Ivan Iliev,
Was born in 1951 in Burgas, Bulgaria.
1969 he moved to Sofia, studied at the Academy of Art, and after graduation
worked as a freelance artist,
as well as an Artistic Editor-in-Chief for several years.
Since 1990 he lives and works with his family in Vienna, Austria.
Besides painting, for many years he worked also as a computer graphics artist, realizing visualization projects,
commissioned by the Austrian Academy of Sciences on the topic of Archeology
Member of the “Berufsverband der Bildenden Künstler Österreichs”.
His resume includes numerous groups and solo shows internationally.
Among other:
ANIMA MUNDI, Venice 10-24 May 2024.
Under the skin, Gallery of Biblioteca Angelica-
Piazza di Sant’Agostino- Roma, 2-6 March 2024.
Der Winter ist dieVorbereitung alles Blüende, Sala Terrena Mödling 29.II-17.III.2024.
XIV Florence Biennale, Fortezza da Basso 14-22 2023.
Feuer verzhrt Wasser erhnärt, Wien 2023.
FIRENZE CONTEMPORARY 2, (A cura di rosso cinabro) 3.06 – 17.06 2023.
ART Eindhoven, 4-5 February 2023.
Ich see, Ich seh,… Kunsttreff Moosach, München 2022.
Suche nach der verstrichenen Zeit, Galerie in Eichgraben. 2022.
Opere d’arte in memoriam di Ludwig van Beethoven, Galleria ART.U’ Vicenza,
A cura di Movimento Arte del XXI Secolo 2022.
EuropArtFair Amsterdam 2021.
Meinung & Urteil, Kunstraum Wien 2021.
Palladio’s Friends, Villa Caldogno 2020.
ARTBOX PROJEKT Miami 2.0 2019.
ART PAPER INTERNATIONAL 2019, Galerie L’Atelier Hünibach, Switzerland, 2019
Kunstraum der Ringstraßen Galerien “Erdverbunden und-geschunden” Wien 2019.
Nothing but Art, Palazzo Velli Roma 2019.
Biancoscuro Art Exhibition- Contemporary Selected Artist, PAT Pavia, 2018.
Tensioni Estetiche e Moti di Spirito, Arte Borgo Gallery Roma 2018.
Art Nou Milleni Gallery Barcelona 2018.
Artisti a Confronto-ARTime Gallery Udine 2018.
Wasserwelten-der Kunstraum Gallery Wien 2017.
Certificate of Recognition at CCBA Milano Art Contest 2016.
Gallery All’Angolo Mendrisio Shwitzerland 2015.
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(Solo shows)
Palais Wittgenstein.
BAWAG Fondation.
Mödling’s Sala Terena.
Wiener Neustadt’s Stadtmuseum.
Istanbul: Gallery Barkac.
Wiener Neudorf’s Altes Rathaus.
Gallery Prisma Vienna.
Gallery Avatar Vienna.
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International Prize Donatello, 2023.
Apollo Dionysian Rome 2022, Special Merit of the Jury in for his work “Metaphysica – the four elements”.
Power of Creativity International Art Prize, CAC Magasin 2021.
‘COLLECTOR’S VISION INTERNATIONAL ART AWARD’, CAC Magazin 2021.
‘Artist of the Futur Award’, Contemporary Art Curator Magazin 2020.
II Memorial TIZIANO BERTOLO Novara Italy, first place in section painting 2019.
3rd prize at “Leonardo da Vinci in Memoriam,” Savona 2019.
Winner Artist at ARTPROTAONIST 2015 Villa Contarini.
Winner Artist at ARTPROTAONIST 2014, Treviso.
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…Drei Eckpfeiler sind die primären Charakteristika der künstlerischen Arbeit von Ivan Iliev:seine Liebe zum Detail, seine Liebe zu der Natur und seine Liebe zur Malerei der Spätrenaissance und des Barocks. Die Motive, die Iliev wählt, werden von ihm liebevoll mit akribischer Genauigkeit interpretiert und dargestellt. Sein Studium der Grafik und Illustration und seine langjährige Erfahrung auf diesem Gebiet haben sein Auge für das Detail geschult und er kann sich daher mit Leichtigkeit und Humor seinen bevorzugten Motiven in der Malerei widmen. Seine Liebe zur Natur führt ihn zur Auseinandersetzung mit Landschaft und ihrer Vegetation. Pflanzen sind für den Künstler gleich bedeutend mit einer Botschaft: aufkeimen, wachsen und vergehen. Die Liebe des Künstlers zur Malerei der alten Meister manifestiert sich in seiner Technik und seinem Detailreichtum. Man kommt nicht umhin an alte Meister wie Arcimboldo oder an niederländische Stilleben zu denken.In der reichen Farben- und Formenpracht der Bilder von Ivan Iliev finden sich deutliche Hinweise auf seine bulgarische Herkunft. Die Ornamentik, charakteristisch für die bulgarische Tradition, kann und will der Künstler nicht verleugnen und vergessen. Sie findet sich gleichsam als Leitfaden in seinen Bildern und ist fester Bestandteil seines persönlichen Stils.
Gerlinde Schrammel
IVAN ILIEV
Ivan Iliev’s artistic production conjugates, in a fervent poetic synthesis, the scrupulous observation of reality, the noblest artistic tradition of the XVII and XVIII centuries, the chromatic component and its modifications, and the combination of shapes, in a symbolism which expresses a thought or an allegory.
Nature is observed and studied in all its fascination and expressive potential, and with masterful skills, its details are reported – embedded with metaphorical meanings, in a context where the chromatic dimension actively participates to the communicative strength of the whole structure.
His lyrical vision, with the undisputed and masterful ability and knowledge of the technique, results in an imaginary idea, and in an imaginative vision of reality. The artist renders a dream world with a strong evocative value, and gives to his canvases a mysterious, inscrutable, surreal and imaginative effect, protagonist of which is a fruitful, decadent and timeless Nature.
In these captivating compositions and intense and vivid chromatic brilliance of the whole, a poetic imaginary emerges. Rich in allegories and metaphors that invite the observer to a deep analysis, going beyond the traditional aesthetical standards of Beauty, and emphasizing the allusive power of the artistic creation.
The Bulgarian origins and the past as a professional graphic designer influence his expressive language, which is charged with an attentive study of the details, and is enriched with historical elements. The Still Life tradition, the glorious Renaissance and Baroque past and the Flemish painting are strongly present in the artist’s mind throughout his whole artistic path, and are given a new life with a desire for a subjective vision, and the need to retrieve his own perceptive sphere.
Iliev is fascinated by the expressive codes of Creation, overflowing with charm and mystery, and his fascination for the real, combined with the great interpretative sensitivity, gives life to harmonic prospects, able to express that underlying potentiality that the average eye can’t grasp in everyday life. Hence the artist activates an interpretative process, which results in new meanings of the objective element.
His are paintings that impose themselves for the technical ability, precise and rich in details, chromatic intensity and scrupulous study of the light, where each element is displayed with extraordinary pictorial skills, in a chromatic magic that calls for contemplation.
His works are not limited to a subtle suggestion to admire the shape, the whole aesthetic structure, or the mere emotional transportation. They invite the observer to go beyond the known and established, towards a new dimension, rich, suggestive, and evocative.
Dr. Monica Ferrarini
