… And it’s hard to argue with that after seeing her posters employing acerbic 3D constructions.
Lyuba Tomova was born in 1975 in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she lives and works as a partner at the studio Poster House. A graduate of the National Academy of Art with a master’s degree in poster design, she won the 2022 Grand Prize of Sofia and the Golden Poster Award from the X International Triennial of Stage Poster—Sofia.
Tomova works primarily in the realm of noncommercial poster design. “I believe this is the most dynamic and rapidly developing form of art,” she told me in a recent email exchange, “not just a means of mass communication and information distribution.” Tomova’s posters address social themes, often with drama as a foundation. “Theater is a socially engaged artform that poses critical questions to society,” she noted. Her posters in this realm relate not only to the themes of love and hate, “but also raise questions about tolerance and where our limits of patience lie (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee), and about corruption (The Government Inspector by Nikolay Gogol). Sometimes, I adopt a direct approach to share my opinions and to influence public attitudes and behavior.”
I asked her if she has a favorite poster among those shown here. “In the vast variety of techniques and means of expression, it is very difficult for anyone to pick a single poster.” So, pivoting, I asked her to list her inspirations: “I admire individual poster artists and various poster art schools. Also, I consider posters the strongest visual art and communication medium—an image seen and briefly viewed, yet it leaves us pondering long after.”
