Monika Popova

Biography

Monika Popova was born in 1968 in Sofia. She is a ceramist and painter. He graduated from the National Art Academy in Sofia, majoring in Ceramics under Prof. Krasimir Dzidrov. She has been a member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists since 1996. In the same year, she was a scholarship holder at Cite des Arts, Paris.

She founded in 2006 the specialty "Ceramics and Porcelain" in the "Fine Arts" department of NBU, where she teaches. Monika Popova is a doctor of Egyptology with a thesis on "Sculpture at the time of the Theban kings". Since 2009, she has been a member of the Bulgarian Institute of Egyptology.

About

Monika Popova is quite an active artist with over 40 solo exhibitions and over 100 participations in group exhibitions. Some of them are: "Otkoveur" (2022), "San Stefano" Gallery, Sofia; "Those Who Entered" (2021), UPARK Gallery, Plovdiv; "Vacuum" (2021), "Raiko Alexiev" gallery, Sofia; "The Swimmer" (2019), "Intro" gallery, Sofia; "1+1=1+1" (2017), contemporary art gallery at SBH (6 Shipka St.). On the occasion of her 50th anniversary, Monika Popova opened three successive exhibitions of paintings (Gallery "Red Dot"), ceramics (Gallery "Arosita") and drawings (Gallery "Art Alley").

As an artist, she has been awarded and subsequently specialized abroad at places such as Cité Des Arts (1996 and 2019), Paris; GEDOK (2015), Munich; "Kunstlerhaus" (2011), Schwandorf.

She shares that the important things in her life, including her choice to major in Ceramics, are concerned with love.

“In high school I fell in love with a boy whose drawings I used to steal from the walls in the hallway until I got caught and exposed. When I found out from him that he was going to apply to some Technical School with Ceramics that I had not even heard of, I decided that I should follow him."
- “Love, men, art. A conversation with the artist Monika Popova", in a conversation with Kiril Vasilev

And she adds that both in life and in art, beauty needs imperfection:

"There is something absurd about me, because when I see something too beautiful, I want to do something to it. I like things to be slightly flawed. For me, beauty is not in literal beauty, and Maistorov showed me such a point of view."
- ibid.

Gallery

Monika Popova

The picture with the difficult name, 2020.

Painting

Details

  • Photographer: Mihail Ivanov
  • Material: primed canvas, permanent marker drawing and colored pencils
  • Width: 600.00 cm    Height: 200.00 cm    Depth: 2.00 cm   
  • Sizes: The picture is triptych and each part is 200/200 cm. The parts are frameless but are adapted for suspension
  • Property of: Monika Popova
  • Description: The picture is dedicated to my complicated childhood!
    The first part of the triptyh is a visualization of characters and figures from my favorite paintings.
    The second part is tied to the toys I had and which I did not have in my childhood. The ones I didn't have were the metal toys because they were too expensive for my parents. And the toy I had was a Marina doll, which I got at the age of 12 from waiting. The third part was created during the period of my separation from my father and is self-portrait.
    The picture is a large-scale drawing, with the characteristic geometric contour for me. For me, it is one of my serious creative achievements.
  • Copyright: By Monica Popova
  • References: Изложба на Моника Попова в галерия Райко Алексиев - БНТhttps://bnt.bg › news › izlozhba-na-monika-popova-v-g...

    Критичен поглед: Моника Попова превръща житейски...https://въпреки.com › post › критичен-поглед-моника...

Monika Popova

"Emancipation", 2012.

Painting

Details

Monika Popova

Creation, 2012.

Painting

Details

  • Photographer: Mihail Ivanov
  • Material: primed canvas, permanent marker drawing
  • Width: 300.00 cm    Height: 200.00 cm    Depth: 3.00 cm   
  • Sizes: The canvas is stretched on under a frame
  • Property of: Monika Popova
  • Description: The painting is a visualization of my idea of Creation. This idea is subject to my knowledge of Ancient Egypt, where Life was created by the Un, the absolute nothing that is dark and watery space. From it appear or entangle the concepts. The drawn concepts are an expression of my idea of them: for example, "friendship" I have depicted as a "man with a dog"...
    Through the picture passes the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic for water , or a lot of water /ocean/ - three bowing lines.
  • Copyright: By Monika Popova
  • References: https://www.facebook.com/monika.popova2

    monikapopova.com

Monika Popova

"Motherhood", 2012.

Painting

Details

  • Photographer: Mihail Ivanov
  • Material: primed canvas, oil and embroidery
  • Width: 300.00 cm    Height: 200.00 cm    Depth: 3.00 cm   
  • Sizes: The canvas is stretched on under a frame
  • Property of: Monika Popova
  • Description: The picture is an emotional visualization of experiences related to my motherhood. The theme is one of the main ones in my work!
    The picture is a combination of drawing and embroidery.
  • Copyright: By Monika Popova
  • References: monikapopova.com

Monika Popova

"The Birther", 2019.

Sculpture

Details

  • Photographer: Mihail Ivanov
  • Material: ceramics and embroidery
  • Width: 80.00 cm    Height: 100.00 cm    Depth: 80.00 cm   
  • Sizes: Ceramic cuboid
  • Property of: Monika Popova
  • Description: Ceramic plastic, which was inspired by the Ancient Egyptian Cuboids. In Ancient Egypt, part of the three-dimensional steths had a cuboid-anthropomorphic shape.
    My birthing cuboid is autobiographical, as I myself am a mother of three.
    Embroidered ceramics is a culmination in my work and there is no analogue in world art.
  • Copyright: Monika Popova
  • References: monikapopova.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See more
I Agree