Angel Stanev is an artist who, in the late 1970s, boldly transformed the routine plastic language of sculptural material. At first glance, his works resemble sketches, moreover that many of them are misleadingly called exactly this way. In fact, everything unnecessary in them is drastically removed in order maximum concentration of depiction to be obtained. Space powerfully invades matter, blows away the unneeded and leaves laconic fragments built with filigree delicacy. This unusual artistic language has been eagerly accepted and thus it raised numerous followers in the range between the simple plagiarism and the creative artistic communication.

The exhibition was contemplated as a narrative of the events in Bulgarian sculpture since the mid 1970s until nowadays – its most dynamic period through the art of its most heuristic representative. It is no coincidence that the exhibition is in Sofia City Art Gallery where the most of Angel Stanev’s works are kept. Among them, there is Swing with Muse (Dedication to Dimcho Debelyanov), a work charged with sarcasm to the illusory expectations for creativity, that deservedly provoked unrest debates for an hour among the jury of the Youth Exhibition in 1978; there is also Head from 1979; Figure from 1979, played on the thin string of a violin; as well as the wind drifted Figure from 1984.

His works combine extreme sensuality and radical asceticism, and they represent an uncompromising, consistent exploration of the wind sound in the bell, of the empty space of a swing and the rhythm between swings, of the echo of the ring - more and more laconic, more and more powerful. For this exposition, Angel Stanev created a version of a composition of his, which has been thought over for decades. In it, the voice of the bell and echoing of the ring combine in a monumental scale. We can discover these sounds still in his early drawings. For the artist, the drawing - even when embroidered with magnifying glass, even though being a result of an explosion of spots and lines - has the mission of a creative enlightenment which can unlock plastic transformations for decades.

60 Years Together with the Sofia City Art Gallery The immortalized moments of the gallerys history, presented by 60 posters

19 May 2012 - 30 May 2012

On the eve of the international cultural initiative “The Night of Museums“, the landmark “Lovers’ Bridge” in the capital city will host the “60 Years Together with the Sofia City Art Gallery”. The event constitutes part of the program for the gallery’s team to celebrate the institution’s 60th anniversary together with the public.

In 1928, following an order of the then mayor, General Vladimir Vazov, the Capital City Municipal Museum was founded to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sofia’s Liberation, as well as the 1000th anniversary of the Golden Age of Bulgarian Culture. This marked the beginning of the process of collecting materials, providing an account of Sofia’s history, culture, and art, namely books, documents, photographs, maps, city plans, archaeological finds, household artifacts, sculptures, paintings, graphic artworks.

Starting in 1929, the museum kept changing locations until the opening of a special building in 1941 on 3 “Banski” Square (demolished during the March, 1944 air raids). In 1948, part of the museum’s collection was transferred to the newly-established National Art Gallery. In April 1952, the City Museum ceased to be the home of the library and archive, and in October the same year the Sofia History Museum and the Sofia City Art Gallery became autonomous institutions. During the late 1980’s artist Vaska Emanuilova donated a substantial part of her work, which provided the basis for the collection of the “Vaska Emanuilova” Gallery, currently constituting an annex to the Sofia City Art Gallery, as well as a venue for the development of young Bulgarian artists.

The exhibition features documentary photographs, presenting the history, initiatives and significance of the SCAG in the period between 1928 and 2012. The “immortalized moments“ of the gallery’s history, presented by 60 posters, do not only savor the memory of the gallery’s past, but also provide an account of the variety of initiatives and events launched by the gallery at present.

The exhibition was organized in partnership with and with kind support from the Capital City Municipal Council, the BULPHOTO Agency, the Sofia State Archive, the “Old Sofia” municipal enterprise.

MusTempo. Contemporary Art and Photography Collection of the Sofia City Art Gallery Graffit Gallery Varna, Bulgaria

10 May 2012 - 30 May 2012

The MusTempo exhibition is a specially designed concept as a contribution of the Graffit Gallery to the traditional Con.tempo Festival for Contemporary Art (10.05.-14.05.2012), organized by the the Raya Georgieva Foundation in Varna for the fourth year. It is a non-commercial platform for promotion and presentation of young Bulgarian artists under the age of 35.
MusTempo presents the Contemporary Art and Photography Collection of the Sofia City Art Gallery, which has no analogue in the Bulgarian museum practice. Founded in 2004, it currently includes 300 artworks from the mid-80s of the 20th century until today. The fund tracks the latest trends in art, which came around and after 1989.
The collection is primarily a result of the efforts towards the integration of the contemporary art into a classical museum institution. It is a follow-on of a general policy of the gallery: to show Bulgarian and international exhibitions of contemporary art; to create an archive of Bulgarian contemporary art; to organize presentations of artists, conferences and debates, dedicated to contemporary art; to support the Places to Meet Museum Program for Young Artists and the BAZA Contemporary Art Award (in collaboration with ICA-Sofia).
Initially, the Contemporary Art and Photography Collection relies entirely on artists’ donations. Since 2007, Sofia Municipality annually allocates funds to replenish the fund, allowing it to take longer-term decisions regarding its content.
The establishment, the maintenance and the development of a collection is not an isolated phenomenon but part of overall motivated efforts. The collection would not be possible, or at least would not be so visible without the established platform for contemporary art in the Sofia City Art Gallery. Its contribution, beside the storage of the gathered artworks, is significant - the institution responsibly stands behind the contemporary art as initial part of the Bulgarian culture.
The MusTempo exhibition is conceptually gathered for the Graffit Gallery. It features works by: Adelina Popnedeleva, Alla Georgieva, Ani Vaseva, Bora Petkova, Boris Misirkov & Georgi Bogdanov, Boryana Rossa, Daniela Kostova, Ivan Moudov, Kalin Serapionov, Katia Damianova, Kiril Prashkov, Kosta Tonev, Krassimir Terziev, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Mariela Gemisheva, Nadezhda Oleg Lyahova, Nedko Solakov, Nina Kovacheva & Valentin Stefanoff, Orlin Nedelchev, Peter Mintchev, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Rada Boukova, Rassim, Samuil Stoyanov, Stefania Batoeva, Vassil Simitchiev, Ventsislav Zankov, Vikenti Komitski.
Curated by Maria Vasileva, PhD