Line (together with form, chiaroscuro, colouring, volume etc.) is a major element of the image, often the fundamental one preceding all the rest. Marking the initial impulse of the idea, effecting a spontaneous connection between realization and representation, the line often remains the essential and sometimes even the only carrier of the work’s emotional intensity.
Light, delicate and ethereal, or solid, aggressive and material, the line has the feature of containing more than its mere visibility, of telling more than it shows, of implying volume, presence, movement and progress. Thus in the conventionality of two-dimensional image, the line creates space and generates emotions.
Line is an implicit element of the drawing, sketch or draft, but many artists use its power of expression in creating complete works both in terms of idea and substance such as paintings, drawings or even plastic works.
Viewed in a broader context, the line as an organising, directing, continuing or restricting phenomenon, one present in both space and time may be discerned also as an element of music, architecture, dance or poetry.
The exhibition studies the rich artistic capacity of the line in the broad spectrum from the sketch to the meticulous construction, from the poetic to the grotesque, from the implicit to the explicit. The exhibition shows works of authors from different generations, styles, genres and aesthetics. It displays works of Alexander Bozhinov, Nikola Petrov, Pencho Georgiev, Ivan MIlev, David Perets, Rumen Skorchev, Svetlin Rusev, Margarit Tsanev-Margo, Alexander Denkov, Magda Abazova, Gredi Assa, Lyuben Dimanov, Dimiter Kazakov-Neron, Peter Dochev, Lika Yanko, Snezhana Simeonova, Pavel Koychev and many others.

The exhibition allows viewers to get to know both landmark but also completely unknown paintings, graphics and sculptures from the collection of the Sofia City Art Gallery.

Curator: Svetla Georgieva