Historical Bulgarian of the Week - Silvia Dimitrova
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The weeks post will be about another artist. I must say that I am really very impressed with the painters, sculptors and writers that this country has produced. They continue to blow my away. The more I learn about the more surprised I am. Great art comes from this country and it has so for many years. Take for example this weeks Historical Bulgaria:
Silvia Dimitrova, which is "Силвия Димитрова" in Bulgarian (CLICK HERE FOR HER OFFICIAL WEBSITE), was born in 1970 in the town of Pleven, she is a painter of icons, as well as a few other, more contemporary works. Icons are very important here in Bulgaria, which is largely Bulgarian Orthodox in religion and she is recognized as one of the best.
According to her web-site, where most of this information came from, "She works in the traditional technique of icon painting - egg tempera on wood, and her work covers the whole spectrum of traditional Bulgarian icons and original works". Below I have included some samples of her Icons:
She has held a solo exhibition in Rueil-Malmaison, a suburb of Paris in 1997. In 1999 she was commissioned by a monastery in Wells called "Downside Abbey", which was completed shortly before the outbreak of WWI, to pain the Icon of St. Benenict (Pictured below).
She then began working, in 2000, at the Wells Cathedral as an artist-in-residence where she painted the 14 Stations of the Cross. In the same year she was nominated for a "European Women of Achievement" Award in the field of Arts. In that same year she had work displayed at St. Paul's Cathedral in London and Hertford College in Oxford.
For a long and detailed list of her more notable exhibitions and commissions feel free to go to her web-site.
Her is a brief sample of some of her secular work:
A quote on her work: "Silvia Dimitrova's art is a vibrant gift from God to people of various Christian traditions and also to those who do not yet believe. Her two styles of traditional Bulgarian icons and modern love paintings, the sacred and the secular, enrich and influence each other. They are inspiring in their profundity and fecundity."
Canon Dr Graham Kings,
Vicar of St Mary Islington
She currently lives and works in the United Kingdom.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed.
Until next time this is Kashkaval Pane signing off.
Posted byPavel at 1:51 PM 1 comments
Labels: Art, Bulgarian History, religion
Historical Bulgarian of the Week - Christo Vladimirov Javacheff
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, better known simply as "Christo", was born on June 13th in the year 1935 in the town of Gabrovo. In the mid-1950s he studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia and in 1957 he spent a semester at the Vienna Fine Arts Academy.
Moving to Paris in 1958 he meet his future wife and constant work-assossiate Jeanne-Claude, who was born Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon on June 13, 1935, in Casablanca. Together they would create many pieces of art ranging many dealing with environmental projects that involve "elements of architecture, sculpture, painting and urban planning".
Samples of their work are the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin, the Pont Neuf Bridge in Paris, the Gates in Central Park, Ney York City, the Surrounded Islands in Miami, Florida, and the Running Fence in Marin and Sonoma Counties, California.
On May 11th of 1960 they had a son named Cyril, May 11. He went on to study at Cornell University and Columbia University in 1982. Publishing five books of poetry.
Stacked Oil Barrels, Dockside Packages at Cologne Harbor.,
Iron Curtain-Wall of Oil Barrels, Rue Visconti, Paris, 1961-62
The family packed up and moved to New York City in 1964. There they began working on many incredible and interesting pieces in America, such as; Wrapped Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago., 
Wrapped Floor and Stairway. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago., 
The Umbrellas, Japan-U.S.A., 1984-91., 
Over The River, Project for The Arkansas River, Colorado.As well as continuing many international projects as well such as Wrapped Fountain and Wrapped Medieval Tower, Spoleto, Italy, Wrapping of a Public Building "Wrapped Kunsthalle Berne 1967-1968", 5,600 Cubicmeter Package, Documenta 4, Kassel, Germany 1967-68
Wrapped Coast, Little Bay,, Wrapped Monuments, Milano: Monument to Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza del Duomo, Milano, Italy., Monument to Leonardo da Vinci, Piazza della Scala, Milano, Italy., Valley Curtain, Grand Hogback, Rifle, Colorado, 1970-72,, The Wall, Wrapped Roman Wall, Via V. Veneto and Villa, Borghese, Rome, Italy.
The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975-85.
Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95.
Wrapped Trees, Fondation Beyeler and Berower Park, Riehen-Basel, Switzerland 1997-98. The Wall,13,000 Oil Barrels, Gasometer, Oberhausen, Germany,1998-99.
One of, if not their most, famous pieces of works is The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005. Which consists of "7,503 vinyl gates, with free-flowing nylon fabric panels, anchored to 15,006 steel bases on 37 kilometers", or 23 miles for those folks in America, of walkways.
Feel free to check out his web-site by CLICKING HERE. It is full of information and in English, which is a definate plus. If your appitite for Christo has not been satisfied feel free to read more information HERE.I hope you all enjoyed this weeks edition and that you all had a fantastic Europe Day yesterday!
Take care and until next time this is Kashkaval Pane.
4ao 4ao.
Posted byPavel at 1:26 PM 0 comments
Labels: Art, Bulgarian History
