30 April 2013 - 02 June 2013

“The Other Eye” is a series of exhibitions by the idea of Maria Vassileva, where non-art historians and non-curators are invited to work with the Sofia City Art Gallery museum collection. The project aims to look beyond traditional interpretations of history and, possibly, “unearth” somewhat forgotten works, and also trace new links connecting the latter. 
The Other Eye project is designed to fight precisely the inertia in viewing and interpreting. It includes in the dialogue with museum exhibits people who exercise their imaginations in other cultural fields or who are not burdened with narrow specialized knowledge. We rely on their fresh gaze to offer us surprising discoveries and to build new contexts for familiar works.
The first exhibition under this project, Luchezar Boyadjiev: Artist in the Storage (2010), took us through an installation labyrinth built on the basis of intimate, friendly, collegial and official relationships between generations of artists, relationships that have interwoven their works into a canvas of invisible, but definitive for their oeuvre, dialogues. Through the personal gaze of someone who is part of this amalgam of intrigues and emotions situated on a small visible territory, Luchezar Boyadjiev drew a tale about different times and storylines running uninterruptedly through them. In Out of Time (2011), the philosopher Boyan Manchev countered his own expectation of discovering in the collection primarily grand historical subjects and ideological narratives. Conversely, he found a harmonious balance between “private/public, everyday/holiday, human/inhuman, coercion/freedom, ideological utopia/idyllic utopia” and devoted his study to the specific, purely artistic time that seems to overcome historical time.
Ani Vaseva, Boryana Rossa and Monika Vakarelova juxtapose different views and perceptions about the collection which, albeit conflicting at first sight, find multiple points of intersection. Their gaze moves between the drama of the bleak reality and the timelessness of the reality that-may-have-been, between expectation and action, between the existent and the non-existent; it explores the storage rooms and tries to discover works with a “dual foundation” (as Ani Vaseva puts it). The world of art is made up of many worlds – as, in fact, is life itself. Ani, Boryana and Monika mark a territory of their own over the decades and offer it to us as one of the many possible routes through time and space.
The exhibition features approximately one hundred works by artists from different eras and trends from the late 19th century to the present day, performed in various techniques - painting, graphics, sculpture, photography, video, object. Among the authors are Georgi Danchov, Ivan Mrkvicka, Andrey Nikolov, Tsanko Lavrenov, Pencho Balkanski, Veselin Staikov, Binka Vazova, Stefan Gatsev, Georgi Baev, Lika Yanko, Vassil Simittchiev, Stanislav Pamukchiev, Margarita Pueva, Edmond Demirdjian, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Ivan Moudov, Stefaniia Batoeva and others.
A catalog was published in Bulgarian and English.

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Ani Vaseva (born in Sofia in 1982) is a playwright and theatre director. Her productions include the radio play Sick (2010), A Dying Play (2010), Frankenstein (2012), The Alleater (2012) and Meteor (2013; all in Bulgarian). Co-founder of METHEOR.

Boryana Rossa (born in Sofia in 1972) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator who works in the fields of performance, film, photography and digital arts, as well as on her own curatorial projects. Together with Oleg Mavromatti, she co-founded the ULTRAFUTURO group in 2004. She teaches at the Department of Transmedia at Syracuse University, New York.

Monika Vakarelova (born in Sofia in 1987) is a doctoral student at Sofia University’s Department of History and Theory of Culture. Her research is in the field of cultural history of modernity, and her present interests are related to images and imageless events.

19 March 2013 - 28 April 2013

Watercolor artworks have a prominent place of their own in the SCAG collection. Loved and perfected by many Bulgarian artists, the watercolor technique has a peculiar charm and ability to captivate. Watercolor artworks, whether they are spontaneous light sketches or artfully designed fully completed works, whether they are portraits, landscapes, compositions or artistic impressions, captivate the viewer with their spontaneity and poeticism.

Known from as early as antiquity, watercolor painting developed in China after the invention of paper, becoming popular around Europe significantly later. The precursor of the watercolor technique is painting on freshly applied plaster /fresco painting/, whose effect is similar to that of watercolor. Initially, watercolor was used in European painting as an ancillary technique for the preparation of sketches, drafts or quick drawings. It was as late as the 18th – 19th century that watercolor became an independent art form. Watercolor’s intrinsic lightness and exquisiteness, the rich potential for a variety of effects – from the artist barely touching the paper through to deep colorful layering, make it the technique of choice for many artists.

The SCAG exhibition features 80 watercolor artworks. Without claiming to present a thorough chronological timeline, the exhibition follows the development of the watercolor technique in Bulgarian art, starting from the late 19th century through to the late 20th century. Alongside the early notable works from the SCAG collection by Josef Oberbauer, Georgi Kanela or Yaroslav Veshin, the exhibition focuses on the most prominent Bulgarian watercolor masters – Nikola Marinov, Constantine Starkelov, Yordan Geshev, Dechko Uzunov, Vasil Stoilov, etc. Works by a number of artists such as Genko Genkov, Simeon Venov, Vasil Chakarov, Alexander Poplilov, Vasil Valev, Lyuben Zidarov, Thomas Kochev, Mihail Deyanov, Nenko Tokmakchiev, Zahari Kamenov, Nina Kovacheva, etc. provide an idea of the various approaches and styles adopted between the mid-20th and the late 20th century, revealing the rich expressive potential and poetic beauty of watercolor painting. 

14 March 2013 - 21 April 2013

Screenings: Tuesday-Saturday - 11.30 am and 3.30 pm; Sunday - 2 pm and 4 pm

TZVETANKA is a poetic film about the history of twentieth-century Bulgaria as seen through the eyes of Dr. Tzvetanka Gosheva and her incredible life story. 

Born into a wealthy family, Tzvetanka’s childhood dream was to become an actress, yet Bulgaria’s twentieth-century history causes her fate to radically change. What makes the twentieth century a unique period in Bulgaria’s history are the abrupt transitions from monarchy to communism and then to democracy. As one age is transformed into another, so are transformed the country and the people living in it. 

“Tzvetanka” is the story of my grandmother, who witnessed these three periods in Bulgaria’s history. Her life provides an insight into the life of our contemporaries, our society and our country.” Youlian Tabakov, film director and creator of the exhibition. 

The exhibition includes a presentation of the film “Tzvetanka“ (Youlian Tabakov, writer/ director, Adam Nilson, director of photography, Morten Nilsen, Martichka Bozhilova, producers), large format photographs and scenography-related material.




Youlian Tabakov is an internationally acclaimed young artist, having taken numerous specialization courses in Bulgaria and abroad. He has worked extensively with theater and film directors of high European caliber, all of whom contributed to the creation of the artwork’s visual concept, comprehensiveness and focus of perception. Drawing on his extensive experience as an artist, sculptor and scenographer, he got involved with leading film directors as a collaborator and conceptualist, also creating successful theater and film projects of his own. 

12 March 2013 - 21 April 2013

The Allianz Bulgaria-supported National Painting, Graphic Arts, and Sculpture competition was launched in 2008 as a biennial event. There have been three competitions in the last five years, followed by a total of 21 exhibitions, featuring more than 3, 000 artworks, held in various cities.

The event aims to promote the creation of new artworks, as well as to follow the development of painting, sculpture, and graphic arts throughout the period 2008 – 2013. Some of the artworks were also exhibited abroad, namely in Munich, Prague, and Košice. 

Grand prize winners include Dimitar Cholakov, Angel Stanev, Veliko Marinchevski, Desislava Deneva, Emanuela Kovach, Nelly Hristova, Zhivka Marinova, Cyril Meskin and Ivan Ninov.

Competition catalogues were available at all three of the competitions held so far.

The SCAG-hosted exhibition presents fifty four award winners from the three competitions held so far. Artworks belong to Allianz Bulgaria.

12 September 2012 - 02 March 2013

This project is an attempt to present, both visually and theoretically, the development of Bulgarian art from the late 19th century through the present day. The visual aspect of the exhibition involves the artifacts belonging to the museum collection, while the theoretical component comprises texts analyzing artistic developments. The study of the latter was structured as follows: analysis of six periods with five sub-themes each. Prominent Bulgarian art historians, namely Irina Genova, Tatiana Dimitrova, Chavdar Popov, Boris Danailov, Diana Popova and Maria Vassileva, were invited to research developments in Bulgarian art based on the gallery’s collection and consequently offer their reviews. The individual parts of the study comprise a comprehensive view of history from a modern vantage point. Each period and its sub-themes reveal the most significant aspects of their time. The project, comprising an exhibition and an exhibition catalogue, is highly educational, as it aims to make a clear, user-friendly outline of major tendencies and trends.

The exhibition elaborates on issues, which were either never brought up before, or were presented outside the context of their time and the overall logic of artistic developments. Examples include early 20th century themes such as interest in the Orient or salon portraiture, as well as the development of art from the early 1950’s through the mid-1950’s. The project is an attempt to view art history from all sides in order to challenge stereotypical perceptions or ideology-based interpretation of artworks and offer a modern viewpoint that is as objective as it is possible.

The study is based on the museum’s collection, whose scope and comprehensiveness allow such a broad view of history. The collection, which dates back over 80 years, now features more than 8, 000 artworks, belonging to the genres of painting, sculpture, graphic art, contemporary art and photography. Its building is related to the overall development of modern Bulgarian art, which went a long way within a century, namely between the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule (1878) and the early 21st century, going through various intensive processes of initiation, institutionalization, and recognition. This development was marked by change and reconsideration of values, prompted by various art-related and political factors, namely the willingness to measure up to European art and culture and build a tradition, which would create a sense of history and thus contribute to the social significance of art. "

"A Possible History“exhibition offers an interpretation of Bulgarian art history through the gallery’s collection, as the latter features various, and unique, unknown and emblematic artworks and names, which have a prominent place in the development of Bulgarian art. This new project and study concerning the art collection of the Sofia City Art Gallery do not only aim to contribute to the already voluminous body of research, exploring the collection’s beauty, richness and significance. This exhibition and study offer a chronological outline, as well as a comparison of styles and themes, which reveals the points of intersection between the views of various artists, associations of artists, and artistic trends. Thus the exhibition and the study related to it consider various trends in the history of Bulgarian art over the period between 1878 and 2012, which came to interact with one another, while taking turns at the dominant position in the course of the decades. 

The 200-page exhibition catalogue features 300 reproductions and texts in Bulgarian and English.

The “Vaska Emanouilova” Gallery, which is a branch of the Sofia City Art Gallery, also came up with new permanent exhibits. Vaska Emanouilova’s art was considered and presented chronologically through her work, as well as by photographs, documents and the accounts of renowned art historians and fellow artists.

The “Possible History“ exhibition was made possible with kind support from the Ministry of Culture, the Sofia Municipality, OGNYANOVO K Plc.,PLENA Group Company, METROREKLAMA, CEZ- Bulgaria, REOFIX SMLLC and in media partnership with the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio.

26 June 2012 - 22 July 2012

The exhibition marks the fifth release of the BAZA Award for contemporary art. It was established in 2008 on the initiative of the Institute of Contemporary Art – Sofia and exists as a part of an international awards network for young artists based in New York City. Following the tradition, the exhibition of the nominees is realised with the cooperation of the SofiaCity Art Gallery and in one of its halls. The Award is unique for Bulgaria and comprises a six-week residency at the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York City, and a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) gallery in Sofia. The first four BAZA award winners are: Rada Boukova (2008), Samuil Stoyanov (2009), Anton Terziev (2010) and Vikenti Komitski (2011). Their experience from the residence in New York City already proved the efficiency of such awarding format because of the widening of the professional and fellow contacts, the invitations for participation in exhibitions in different countries as well as the knowledge gathered through the observation of the New York City art scene.

The aim of the nominees exhibition is to present the best of the work of each chosen artist and to give an idea about his or hers individual art preferences. In the upcoming exposition new works of art are predominant which were especially planned and realized for this occasion. 
The works of Zoran Georgiev focus on the topic for the way of artefacts through history and the working process perceived as a link between the making of art and the non-art activities. Leda Ekimova is interested in the human emotionality, expressing this through symbols of the body and organic materials. Kiril Kuzmanov explores the idea of the travelling, the moving and the image of the artist not as a tourist, but as a traveller. The youngest participant Pavel Lefterov joints the exhibition as an example for intense mastering of painting and direct look at the mass culture and consumer society. Maximilian Pramatarov is occupied with manipulation of documental images, adding sense changes through the technical means of photography. The works of Kosta Tonev show his long-time continuity in the assessment of words and terms based on postulates of the modern art history. 

In 2012 members of the jury are: Maria Vassileva (curator, chief curator of the Sofia City Art Gallery), Iara Boubnova (curator, director of ICA-Sofia), Nedko Solakov (artist), Boris Missirkov (photographer), Olivier Boissiere (contemporary art collector).

LEDA EKIMOVA IS THE AWARD WINNER.

Zoran Georgiev was born in 1985 in Gevgelia, Republic of Macedonia. In 2012 graduates in painting at the National Academy of Art (NAA), under professor Andrei Daniel. Works on painting, video, installation and objects. Award winner for painting from the Competition for young artists, critics and curators of the “St. Cyril and St. Methodius” international foundation. 

Leda Ekimova was born in 1980 in Svishtov. In 2004 graduates in Fashion at the NAA. Works as an artist,fashion designer and curator. Founder of the “Pistolet” gallery and the fashion label “Chaika”. In her art expressions she prefers the means of painting and installation.

Kiril Kuzmanov was born in 1981 in Sofia. In 2009 graduates in Sculpture at the NAA, under professor Emil Popov. In his work he experiments with interventions in the urban environment or exhibition spaces, using different means of expression. In 2009 he wins First price in the Turgusun Arts Festival, Kazakhstan. 

Pavel Lefterov was born in 1994 in Sofia. Studies at the National school for fine arts “Ilia Petrov”. Participates in several joint exhibitions, among which SAATCHI ONLINE at the exposition ARTPARIS JUST ART, Grand Palais March, Paris, 2011. Award winner from the Sixth national competition for academic painting, Sofia, 2010.

Maximilian Pramatarov was born in 1979 in Sofia. In 2002 he graduates in Theology at the Sofia University, and in 2011 - at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Works mainly in the area of photography, lately experimenting with the lenticular technique for 3D printing. In 2006 receives an award from the international magazine for photography and media artEIKON. 

Kosta Tonev was born in 1980 in Plovdiv. In 2004 he graduates in painting at the NAA, under professor Andrei Daniel. In 2008 graduates painting at the Academy of fine arts in Vienna. Works on painting, video, photography and installations. Known to the public through numerous participations in exhibitions in Bulgaria and worldwide.

14 June 2012 - 26 August 2012

Софийската градска художествена галерия представя най-новите постъпления във фондовете Живопис, Графика, Скулптура и Съвременно изкуство и фотография, приети през последните две години като откупки или дарения. По традиция от 2008 г. насам музеят се отчита с подобни изложби пред своята публика и показва политиката си по отношение попълването на колекцията.

Благодарение на финансовата подкрепа на Столична община през 2007 година галерията реализира първите след повече от 15 години откупки на художествени произведения. Оттогава всяка година с прецизна селекция във фондовете на музея влизат различни по характер творби. Даренията също са важен източник за обогатяване на колекцията. 

Както и досега, попълването върви в няколко посоки. Едната е издирване на класически произведения на българското изкуство, които липсват или не са достатъчно добре представени в колекцията (Никола Георгиев, Николай Ростовцев, Георги Велчев, Пенчо Балкански). Другата е проследяване развитието на автори, които се определят като утвърдени в българската художествена култура и пълноценното им показване изисква включване на работи от различни периоди на творческото им развитие (скулптурите Томас Кочев и Емил Попов, графика Иван Нинов, живописците Йоан Левиев, Румен Скорчев, Андрей Даниел, Греди Асса). Селекцията обръща специално внимание на поколението художници, което се утвърждава след втората половина на 80-те години и поради трудния преходен период остава извън музейните колекции (Румен Жеков, Долорес Дилова, Онник Каранфилиян, Васил Попов). Продължава линията на обогатяване на фондовете с млади живописци (Нина Русева, Александър Петков) и графици (Любомир Кръстев). Интересен акцент тази година представляват новопридобитите карикатури – една силно подценявана от музеите област на художествено изразяване (Алла и Чавдар Георгиеви, Чавдар Николов, Христо Комарницки, Стефан Десподов, Румен Драгостинов, Иван Кутузов). СГХГ продължава да попълва и своя фонд „Съвременно изкуство и фотография“, който е без аналог в българската музейна практика (Васил Симитчиев, Аделина Попнеделева, Недко Солаков, Даниела Костова, Нина Ковачева и Валентин Стефанов, Калин Серапионов, Борис Мисирков и Георги Богданов, Рада Букова и др.).

14 June 2012 - 26 August 2012

19 May 2012 - 17 June 2012

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.

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.