site.btaNational Gallery Shows Retrospective Exhibition by Bistra Lechevalier

A retrospective exhibition of Bistra Lechevalier presents her work for the first time in Bulgaria. The exhibition will be arranged by curator Yana Bratanova from July 16 to October 20 in the Kvadrat 500 art gallery, the organizers said.

"The National Gallery continues its mission and policy to introduce the public to artists of Bulgarian origin who have received professional recognition beyond the borders of the country. Bistra Lechevalier is one of the few contemporary conceptual artists with an international presence," the National Gallery wrote. 

They point out that freedom is a recurring topic for Bistra Lechevalier. Her first compositions, Flight of Birds (1964), the Windows Series (Blocked Window, Burnt Window, White Window) and Sick Chairs from the 1970s are expressions of her overwhelming desire to be free.

"What Bistra Lechevalier has created is a powerful machine for flight beyond limitations. Her works are made of both natural and industrial fabrics. She uses plaster combined with wood, straw and glass, to which she gives a particular sophistication. She skilfully uses paper, resin, rubber, cast iron, lead, cast aluminium and bronze, polyester, neoprene rubber, mirror surface, fabric, rope, etc. to bring her dreams and ideas to life. She transforms matter with smooth transitions from volume to flatness and vice versa with an innate ability to search for new forms," the team notes.

Bistra Lechevalier was born in Sofia in 1933. In the early 1950s she was accepted to the National Academy of Art. During her studies, she was expelled and denied admission to the institution. She graduated with a degree in sculpture in 1962. She describes these years as a "black period" in her life. From the mid-1960s she settled in Paris, where she began to exhibit actively in a number of landmark galleries and to work on her own projects for public spaces in France.

Over the years she carried out numerous solo and collaborative exhibitions in Japan (Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, Nishinomiya).

Bistra Lechevalier's art is present in the collections of prestigious galleries and private collections worldwide.