08 May 2001 - 28 May 2001

THERE ARE NO HAPPY BULGARIANS

(Happy are those who do not have conscience and the madmen)

Spartak Dermendjiev - Paris shows 50 portraits of his friends and intellectuals. They were created in the course of one year - 2000-2001. The sculptures are made of terracotta (baked clay). They were made from nature and in an impressionistic manner.

The sculptor (born in 1954) gained scandal popularity with his paintings and plastic works of naked female bodies. Now, he is offering a ‘timid’ exhibition of realistic portraits. The artist, though, is looking again for the challenge. And it is in the name of the exhibition and the meaning placed in it. 

01 March 2001 - 01 April 2001

This has been the first exhibition in Sofia of the great Bulgarian artist Encho Pironkov for 6 years. 120 paintings painted in the past 10 years are presented. The works are shown for the first time in public. 

The paintings are mostly figurative compositions in the typical for the author expressionistic style. The largest ones are 2х2 meters and the smallest - 20х30 sm.

15 January 2001 - 15 February 2001

The Social Realism exhibition comprises the period from the end of the 40s to the end of the 50s. Some later works, thematically and stylistically continuing the same trend, are also featured. 80 paintings, graphic works, and 20 sculptures by 70 artists are shown.

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\r\nrnrnThe period spotlighted is one of the gloomiest in Bulgarian art. After the initial enthusiasm that accompanied the events from 1944 came a period of monstrous repressions against artists. The majority of them stopped painting, other emigrated, and the rest, in order to survive, had to conform to the officially imposed art policy. Thus, together with completely forgotten names, the works of famous authors such as Dechko Uzunov, Stoyan Venev, Vaska Emanuilova, Nenko Balkanski and others can be seen. 
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\r\nrnrnAt the end of the 40s, Vulko Chervenkov and the official instruments of the cultural policy brutally imposed the new ‘artistic method’. It required creators to conform to strict guidelines regarding themes and artistic shapes. Genres such as still life, interior, and landscape were marked bourgeois and capitalist. The building of the new socialist life and the ‘new person’- multiply skilled machine worker and holder of an order became topical. In portraits, the images of political leaders were the most popular: Georgui Dimitrov, Lenin, Stalin, portraits of workers, and typified portraits of shock-workers and brigadiers. The figurative composition, which was a leading genre in the period, was completely dedicated to historic events from the revolutionary past and to topics connected with the new building. 
\r\nrnrnIn terms of style, solely academic development of the shape and the realistic authenticity were valued. All deviations were proclaimed as formalistic. This led to the unification of the artistic styles and to the introduction of the unique ‘collective method’ of painting. 
\r\nrnrnIt is for the first time when the Social Realism exhibition treats in depth a period, which was neglected for decades. Most of the paintings have not been shown since the time of their entering the gallery collection. Bulgarian viewers have the unique chance to get familiar with a period that lasted 15 years and sacrificed the talent of numerous Bulgarian artists. 
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\r\nrnrnThe exposition features documentary materials from newspapers and magazines dating back from that period.

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