Opening: Tuesday, 27 October, 6 p.m.
Hall 24, Kvadrat 500
The ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ National Endowment Fund is visiting the National Gallery to present ‘Inspiration’, an exhibition by Karlovo artist Ivan Tomanov (1956–2017). The event is part of the programme marking the 45th anniversary of the Fund’s foundation.
The exhibition features some 20 sculptures and over ten drawings by the artist, as well as a portrait of him by painter Dimitar Lalev. The exhibits include a version of the composition, ‘Memory’ (2004), which was specially commissioned by the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, where it is kept to this day.
Ivan Tomanov graduated from the Secondary School of Arts in Sofia in 1974, and acquired a degree in Sculpture at the National Academy of Arts in 1983, under Prof. Boris Gondov.
Art historian and exhibition curator Assoc. Prof. Boris Danailov said about the artist:
‘We should stress that, alongside its extraordinary breadth, Ivan Tomanov’s oeuvre reveals a reflexive insight into the issues of contemporary art—a quality rarely encountered in these latitudes.’
‘His exhibition, “Untitled: Drawings, Simulacra” (Karlovo, 2015; Sofia, 2016) still remains unique in the history of our culture. Above all by the fact that it dramatises the issue of expendability of the artist and the end of art itself. Without passing definitive judgments on these issues, Ivan Tomanov imposes something fundamental that is also valid for his entire oeuvre: works of art are not intended for ephemeral admiration; rather, they demand a certain tension in the process of perception, which enkindles reflections on their conception, maturation, and plastic creation. Whence, the primary focus of his creative inspiration: not so much to appeal to the public as it is to make it [people] think…’
Media partner: BТА / Bulgarian News Agency.
Assoc. Prof. Boris Danailov
