev, Hanko Sedevchev, Aleksandar Shivarov, Martin Ivanov and Samuil Velev

 
Konstantin Kostov
 
There are original themes in art. Images of the human body have always been intriguing, infatuating and have inspired a long tradition of depiction. The challenge of rushing into personal interpretation of the theme is a manifestation of fearlessness, personal enrichment for each artist, and, why not, opening up new contexts of understanding and open meanings of the world of art. With the intention to provoke such courage, the topic emerged as a challenge during the composition classes in the Painting atelier (Atelier 51 at the National Academy of Art). It is a traditional for the atelier, until recently led by Prof. Andrey Daniel, to propose a theme that will become a reason for future research in the field of painting. As the current head of the atelier, I continued this tradition and during the last academic year my proposal was "The Body", namely. At first glance, the provocation seems to be purely genre-specific, but over time, the conversations with the students began to enrich the contextual and conceptual connotations of the problems in painting. Studies of identity, beauty, religion, absence, sex and gender, power, the boundaries of the corporeal, the destroyed or sick body, and the body in an interrelation with space have become available.

Nowadays, in the era of supermodels and super athletes, a new immediacy is achieved in understanding of the private and the public body. This wide range continues to be sought in contemporary exhibitions. It can be detected starting from the traditional mediums used in the educational process in realising the academic assignments. It is also found in focus studies of the naked body as a provocative thought and perception of it through time, across cultures and mediums. This is just one example of how the paintings of "The Body" continue to deeply inflame passion, provoke controversy and interest at all levels of society, and even reach those who test the boundaries of indecency or understanding.

The body is a true reflection of this enchantment - an exciting and provocative record of the artist's passion for the human figure. The exhibition brings to the attention of the audience paintings by students from Atelier 51, as a result of their one-year research on the theme and genre. The exhibition will also feature works by their teachers -- artists who have addressed the theme more than once along their creative path.

With the support of Union of Bulgarian Artists and National Academy of Art
 
 

Share

Back Back to top