The Fair from my Childhood 1999

Radi Nedelchev, who was born in Bulgaria, painted this folk scene, probably from memory. You can imagine his hand moving methodically across the canvas, first laying down the ochre background, then building up the busy scene with thick daubs of naive color. I find myself drawn to the upper register of the composition. See how the stage performance is depicted? Almost like figures on a music box, arranged in simple repeated forms. I wonder what he was thinking when he made this. I bet he was smiling! This painting feels akin to a lot of self-taught artists I love, like Bill Traylor, because they’re all creating a world that is just so charming and buoyant. Nedelchev’s work is a form of embodied expression and an invitation for us to enter into his experience. It embraces ambiguity and childlike wonder.