Ivailo Tsvetkov

The new ECC exhibition shows colourful cartoons of the Bulgarian cartoonist Ivailo Tsvetkov.
Time also to present his brand new cartoon and caricature book (2016).

"Ivailo Tsvetkov was born in 27th March 1964 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

He graduated at the Art School in Sofia in 1983. He worked as an artist/cartoonist in newspapers "Monitor" and "Telegraph" and in magazine "Tema". Ivailo Tsvetkov presented his artworks at several individual exhibitions at home and abroad. He also participated at countless collective exhibitions in many countries of the world.

Ivailo Tsvetkov took part at a number of national and international cartoon competitions and his artworks were awarded numerous prestigious prizes and honorable mentions (we can mention at least some of them: 1st Prize Angler, France 1993, Prize of Ministry of Culture, Gabrovo, Bulgaria 1999, Diplom of Excellence, Haifa, Israel 2002, Honourable mention, Kruishoutem, Belgium 2005, 1st Prize, Pisek, Czech Republic 2006, Master Prize, Master Cup Cartoon Biennial, China, 2007, Googlm Cartoon Contest, China 2008, among many others). Ivailo Tsvetkov is the President of FECO Bulgaria. He is living and working in Sofia, Bulgaria." (source: Fenamizah.com)

Ivailo is not only a good cartoonist, he loves football and likes a good beer.

On YouTube I found this video with pics and work of the artist:

Learn more:
Ivailo at Cartoon Gallery
Interview on CWN - Cartoon World News

"The Eighties - A Decade of Extremes" and GAL Gerard Alsteens

"The Eighties - A Decade of Extremes"  is an exhibition that presents a nuanced picture of the eighties with all its contrasts, cheerful and playful, but also hard and radical.

"The exhibition also recalls social and political events through a variety of materials, ranging from drawings by 'political cartoonist' GAL, vinyl records, magazines and movie excerpts."

GAL (Gerard Alsteens, °1940)  is the éminence grise of the Belgian political cartoonists.
Knack Magazine (2016,nr 23) published a 5 pages long interview with GAL.
In his cartoons you evidently experience his social engagement and contesting against everything what's wrong in the world.

The cartoonist is right when he states about his political cartoons of more than 30 years ago:
"I could publish them again today. I only need to replace the heads."

I looked in my bookcase and found this little book: "AAA...!  75 politieke tekeningen van GAL. (75 political drawings, 1977).
In fact it is not a book, but an edition of "kreatief" , a literary and art magazine.

If you watch the cartoons below, drawn in the seventies, you understand why you easily can change them into contemporary political drawings...

everything is possible again...

"le defi schaarbeekois"

You can visit the expo in the M HKA Museum in Antwerp from June 17 until August 7.

More about GAL on our blog:
GAL

Maître-chanteur: Scherper magazine June 2016

These are some more cartoons illustrating my article in Scherper, June 2016:

cartoon by Chas Addams

cartoon by Kazanevsky

cartoon by Kurtu

portrait by Karl Meersman