EQUILIBRIUM/РАВНОВЕСИЕ: LYRICAL AND EXPRESSIVE EXHIBITION PAINTING AND DRAWINGS BY VASILEN VASEVSKI AND ALEXANDER TELALIM
July 21 - August 20, 2021
Opening: July 20, 7 pm by Professor Chavdar Popov
Triangular tower of Serdica
Sofia, 16 Knyaginya Maria Luiza Blvd.
The exhibition "EQUILIBRIUM/РАВНОВЕСИЕ: LYRICAL AND EXPRESSIVE" brings together paintings, watercolors and drawings by two Bulgarian authors who develop their creative potential at home and abroad. Two directions from different parts of the world; two different lives and two artistic careers, which, according to some hidden regularity, constantly intersect over the years. This is how we can briefly describe the artists Alexander Telalim and Vasilen Vassevski. They met as students at the Academy of Arts in Sofia in the mid-1990s and quickly discovered that their worldview and style were similar. They started exhibiting together in the distant 1996 (the National Exhibition "Drawing" in the halls of the Union of Bulgarian Artists), to continue later in tandem through New York (2007), Sofia (2009), Chicago (2010) and Troyan (2015)
The current exhibition is their next joint appearance in front of the audience. The title "EQUILIBRIUM/РАВНОВЕСИЕ: LYRICAL AND EXPRESSIVE" in addition to fully reflecting the style of each of them, can be decoded on several other levels - the balance between inner and outer peace achieved with the help of art; as well as the established equality of an author's idea and a material that seems to sound with its own voice (whether it is watercolor, acrylic or oil paints). And perhaps most importantly - the message to each of us to seek more harmony in our recent turbulent times.
Alexander was born in Bessarabia, but returned to his native Bulgaria in 1995. Vasilen settled in America in 1999. Their emigrant destinies differ, but also repeat in many ways. Living in another world helps them see themselves and their art in a new way. And to find universal themes that excite, to make people empathize with their spiritual discoveries.
The new joint exhibition of Alexander and Vasilen shows that the dialogue in the life and art of the two continues, despite the distance. It continues as a journey to new and unknown spiritual territories.
The initiative is part of the partnership between the State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Regional History Museum of Sofia and aims to present contemporary Bulgarian art for the purposes of cultural diplomacy.
Vasilen Vassevski has been painting for more than 30 years, of which 20 years he has lived and worked in Chicago, USA. There he is a professor of painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Harold Washington College and an active participant in the life of the Bulgarian community in the city.
In 1997 he graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia with a degree in Painting, and in 2003 from Indiana - Pardew University, Fort Wayne, USA, with a degree in Commercial Arts. He has participated in numerous exhibitions in various galleries and museums in the United States, the Netherlands and Bulgaria, one of which at the National Art Gallery in Sofia, 2012.
He has won several awards, including the Illinois Arts Council Award (2009, 2007) and the Skoki Artists Guild Award, USA (2013).
Alexander Telalim is a Bulgarian from Bessarabia, in 1995 he moved to Bulgaria, where he graduated in "Mural Painting" at the National Academy of Arts. One of the best Bulgarian watercolorists, he has repeatedly presented the art of Bulgaria to the world - in Europe, America and Japan. An artist with a wide creative range, whose art is perceived as a kind of bridge between the two cultures - East and West.
He created a unique synthesis of Eastern and Western calligraphy, as well as his own "stained glass watercolor" technique. He has organized over 70 solo exhibitions, participated in joint exhibitions of the International Watercolor Society (Fabriano, Hong Kong, Delhi, Varna), in "Masters of Watercolor" in St. Petersburg (2015 and 2018), "First Flight" - First exhibition of contemporary Bulgarian art (BCI, London), "Far from yesterday: New Bulgarian art" (Chicago).
He teaches Drawing and Art History for designers at It Step Academy, Sofia.