The Column Gallery at the National Academy of Art – Burgas Branch was opened with the poster exhibition EXERCISES ON GRAPHICATURE by Prof. Nikolay Mladenov

The National Academy of Art opened the Column Gallery–two rotating poster columns–located in the Red Building of the National Academy of Art at 1 Shipka Street in Sofia and in the Academy's Branch in Burgas. The gallery will present exhibitions of teachers and students from the National Academy of Art, Bulgarian and foreign artists, curatorial projects. The two columns are a work by Prof. Georgi Iankov who donated them to the Academy.

 

The first exhibition on the second Column Gallery was opened on 10 April 2025. It presents a special series of posters EXERCISES IN GRAPHICATURE by Nikolay Mladenov, under the artistic pseudonym Nicolas Le Jeune, based on the fables by the slave Aesop, retold by Lafontaine. The series was created as a compliment to the upcoming 80th birth anniversary of Prof. Ivan Gazdov, PhD.

 

The first exhibition on a rotating column was opened on 7 April at the National Academy of Art in Sofia and showcases a special series of posters by Prof. Ivan Gazdov, PhD, Dr.h.c. of the National Academy of Art, to mark his 80th birth anniversary.

 

The opening in Burgas was attended by the Rector of the Academy Prof. Georgi Iankov, the Director of the Branch Prof. Svetozar Benchev, Prof. DSc. Svilen Stefanov, Assoc. Prof. Georgi Pavlov, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Suzana Nikolova, PhD, the Assistant Director Zhivko Ilchev, Nevena Prodanova, Secretary of the Burgas Branch, and many more teachers, students and employees. The students, under the guidance of the Assistant Director Zhivko Ilchev, exhibited the posters on the new column.

 

Prof. Mladenov, PhD, attended in absentia together with his co-authors Lafontaine and Aesop.

 

Short biography

Nikolay Mladenov (b. 1969, Sofia, Bulgaria) graduated from the Ilia Petrov National High School of Arts and the Academy of Art with a degree in Poster (1997) under Prof. Ivan Gazdov, PhD. Since 1998, he has been teaching in the Department of Poster and Visual Communication. 

 

Professor of Poster, doctorate in Art History and Fine Arts, dissertation topic "Poster Thinking..."; Head of the Department of Poster and Visual Communication (2010–2015, 2018–2020); Head of Advertising and Information Activities at the National Academy of Art (2011–2015); Vice-Rector since 2020; Secretary General of New Vision International Group.