COLORS of the HEART
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Publication: Journal Santa Fe Section; Date: May 13, 2011; Section: Gallery Guide; Page: S8
COLORS of the HEART Rich warmth shown in black-and-white photo exhibition Art Issues MALIN WILSON-POWELL For the Journal
Jacko Vassilev’s grainy, black-and-white photographs of rural Bulgaria appear to reach across a century or so with their pungent compassion. It is impossible not to be infected by the hilarity of the two old ladies in his image “Friends from Childhood — Joy from Homemade Wine.” And, the tenderness in “Tears for Her, Bulgaria,” a photograph of a farmer nuzzling head-tohead with his cow, forever honors the holiness of their moment of complete communion. On first encounter, you wonder how this photographer of the old world, who must be old himself, is not better known. The black-andwhite silver photographs are printed on toothy paper and their feel is historical; the blacks are velvety and soft with fuzzy textures so very different from today’s digital perfection. Vassilev is an artist who prints his own work with chemicals in a darkroom, and such handcrafted “wet” prints are unique, ever so slightly different, even though multiple prints are made from the same negative. As it turns out, it is Vassilev’s subjects that are historical. The artist was young when he began documenting the then-centuries-old world of Bulgarian peasants. Vassilev was born in 1951, and the 24 silver prints on view at Verve Gallery date from 1971 through 1993. The majority of his poignant images were made when the artist was in his 30s and Bulgaria was still under Soviet rule. From 1983 to 1989, Vassilev worked as a technical photographer for the electrical power company Enersonabdiviane on assignments that sent him circulating through the countryside. Vassilev’s natural empathy, along with his talent for catching the proverbial “decisive moment” a la Cartier-Bresson, is evident in his three earliest prints from 1971. His iconic “Child with the Dove” is a picture of sheer vitality with the child’s head flung back in laughter and the dove’s wings spread wide, a-flutter and ready to lift off. The effect is the exact opposite of that old phrase “getting the wind knocked out of you.” Rather this image puts “the wind in your sails.” Vassilev’s photographs seem to return us to such well-worn and heartfelt clichés, yet their gritty reality manages to counterbalance sentimentality. These photos are from negatives Vassilev hid in a relative’s barn after government officials raided his darkroom and condemned his images as unpatriotic indictments of the Soviet Union’s failed new society. Surely, at the time, the grip of the USSR must have seemed an impregnable condition. For almost two decades, Vassilev believed, not only that his work might not be seen for generations, but also that he must hold true to his course of documenting these resilient peasants battered by the past. In his subjects, the artist saw “something the young generation does not have. A spirit in their eyes, in their hands, and on their faces. The grand and endless expressions on their faces are so natural, so real; sometimes I wish my photography could have smell and sound.” Actually, they do. In 1989, when Vassilev graduated from the Julius Fuchnik Technical School for Polygraphy and Photography — a curious combination that indicates the state’s official paranoia — he quit his job and became a freelance photojournalist and fine art photographer. In 1996, Vassilev’s work was featured at the shortlived Santa Fe Picture Gallery, and according to the artist’s website, he moved to the U.S. that year, and has been traveling around the United Sates with the goal of publishing a book. He has brought a similar sense of intimacy to photographing American teenagers and will undoubtedly show us things about this generation that insiders miss. Views from outsiders Verve Gallery is also showing the work of Croatian photographer Stanko Abadzic (born 1952), who fled to Germany with his family in 1991 when war broke out in his homeland. The 17 Abadzic prints on view at Verve are from 2005 to 2010. The majority are elegant, geometrically composed images of Paris and Berlin. They demonstrate the artist’s appreciation for bold overall patterns and maintain the distance of an outside observer, an exile. For the most part, he frames a single figure alone in vast places such as in the dramatic “Girl with a Hat” who stands in silhouette at the pivotal point of perspective in a silvery urban cavern. Titles such as “A Lonely Walker, Berlin” and “Homeless, Paris” reinforce his melancholy moodiness. The third photographer concurrently featured at Verve is Mexican Manuel Carrillo (1906-1989), the only artist in the gallery’s roster of photographers who is not alive. Carrillo makes for an interesting juxtaposition with the two Eastern European artists. In addition to being classic black-and-white film photographers well-versed in classic composition –– a skill reinforced by seeing the world in monochromatic contrasts — all three are marvelous photographers of children. They each have a special connection to the vitality of youth. Carrillo’s prints are particularly warm in tone and reflect his affection for his favorite subjects — children and dogs. Like Abadzic and Vassilev, Carrillo was also a displaced person for many of his formative years. He left the postrevolutionary turmoil of Mexico in 1922 at the age of 16 for New York City, where he survived doing such odd jobs as teaching the tango and waltz at Arthur Murray Studios along with a stint on overheated Wall Street just before the crash of 1929. He returned to Mexico in 1930 and worked in tourism, a new industry then heavily promoted by the government. That was followed by 36 years as an agent for Illinois Central Railroad, a position with the benefit of free travel throughout his beloved Mexico. However, it is not these three photographers’ use of pre-digital wet processes that is the common thread between their work: More significantly, they are linked by their affection for their subjects and the kindly eye used to capture them through the lens. If you go WHAT: Stanko Abadzic, Manuel Carrillo, Jacko Vassilev WHERE: Verve Gallery of Photography, 219 E. Marcy St. WHEN: Through June 18. HOURS: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. CONTACT: 505-982-5009 or info@vervegallery.com
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COLORS of the HEART
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COURTESY VERVE GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY “Friends from Childhood — Joy from Homemade Wine, Bulgaria, 1986” is a gelatin silver print by Bulgarian photographer Jacko Vassilev.
Two boys cavort on the beach in an untitled, undated gelatin silver print by Mexican photographer Manuel Carrillo (1906-1989).
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COLORS of the HEART
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“Girl with a Hat, Zagreb, 2010” is a gelatin silver print by Croatian photographer Stanko Abadzic.
“Tears for her, Bulgaria” is a gelatin silver print by Bulgarian photographer Jacko Vassilev.
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