MYTHIC LORE

Etchings & Paintings by Stoimen Stoilov
Sculptures by Dana Naumann

Opening: Saturday, August 2nd, 4:00 to 6:30 pm
Refreshments.

The Naumann Gallery
279 Branford Road
North Branford, CT  06471 (map)
(203) 430-2179

Curated by Johnes Ruta

STOIMEN STOILOV, born in Varna, Bulgaria, 1944, is a prominent Eastern European artist. He grew up on the coast of the Black Sea,
but presently lives and works in his Vienna studio.  He is a graduate of the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia.  
As a first-class engraver of Surrealist articulations, he has attained a maturity of touch, detail, expressivity, and dynamism of
line which envision of the most obscure recesses of the body of the being, of the animal, of nature and environment, indigenous
history, and the minutae of body language,  acquiring a lightness which makes them float in a space of imaginary landscapes.

Early in his career, Stoimen created a cycle of drawings based on The Balkan Legends, a renown book by Yordan Yakov, being attracted by the
poetic atmosphere that the author based on old myths and legends. The proud spirit of the voivode fighters against the Turkish oppressors meets
the fascinating feminity of the Bulgarian women, and despite tragic times, love shines its divine light in an apotheosis.  His figures represent 
medieval archetypes of knights and their ladies, or their squire companion, thespians, animals, mythic characters, and mechanical beings. 
Stoilov's mastery of lithography where, for example, with a simple, pale yellow wash and a few inspired slashes of red and gray,
he suggests whole worlds of color that aren't really there.
                                                                                                                                                                                              

        Stoimen's art has been influenced by time living among Aborigies.in Australia, and by the poetry of Lyubomir Levchev (1935-2020)
Poet Laureate of Bulgaria, and William Meredith (1919-2007) US Poet Laureate 978-1980, whose legacy Foundation represents in the US. Stoimen was awarded Gottfried Von Herder Prize by The University of Vienna in 1991.His work resides in many museums all over Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia.   Mr. Stoilov is represented in the US by the WilliamMeredithFoundation.

DANA BALDWIN NAUMANN creates fanciful and fabulous sculpture, crafted from lead sheets coated with copper or zinc patinas. His hammer​ed sculptures are studies in texture, soft and warm- looking even though metal surfaces.  Naumann had successful
 marketing careers with Westinghouse, and IBM, but in 1994 he decided to devote his life to his art, a decision he's never regretted.  He's contributed sculptures to the permanent collections of the US Special Olympics, a piece on the Holocaust to the Thomas Dodd Center at UCONN, and to the New Haven Aids Project. His works have been shown at Art Expo NYC, Gallerie Michele Washington DC, and the
Vital Gallery in Hawaii.

Art critic Steve Starger wrote: "Naumann's finely wrought sculptures aren't depressing or oppressive. He draws on African and mythological references to create monolithic faces that are inspired by ritual masks and statuary, like totems left from a long-vanished
 civilization. Elongated faces appear aloof and ascetic, but are also strangely poignant, and each emanates a sense of mystery and longing."