Exhibition "Dora Vallier's Pure Visibility" by Italian artist Attilio Taverna opened at Atelier Gallery of the National Academy of Art – Burgas Branch
2026.04.20
On 16 April, the exhibition Dora Vallier's Pure Visibility, presenting works by the Italian artist Attilio Taverna, was opened at the Atelier Gallery of the National Academy of Art – Burgas Branch. The exhibition was realised at the initiative of the Italian Cultural Institute in Sofia in partnership with the National Academy of Art.
The exhibition opening was attended by the Rector of the National Academy of Art, Prof. Georgi Iankov, the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Sofia, Ms Maria Mazza, the Governor of Burgas District, Mr Dobromir Gyulev, and the co-organiser of the exhibition, Ms Fatima Mashta-Karanova, as well as by teachers, students and visitors. Attilio Taverna addressed the audience to personally present what had inspired him to realise his project.
The opening was preceded by a conference lecture delivered by Attilio Taverna. It was dedicated to the theoretical legacy of the world-renowned art critic of Bulgarian origin Dora Vallier (1921–1997) and her specific research method, known as “pure visibility”. During the talk, Taverna examined Vallier’s analysis of the great “abstract mutation” in art at the beginning of the 20th century, led by figures such as Kandinsky, Mondrian and Malevich. Special attention was paid to the fact that this analytical approach, breaking the Western figurative canon, originated from Vallier’s thesis, dedicated to a study of Byzantine art through 10 Bulgarian icons. The lecture's main emphasis and the exhibition were Vallier’s words, recalled by Taverna, namely that she does not describe the history of art, but explores horizons directed towards the future; she writes about things that do not exist, but can become reality.
The works by Attilio Taverna are a visual continuation of those ideas. The artist, living and working in Bassano del Grappa, intertwines painting with philosophical reflection on nature. In his canvases, he explores space, light and geometry. His works represent complex light formalisations and wave vibration fields, aiming to make visible what escapes the ordinary senses.
The lecture “Pure Visibility in Dora Vallier's Works” will also be presented to the audience in Spfia on Monday, 20 April 2026, 6:00 pm, in Academia Gallery of the National Academy of Art.
The exhibition can be viewed until 4 May 2026 in Atelier Gallery of the National Academy of Art – Burgas Branch, Magazia 1, Port Complex Burgas.