ART EXHIBIT-Izlojba na Christo Popoff, nad 110 kartini.
TICNICK
!!!!! --- You may call tha artist Mr. Christo Popoff at (818) 792-6774. --- !!!!!
ART EXHIBIT (last day of the exhibit will be May 4th)
BY THE FAMOUS BULGARIAN ARTIST, Mr. CHRISTO POPOFF
in the city of Pasadena, California.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF BULGARIAN CULTURE
cordially invites you, your family and friends to attend the
ART EXHIBIT - You can call Mr. Christo Popoff at the art exibit: 818 792-6774
April 18-27 (extended to May 4th), 1997. (Poradi golemijat interest hudojnika shte prodwlji izlojbata s oshte edna sedmiza do 4-ti Mai)
Monday - Friday: 10am - 8pm.
Saturday - Sunday: 12noon-7pm
Location: PASADENA, California, 230 E. Colorado Blvd.
Free parking across the street: Corner Marengo Ave. and Green Street
Travel information: From L.A. take 210 East to Pasadena, exit Fair Oaks South, make left turn on Colorado Blvd, then right (south) on Marengo, right into parking building. Cross Marengo and enter into 230 Colorado Blvd.
ENCHANTING AMERICA AND SUNNY BULGARIA
Oil paintings, engravings and lithographs by the Bulgarian-American artist
Christo Popoff
The selected artwork represent the most popular places and towns of his “old country” and the United States
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BORDERLESS ART, TIMELESS VISIONS
Christo Popoff’s tranquil landscapes derive from three continents
By Charlotte Berney
Images in paintings by Christo Popoff stay in the mind long after they are seen. A narrow passage down an ancient street in Bulgaria, a serene vista of snowcapped peaks in the rockies, or a hidden garden in the New Mexican sun - once rendered on canvas by this exceptional landscape painter, they claim a quiet place in one's memory.
The main elements of Popoff's world are nature, architecture, light and color, all suffused with tranquility and a feeling of balance. There is always a consciousness of the seasons - the artist makes dramatic use of spring foliage, autumn color and heavy snowfalls, And, while figures only occasionally inhabit the landscapes in his paintings, there is an awareness of the human presence, as though a traveler has just climbed a hill or turned a corner and come upon a compelling scene.
And perhaps that is the way it really happens, for Christo Popoff has made all the world his subject matter. He has spent a lifetime traveling with sketchbook and paints to find a quality of beauty in structures, light and land. Eastern and Western Europe, Brazil, Peru, Canada, Mexico, and his adopted country, the United States, have all yielded to his talents. "I can't imagine a life without painting," he says. "I would die without it. If someone asks why I paint, I tell them that one is born to do something. When one sings, there is no philosophy in it. One just sings."
Popoff's journey began in Bulgaria, land of his birth. "I was born in Svishtov on the Danube," he says, "a small town that was an ancient center of Bulgarian culture." His father was a lawyer and a judge, so his family moved around to different towns in his youth. By five years old, he recalls, laughing, he had decided to become "either an artist, a circus man or a wagon driver." Art training followed with two famed Bulgarian artists, Boris Denev and Nlcola Tanev, yet family pressure decreed that he would study law.
Popoff left Bulgaria for law studies in Heidelberg and obtained a doctorate in international labor law. Art remained a constant companion, however, and after the war, he continued to paint and illustrate, showing a talent for cartoons.
Art came to the fore for the young man when he emigrated to Brazil and worked there for years as an illustrator. In Brazil, he met his wife, Assia, who is also Bulgarian. The couple returned to Heidelberg where Christo studied medical illustration, a course that secured him a university post in Heidelberg, Indiana, and a later one in Illinois. They have two children - a daughter and a son. -
After 38 years' absence, Popoff returned to his homeland. His official reason was to attend a university conference, but the trip provided an opportunity to revisit the places of his childhood and youth. This was the first of many trips to Bulgaria, and in 1990, he went back as an official observer for the first free elections in that country since World War II. He returned from these sojourns with a heightened appreciation of the visual beauty of his former country.
"Bulgaria is rich in architecture," Popoff says, "and that is not well known in this country.” Castles, mountain villages and ancient monasteries appear in his series of Bulgarian works. These paintings also reveal stone streets and bridges, earth-toned facades, overhung roofs with decorative brackets, and other features of Old World architecture, as well as splendid natural settings - mountain valleys, forested uplands, cities perched on sweeping cliffs. They provide a glimpse into a remote and fascinating land.
Popoff first saw Santa Fe in 1974. In 1982 his wife started building costumes for the Santa Fe Opera, work she still performs. She would spend May through August in town, and he would visit her. The couple moved to Santa Fe in 1996. Popoff comments, "I really feel at home here with the mountains and the small villages. The adobe architecture. These are like my country. I also like the presence of art and artists here and the combination of nature and culture." He continues to travel and to paint, locally, regionally (Arizona, Colorado, California) and internationally. As he has done throughout his life, he often goes out into nature, hiking and camping.
Popoff paints primarily with oils and palette knife. "I start with a brush and end with the palette knife - I feel the color is clearer that way." He admires American landscape painters as well as the French impressionists for "the freedom they found to oppose the past." Freedom of expression in art has always been important to him, in part because his other career - medical illustration - is so disciplined.
There is a difference, as well between Popoff’s cityscapes and landscapes. "When I am painting examples of classic Bulgarian architecture, I apply more details so that they are faithfully represented. With pure landscape there is more freedom to respond to light and atmosphere."
Another concept - that of being in harmony with one's work - underlies his approach. "When you oppose your own work," he says, "it becomes much more difficult. When you are in harmony with it, it can be an enormous source of enjoyment."
When asked about his way of working, Popoff replies, "My goal is to find a place I’m attracted to. Why am I attracted? There is a certain quality in the nature or in the architecture. Then my goal is to represent the light. I choose morning or afternoon light because the shadows add interest to the setting."
He further comments about art, "There is no way to understand art outside of feeling. It is not something that is understood. One can not 'decide' anything about art. It's a matter of feeling and emotion - a subjective thing."
In all of his work there is that element of serene contemplation, and Popoff says, "Yes, my work has a peaceful quality, an optimism." This is not surprising from someone who has been called a "bridge builder" for his international work in cultural and institutional exchange, and for whom humor and an upbeat attitude are significant qualities.
With his images, this bridge builder links view and viewer, past and present,Old World and New World.
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Christo Popoff Studio
1706 Paseo de la Conquistadora
Santa Fe, NM 87501-2339
Tel & Fax (505)820-6655
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Posted by Nick Bonev