On the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the birth of the great Mexican writer, there was a lecture and an exhibition of the artist Atanas Gadzhev at the Cervantes Institute in Sofia on the 22^nd of February.

The exhibited works are visual interpretations of one of the twentieth century’s most famous novel - Juan Rulfo's "Pedro Paramo". Through them Atanas Gadzhev expressed his respect for the writer's work, presenting his "reading" of the idea of ​​the overflowing boundaries between life and death. Created in 2014, the graphic artworks are limited digital prints, the originals of which are miniatures painted with ink and feather quill pen on authentic parchment as part of an international project. The impersonality and the fiction, characteristic of Rulfo's literature, imply the choice of imagery that goes beyond the usual illustration and finds material finalisation in a subtler-painted ceramic wall.

Atanas Gadzhev (1960) graduated from the "Ceramics" specialty at the National Academy of Arts. He is author of a number of interior, exterior and spatial artistic and plastic solutions made out of clay and paper. He has held over 25 solo exhibitions in Sofia, Warsaw, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague and in the sculpture park of "Ilindentsi" Art Center. He has participated in a number of international projects and creative residences, as well as, in over 70 collective exhibitions.

The opening of the Atanas Gadzhev exhibition at the Cervantes Institute was accompanied by a lecture by Lilyana Tabakova, professor of Spanish-American literature at the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", who presented the work of Juan Rulfo.

Photos: archive of Atanas Gadzhev