NYAB Event - "Turning the Corner" Exhibition

"Turning the Corner" Exhibition

532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel

This event has ended.

The title of this exhibition invites a host of interpretations, each of which describes an aspect of Iliyan Ivanov’s art and may allude to the fact that the right side of the triptych called Apocalyptic Unicorn wraps from one of our gallery’s walls to the next. The abrupt 90 degree turn animates the mythical beast, separating the dark, equine body from its pale, one-horned head. Perhaps we should say further separating, in view of the difference between the way the head and body are painted – opaque off-white acrylic versus black rivulets that look a bit like an oil slick and a bit like a Pollock. If the split between head and torso sets us to musing about the mind/body dichotomy, the creature’s quizzical stare suggests a question: “Did you know that according to legend, only a virgin can tame a unicorn?”

That particular and now-obscure belief was common knowledge in the Renaissance, when Titian wielded his brush. Along with other art historical luminaries, this cinquecento giant is referenced in a trio of Ivanov’s paintings that reconfigure the masters’ familiar female archetypes in unfamiliar ways. Midnight Maids places Titian’s comely, fur-clad young lover in the company of an androgynous figure derived from Gold, a symbolist work painted in 1899 by the Czech artist Frantisek Kupka. In Evening Maids, one of Tintoretto’s angels flies in to greet Velazquez’s sole surviving nude, The Rokeby Venus. The pair depicted in Morning Maids trace their lineage back to Francois Boucher. All of these old, august icons are punctuated by bits of modern-day static that take the form of inverted letters, dollar and cent-signs.

Serving to counterpoint the Maids, two formidable male images complete Ivanov’s exhibition. Worrier King I and Worrier King II each depict a huge head, facing us and wearing a golden helmet that bears a striking resemblance to the domed architecture in Ivanov’s Bulgarian homeland. Energetic, multi-colored brushstrokes outline their features, which include three sets of wide-open eyes. Judging from the way these heads fill the rectangle, they might be giants, or too close for comfort, or both. Certainly they are paradigms rather than portraits, at home in ancient times, and in our dreams. Look carefully, and you’ll find that the nose and brows of both Worrier Kings conceal the form of an angel.