October 30 – November 24
Little Bird Place Gallery opens its doors with the exhibition Natural Forms. You will be able to see artworks by Vasil Angelov (etching), Kalia Kalacheva (painting on wood) and Monika Naydenova (glass sculptures).
Works of art in various techniques, created by authors with an individual view and interpretation of the natural world, united in a common curatorial project and presented to the public in a friendly and charming manner. This is the direction and the temper typical of the new Sofia gallery Little Bird Place. The only art space in Bulgaria that has organized its activity around a specific thematic profile – modern and contemporary art, dedicated to nature, the biological world and ecology!
Welcome to an exhibition wandering around the dialogue between the literal and the metaphorical. Before recognized by the eye, every image is a natural form that tempts the imagination of the artist. Thus, in the flora and fauna of Vasil Angelov are hidden small artistic universes, the abstract and semi-abstract works of Monika Naydenova transform the soft natural silhouettes, and the paintings of Kalia Kalacheva inhabit the natural warmth of the wood. The dialogue between the works creates a pleasant and somehow calm sounds scape rhythm, which fills in the gallery with its colors, moods and messages.
Artists
Vasil Angelov (b. 1987)
Graduated from the National Art Academy in Sofia. He uses classical etching techniques in his work to recreate contemporary forms and subjects.
At the exhibition at Little Bird Place you will see his interpretations of natural forms – through floral motifs to the animal world, characterized by a clear focus on detail and the aesthetic value of the image – often with a winking fairy tale. Vasil Angelov is a member of the well-known art group PRINT NEST in Bulgaria – again dedicated to the graphic arts as a specific approach to art.
In 2017, Vasil won first prize in the 10th International Graphic Triennial in Kochi, Japan. Some of his most recent appearances are: 2019 International Mezzotint Festival, Ekaterinburg, Russia; 2019 Roses and Lions: Combined Exlibris Exhibition, Milan-Italy, Varna-Bulgaria; 2019 The Blue Rocket Project – Mecotint Exhibition – Traveling, France, Ekaterinburg; 2019 Exhibition With 12 hands, Rakursi Gallery; 2019 Evolution Group Exhibition at PRINT NEST Studio, UPARK gallery, Plovdiv; 2019 Entwined: Paths of experience group exhibition, OBORISHTE5 Gallery, Sofia.
Kaliya Kalacheva (b. 1986)
An MA graduate from the National Academy of Art in Sofia, Bulgaria. Over the years, she has become recognizable with the vibrant images of the urban environment, the straight and sharp structures of office buildings, the crowds and the small person in the busy modern urban life. It is through these activities that she begins to discover more deeply the presence of nature both in the city and in the inner world of modern man – increasingly in need of soft and exquisite natural forms.
At the exhibition at Little Bird Place you will see painting on wood, following the sensations of organic and inexperienced life forms. In 2011 she won the Prize for promising young artist of the Edmond Demirdjian Foundation. She was shortlisted for the 2012 MOST award. In 2017 Kaliya won the International Artist recognition at Women in the Arts Awards Celebrating the Genius of Women exhibition and competition in Orlando, Florida. Her paintings are part of the collections of Art center Hugo Voeten, Belgium, Luciano Benetton collection, Italy, National Art Gallery and Sofia City Gallery, Bulgaria. Kaliya Kalacheva was a resident artist in the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France in 2014 and Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, Schwandorf, Germany in 2016.
Monika Naydenova (b. 1982)
Graduated with a degree in Metal from the National Academy of Art in Sofia and continued with her PhD in Porcelain and Glass Design at the National Academy of Art, and is currently a lecturer at New Bulgarian University.
At the exhibition at Little Bird Place you will see her sculptures of glass, following the irrational intuitive shapes and colors of nature, the beauty and fragility of the surrounding world. Monika is a member of the board of the International Bienniale of Glass. In 2018, she won the Grand Prize of the Municipality of Pleven in the Ninth International Biennale of Small Forms, Pleven. Over the years she has made several creative specializations – blown glass – in the Czech Republic. She was a resident artist in the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France in 2014. She also founded her own studio for art glass Mohika Art Glass Studio.
Curators
Radoslav Mehandzhiyski and Teodora Konstantinova are well known with their regular lectures on contemporary art and culture, organized by Art and Culture Today – an organization they founded in 2016. They are art historians and curators, current PhD students at New Bulgarian University. Starting from 2018 another independent project of theirs is IMAGO International Artist Residency.
