NATIONAL GALLERY FOR FOREIGN ART IN BULGARIA OPENED
EXHIBITION OF THE WORK OF AMERICAN ARTIST SIGAL BUSSEL
JUNE 24 – JULY 17, 2009
Los Angeles-based Sigal Bussel is capturing global attention with a solo exhibition at the National Gallery for Foreign Art in Sofia, Bulgaria. For the first time the National Gallery for Foreign Art will display the works of a contemporary American artist. The National Gallery for Foreign Art is one of Bulgaria’s most distinguished museums displaying the works of masters including Picasso, Miro and Chagall and a selection of world-renowned architects like Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid. This is Bussel’s second solo international museum exhibition in the last year. In 2008, Bussel’s work was exhibited in China in at the Beijing World Art Museum in the period right before the Olympic Games.
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In her latest series, [Heads, A Voyage of Self Discovery / Conversation with Humanity], Bussel takes the individual, an individual displaced in this post-modern world, through a self-discovery process enabling the individual to rediscover his being, his values, his self. Through the deformation of the human profile, Bussel devises a new language, one of an everyperson. Bussel’s derivation of a universal face incorporates a contemporary approach to the influences of Cubism.
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“Bussel in her approach to the culture of abstractionism, minimalism and the Cubist principles, has arrived at a distinct voice of her own. It is a voice, which prevails over the noise and even the shrill of our ‘commercialized’ environment, impressing us as a silent antithesis of . . . a postmodern transcription of the fresco.” Irina Moutafchieva, Director, National Gallery for Foreign Art.
“Bussel presents us not with portraits, not with fully fleshed out humans, but with highly stylized, nearly identical renditions of nearly featureless heads, invariably seen in profile. These ciphers are empty enough to contain us and full enough to exclude us, full enough to represent us and empty enough to confound our associations. They do not speak about humanity or even to humanity, they speak for humanity.” Peter Frank, Senior Curator Riverside Art Museum.
About Sigal M. Bussel
Sigal Bussel (b. 1972) lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Bussel’s work has been exhibited around the world including at the Beijing World Art Museum in Beijing, China; United States Embassy in Beijing, China; Xian Center of Modern Art in Xian, China; Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Clarity Partners Building in Beverly Hills, California; Kazo Capital Headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel; Radiatas 10 Building in Mexico City, Mexico; BVC Corporate Headquarters in Orlando, Florida; and LAX Business Center in Los Angeles, California. Her work is in private collections in the United States, China, Switzerland, England, Mexico, and Israel. She has been commissioned to work on a number of public art projects in the United States. Bussel holds a Master’s degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
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About the National Gallery for Foreign Art Located in an imposing 19th century Neoclassical historic building at the St. Alexander Nevsky Square in the capital city of Sofia, the National Gallery for Foreign Art is Bulgaria’s largest and most prestigious museum of foreign art. Its permanent collection and the depositories has over 10,000 works. The National Gallery consists of 20 exhibition halls, 19 of which display artwork from the permanent collection. The Visiting Exhibition Hall has displayed the works of some of the greatest artists of all times including Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, and a selection of world-renowned architects like Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid.
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