Anelia Pavlova

Anelia is a Bulgarian-born Australian artist working in oil painting, printmaking, drawing, illustration and ceramics. Her paintings, which encompass both the figurative and the abstract, and are created using classical music from composers across different periods in a unique synthesis of idea, music, and visual art.

“I graduated with a Master Degree in Fine Arts (majoring in Illustration and Book Design) in 1981 under the guidance of Prof. Roumen Skorchev. After graduating, I continued to work in the areas of illustration and printmaking.

Since art expresses high ideals through beauty, a good mastering of the craft is needed (in addition to other things). What has always interested me, however, are the colours. As a child the colours attracted me strongly and I studied the paintings of the Old Masters, I looked at the hues of the flowers and of Nature as a whole. So, I have always desired to study oil painting.

Indeed, I have always wanted to make colours. After numerous experiments, in 1985 I finally achieved an innovative and unique technique through which I found a way to make colours in the intaglio (engraving) process. In principle, bright colours in printmaking are very difficult to achieve, except manually or with lithography. A friend and colleague of mine from Austin, TX, who is also a lecturer in printmaking, pointed out to me later that my technique is very similar to the “a la poupee” technique of the Old 16th century French engravers. The name comes from the French word for “doll”, since they used a small rag ball wrapped with leather for spreading the ink. Well, I did not use a doll, and despite the similarities, the technique I created is unique in itself.

All my wine labels are also done using this technique. My first series of prints after the Old Dutch Masters was created with this technique, and the works were acquired by the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow and the National Art Gallery, Sofia.

In February 1993 I moved to Australia. In 1994 I made the first exhibition of my prints in Australia in BMG Gallery, the best gallery in Adelaide at the time. What allowed me to make this exhibition then was the generosity of an old British lady who kept an art-supplies shop 50km out of the city – her act of faith and love for art was unforgettable for me. The exhibition turned out to be very successful – all the works (except one print) were sold-out by the end; this allowed me to purchase the specialised materials I needed to continue with my printmaking work.

In 1995 I was offered to make one of the Queen of Clubs (Semillon) labels for Peter Lehmann Wines, which marked the beginning of a number of commissions for wine labels that I made over several years.

As my ideas developed, I also began to create my works using classical music. I have always enjoyed working with music, even as a student; but I discovered that in classical music there was something that would coincide with my works – when the music is sublime, one is taken into a world of lofty thoughts and pure feelings that is a reflection of something inherently human, and at the same time completely Divine. Of course, it is not just the music that affects the work – the music must be suitable for the idea that I have; also, the performance is of the greatest importance, since only a good performance can extract from the silent score the true “vision” of the composer. “Musical Offerings” (2001) in TVH Gallery, Sydney, contained my first attempts to use music in such a way; since then this has become integral for me. Thus I turned to music for inspiration, and also to the Old Masters – two influences that are undeniable in my art, which, in all other respects, is unique in itself.”

BORN  1956

STUDIES
MFA in Illustration & Book Design from the Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria (1975-1981)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008   “Music from the Stars” Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2008    “Musica Nova” Gallery O, Perth Australia
2006    “Garden of Virtues” Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2005    “Love Songs” Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2004    ‘Illumination’ Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2003    “Seeds” Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2002    ‘Between Two Worlds’ Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2001    ‘Musical Offerings’ Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2000    BMG Fine Art, Adelaide, Australia
2000    Peter Lehmann Winery, Tanunda (Barossa Music Festival Exhibition) Australia
1999    Istral Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1998    Istral Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1998    BMG Fine Art, Adelaide, Australia
1997    Istral Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1997    Greythorn Galleries, Melbourne, Australia
1997    Flatbed Press Gallery, Austin, TX, U.S.A.
1996    BMG Fine Art, Adelaide, Australia
1994    BMG Fine Art, Adelaide, Australia
1991    Hemus Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
1987    Rakovski 125 Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2004    4th Print Triennal, Tama University, Tokyo, Japan
2003    Manhattan, New York, U.S.A. Courtesy Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney
2002    5^th International Print Biennial, Kochi, Japan
2002    3^rd Print Triennial, Tama University, Tokyo, Japan
2001    Wrexham Print International, Memorial Gallery, Yale College, Wrexham, UK
2000    Limerick small print exhibition, Limerick, Ireland
2000    5^th Mondial Triennial AMAC, Chamalieres, France (by invitation)
1999    4th Print Biennial, Kochi, Japan
Ansett Golden Wing Lounge (represented by Greythorn Galleries, Melbourne
1998    2nd Tokyo Mini-print Triennial, Japan
1st Northern Ireland International Small Print Exhibition
Rops International Engraving Competition, Namur, Belgium
4^th Int. Miniature Art Biennial, Quebec, Canada
22^nd Print Biennial in Ljubljana, Slovenia (by invitation)
1997    19th International Exhibition of Prints, Kanagawa, Japan
3rd British International Mini Print Exhibition, UK
4th Print biennial Bharat Bhavat, India
2nd Egyptian International Print Triennale,
Egypt Ansett Golden Wing Lounge    (represented by Greythorn Galleries),
1996  Mini Print International Cadaques, Barcelona, Spain
3rd International Miniature Art Biennial, Quebec, Canada
Mono Prod show, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
1992    Print International Silvermine Guild Art Centre, New Canaan, CT, USA
Lincoln Centre, The Cork Gallery, New York, USA
1990   11th edition of ‘Premio Biella’, Italy
Int. Images Gallery, Seweckley, PA, USA
1989 Exhibitions of Bulgarian Graphic Art in Moscow, Russia
1984    Exhibition of Bulgarian Graphic Art in Beijing, China
2nd, 4th and 5th International Print Biennial, Varna, Bulgaria

COLLABORATIVE PROJECT

 2004   Rainer Junghanns, “One second project 21 + 3”, Germany
 

AWARDS

2001 Grand Finalist Award for illustration (Wine packaging)
1998    Art Museum award at the 2^nd Tokyo Mini-print Triennial, Japan
1998    Australian Graphic design Association (AGDA) Award for corporate illustration
1994    Highly commended painting at Penola Art Festival, Penola, SA
1992    Honorable mention award at Print Int. Silvermine Guild Art Center, CT, USA

COMMISSIONS

The Semillon Queen and the Shiraz Grenache Queen Labels fro Peter Lehmann, SA, Australia
The Tristan and Isolde Label for Brangayne of Orange, NSW, Australia
A Label for Canonbah Bridge, NSW, Australia
Some labels for Setanta Wines, SA, Australia 

ILLUSTRATIONS

18 published books (Pushkin’s short stories, “Pinnoccio”, “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13”,
Andrey Platonov’s stories, Joseph Conrad “Lord Jim”, fairy tales by Walter Kann etc.)
7 book covers Brochures and leaflets, in newspapers and children’s magazine

 REVIEW

Interview for bTV, Bulgaria, 23^rd December 2007
Manly Daily, Sydney Australia, 13^th October 2006, p22
Unusual Wines, Anelia Pavlova’s Queen of Clubs, 2002, http://www.winelabels.org/artqueen.htm
Australian Art Collector, Sydney, Issue 14, Oct-Dec 2000
Australian Review of Books, Sydney, Aug 1999, p4
Jewish News, Sydney, 7 June 1999, p34
Advertiser, Adelaide, 17 Nov 1998, p44
Advertiser, Adelaide, 18 Jul 1998, p7
Austin American Statesman, 25 Oct 1997
Advertiser, Adelaide, 22 Oct 1996, p31
Advertiser, Adelaide, 19 Jun 1996, p26
Balkanmedia Magazine, #1, 1993, pp 42-43
Medicine, Sofia, 29 Jan – 12 Feb 1993 p8
Hi-Life, Sofia, 2-8 Sep, 1992, p8
Demokratsia, Sofia, 8 Jul 1992, p4

OTHERS

Co-curator for the Australian participation at the 23rd Biennial of Graphic Art, Ljubljana, 1999
Works after the poetry of Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Akutakawa Ryunosuke 8 mths tenure as art editor

COLLECTIONS

Public collections

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
Tama Art University Museum, Tokyo, Japan
University of Adelaide, Australia
Local galleries (Kjustendil City Gallery, Dobrich City Gallery, Bulgaria)

Corporate and institutional collections

Sony USA
Balkan Media Foundation, Sofia, Bulgaria
Peter Lehmann Wines Pty. Ltd. collection, Australia
Setanta Wines, Adelaide, Australia

Private collections

Australia (among them Ian Kidd – Ian Kidd Design), Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria,
Canada, Germany, Greece, Ireland, NZ, UK (Kenneth Branagh, actor and director)