IVAN TZONEV
Born in Gabrovo (Bulgaria) in 1957, Ivan TZONEV has been active in the artistic sphere for many years. After completing his art studies, he began a career as a textile painter before turning to teaching. While he enjoys sharing his love of painting with children, he never forgets the pleasure he gets from the contact of brushes on canvas. He then became a decorator, and later decided to leave Bulgaria and move to Paris. He then dedicated himself fully to painting. Heavily influenced by Expressionist painting (Soutine, Van Dongen...), Ivan TZONEV mainly paints faces. He strives to convey emotions and feelings through his palette and brushwork. The empty gaze of his characters is like an invitation to delve deep within ourselves. The artist wants to lead us to introspection, wants to question our inner selves. Ivan TZONEV uses nervous, emphatic brushstrokes. This fervor is as if channeled by the black lines that enclose and define the forms. His palette alternates between dark and bright colors, violently juxtaposed to create contrasts on the canvas.
Ivan TZONEV's painting is therefore an invitation to melancholy and the contemplation of our moods. It gently introduces us to the inner world of feelings.
