Ivan Andonov, paintings – 27.04.-15.05.2021

Ivan Andonov /1934-2011/

paintings

27.04.-15.05.2021

THE ART OF IVAN ANDONOV

With the animated films he created during the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s Ivan Andonov declared himself an artist who experimented with different styles and techniques. He was the first in Bulgaria to use the paint on glass technique. After 1971 he devoted himself to live action films, but he continued to work in the field of painting. His earlier works exhibit a peculiar confrontation between the conventionality of minimalist realism and the colorful poetry of  abstractionism, which prevails in his later works. Ivan Andonov’s art can be placed between the strange signs and figures of Wassily Kandinsky and the magical combinations of forms, colors and rhythms of Paul Klee, which open the doors to abstractionism, towards the chromatic and monochromatic palette of Mark Rothko and SergePoliakoff’s decorative emotive color harmonies. These analogies prove that Ivan Andonov’s canvases are commensurable with some of the best representatives of 20th century art. The exquisite, well-balanced abstract compositions and the rich colours transform his paintings into a visual poetry of sorts, which would make any prestigious gallery in our country and abroad proud to exhibit them. Ivan Andonov’s pictorial heritage is yet to be fully appreciated and take its due place in the treasure-house of Bulgarian culture.

Pencho Kunchev