Iliyan IVANOV

A native of Burgas, Bulgaria, Iliyan Ivanov received his fine arts training under the mentorship of internationally recognized Bulgarian painter George Yanakiev.

Mr. Ivanov came to the US in 1994 and in 1996 he presented the one-person show, "Tides of Time," at Ryden Galleries in Anderson, Indiana. Embracing both figurative and abstract imagery in an amalgam of painting, drawing and collage, the works from this period reflected the artist's immigration experience and his impressions of the "New World."

Regardless of medium and scale, Ivanov develops his ideas in thematically related series meant to challenge the observer's own creativity. Ivanov's interactive works have been internationally recognized through invitations to the "International Art Festival of Light" in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and the "Contemporary Bulgarian Artists in New York" show in Manhattan in 2003.

Over the past several years his work has been selected for presentations at the New York Collection at the Albright-Knox gallery in Buffalo, the d.u.m.b.o. International Art Festival, the Toronto Art Salon, and the New York Emerging Artists Gala. His Internet debut was marked by an invitational solo show at the ImagineStation website in the spring of 2004, with subsequent presentations in juried shows at Neoimage, Energy gallery, and Projekt30. The artist is also a co-founder of the CURB Arts Group, a nonprofit organization that promotes aesthetic dialogue among international artists through alternative space exhibitions and performances in New York City.