Within the context of “Meeting point”, Nikolay Zanev’s project raises numerous questions of major importance treating the relationship between critique, audience, artist and artefact. The artist makes the art object and the critique dependent by critically exposing texts in the gallery space, offering free interpretations of them. His methods include appropriations of already existing objects, photography, pictures and manipulated objects.

The critical text often sets off to explore different possible relations and meanings of the work. Using foreign borrowings and too complex metaphors and abstract descriptions it exposes the artistic work to the risk of distortion, oversaturation and overcharging. The impressive phrases and complex metaphors provide the artist with specific material. He takes solely the literal meaning of them and thus removes in a surgical manner the connotation of the epithets in the description. The result is a sequence of graphic, generalized pictures, similar to the explicatory symbols on commercial product packages. Thus, N. Zanev reduces the image to a semiotic sign, eliminates the effectiveness of the description and hurls it to the bottom of its impact ability.

Despite the fact that the exhibition employs simple means and without being pompously ambitious, it raises a huge number of questions in numerous directions: form the frequently discussed public space to the pitiable state of the critique torn between its function of art and a formative modulator in the contemporary artistic reality.

Vera Mlechevska

IVAN KANEV painting

02 March 2005 - 26 March 2005

The Sofia City Art Gallery presents Ivan Kunev on the occasion of his 70th anniversary. The exposition features about 80 pastel, water-colour and painting works from 1963 to the end of 2004.
Ivan Kunev is one of the few artists who get inspired by direct contact with nature even nowadays. Thus, landscapes of Sofia, Balchik, Sliven, Koprivshtitza, Smolyan, Damask, Crimea, Gurzuf and his numerous portraits were created during the decades. His works of art appear contemplative at first sight, and yet, they contain not only the profundity of time but also the capability to live through experience and feeling suggested by the beauty of shapes and the subtle colour tints.
The artist was born on 29 March, 1935 in the town of Nova Zagora. In 1963, he graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia; major Applied Graphic Arts taught by Professor Alexander Poplilov.He has worked in the area of painting and graphic art. He has participated in various joint art exhibitions and has organised one-man exhibitions. He has worked as a curator and chief organiser of the art gallery in Sliven / 1963-1968/, expert in matters concerning art galleries, the Museums Department at the Committee of Culture /1973-1985/, Director of the Sofia City Art Gallery /1985-1993/.
His works are owned by the National Art Gallery, the Sofia City Art Gallery, art galleries in Pleven, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Kazanluk, Silistra, Russe, and private collectors in Bulgaria, Switzerland, Denmark and more.