12 June 2014 - 06 July 2014

The Award for contemporary art BAZA is unique for Bulgaria. It is a grant for travel and residency in New York City for one and a half months. Each year one Bulgarian artist aged under 35 becomes the BAZA winner. He or she is chosen after a two-stage competition.

The award winner’s stay in New York comprises a programme of meetings with curators, visiting galleries and art institutions, collaborations with artists from other countries as well as the opportunity for an exhibition or presentation of the artist’s own work. The widening of the professional contacts is also due to the fact, that BAZA is part of an awards-network in more than 10 countries in Central and Eastern Europe (YVAA), which function on a similar principle.

In Bulgaria BAZA exists since 2008, when it was initiated by Maria Vassileva and founded by the Institute of Contemporary Art – Sofia. The award winners get the opportunity for a solo exhibition at the ICA Gallery in Sofia after finishing their residencies. Partner of the project is the Sofia City Art Gallery which provides the space and support for the exhibition of the nominees. Curator of the exhibition is Daniela Radeva.

Members of the 2014 jury are: Iara Boubnova, Maria Vassileva, Galina Dimitrova-Dimova, Kalin Serapionov and Sasho Stoitsov. For the second year in a row in the jury take part also an international curator, who is Vilcek Foundation Fellow. In 2014 this is Lumi Tan, critic and curator, currently working for one of the oldest and most prestigious art spaces in New York – The Kitchen.

The BAZA award winner for 2014 is Zoran Georgiev.

05 June 2014 - 31 August 2014

Sofia City Art Gallery presents the most recent acquisitions in its Painting, Graphics, Sculpture and Contemporary Art and Photography collections, received in the past two years, either as donations or as purchases, with the financial support of the Sofia Municipality.

The enrichment of the collections is a matter of historical responsibility. The gallery’s policy is to try and fill some of the gaps with respect to the classics of Bulgarian painting, graphics and sculpture. Among the best known names in the current selection are: Assen Belkovski, Preslav Karshovski, Tsvetana Karshovska, Vaska Balareva, Ivan Georgiev-Rembrandt, Todor Panayotov, Snezhana Popgencheva, Vladimir Ivanov, Nadezhda Kouteva, Svilen Blazhev, Angel Stanev, Nina Kovacheva, Valentin Stefanoff.

A priority is the rediscovery of forgotten authors or of little known Bulgarian artists living and working abroad: Nikolay Boyadzhiev, Evgenia Vodenitcharova, Alexander Georgiev, Dimitar Batoev, Krasimira Drenska, Mariana Vassileva, etc.

Special attention is given to the young generations of artists: Ivan Moudov, Kamen Starchev, Peter Mintchev, Ivo Bistrichki, Kamen Stoyanov, Kaliya Kalacheva, Minko Yovchev, Leda Starcheva, Miná Minov, Leda Ekimova, Maximilian Pramatarov, Samuil Stoyanov, Lyben Petrov.

2012 saw the beginning of the long-term partnership between the Vaska Emanouilova Gallery, a branch of Sofia City Art Gallery and Societe General Expressbank. The financial support received has made possible the acquisition of works by some young artists: Mihail Novakov, Vitto Valentinov, Georgi Georgiev-Jojo, Boris Pramatarov, Iskra Blagoeva, HR-Stamenov and others.

In 2013 Sofia Art Gallery launched a long-term project in support of contemporary Bulgarian photography. In partnership with photographers Nikola Mihov and Ivaylo Stoyanov the museum collection expanded with more than 40 works by Dimitri Stefanov, Elena Geroska, Eugenia Maximova, Babak Salari, Georgi Kozhuharov, Vassil Iliev, Yasena Popova, Milen Radev, Ivaylo Stoyanov, Nikola Mihov. The collection includes all free photography forms with a focus on works created after the year 2000. A website, Bulgarian Photography Now, has been launched too. It showcases selected works of Bulgarian photographers as well as projects of foreign artists who have worked in Bulgaria. http://www.bulgarianphotographynow.com

14 May 2014 - 01 June 2014

The sudden premature passing of the great Bulgarian artist Kolio Karamfilov prompted us to organize an exhibition in his memory, and thus recall the power of his art.

The exhibition features artworks belonging to various genres and periods of his career as an artist, which allow just a glimpse at his endless talent.

Kolio Karamfilov (1963-2014) was born in the city of Plovdiv, where he studied scenography at the School for Theater Design, from which he graduated in 1982. Starting in 1983, he participated in numerous general and group exhibitions. He co-created the “Modern Classic” tandem together with Dimitar Mitovski, coming up with several actions and exhibitions over the period 1989-92. He was a co-founding member of the “Rab” (“Edge”) avant-garde group, having participated in all events organized by the latter in the period 1990-1993. In 1995 he also became a co-founding member of the “Disco’95“ group. He worked in the fields of graphic arts, illustration, painting, sculpture and scenography. He won numerous awards.

Kolio Karamfilov is a universe which had to offer way more than one or more artworks. He was present in our lives through his many talents – the ability to paint, to play the guitar and sing along, to speak in an inimitably enchanting manner.

Yet his approach to art is minimalist at best. He attempted to create a visual language based on easily recognizable and readable codes. He relied on the recurrent use of some of his favorite signs, namely the house, the hand, the wing, the heart, the head, lending the wisdom of lessons learned to all of them.

This exhibition would not have been possible without the support of Kolio’s family, friends and collectors, namely Rosen Karamfilov, Ina Damyanova, Stefan Bozhkov, Radost Kotseva (U.P.A.R.K. gallery), Pavlina Marinova and Emil Pungerov (L’Union gallery), Rositsa Ivanova, Nikolay Nedelchev, Elena Yoncheva and Plamen Todorov, Emil Ivanov, Simeon Djurov, Dimitar Todoranov, Dimitar Rusev, Atanas Hranov, the Popnedelev family – Adelina and Vihroni, Krassimir Dobrev.

Curators: Maria Vassileva, Stanislava Nikolova, Stefan Bojkov.

29 April 2014 - 25 May 2014

Greddy Assa puts out an exhibition of forty-nine large format canvases created between 2010 and 2014. Sixtieth anniversary, yet only a retrospective of feelings. The selection of paintings includes portraits whose elusive protagonists defy analysis, leaving a scent and the sound of a tune instead; there are also drawings where the artist juggles with anatomical reference points, yet most of the paintings have sprung out of mirages, memories of momentary experiences, associations brought by places or events. They legitimize the fleeting, the ever elusive, which happens in dreams during half-sleep; maybe the longing for this ever elusive thing, the feeling, … flavored with irony, mixed up with childish faith in the miracle that is this close to happening. That is why the desert, which harbors the prospect of any mirage, which is a constantly changing scene of the imaginary, charged with the potential for transformation, was chosen as a muse and a tool.

“The desert — a hidden breath, a place of countless dangers, yet also of endless aestheticism, inspiring me as an artist, a discoverer of unexpected beauty… It starts from sand banks, pushes away every last one of the already sparse bare rocks, reminds of the Moon’s surface, standing so close with its many faces. Her stripes, like the convulsions of the soul, harbor a sense of weightlessness. Having attracted the company of countless sand dunes, looking like reclining nymphs — I am asking myself whether I do exist? I feel otherworldly silence among the heaps of sand, triggering in me the feeling of the unknown and irreversible. Loneliness and dehydration of imagination.

… It makes me feel like a grain of sand, one of many, yet a grain with a world of its own, a world full of freedom, hope, inspiration… And regardless of the occasional feeling that I do not exist outside the desert, I can see hope in the fact that I have been able to make this journey through the desert in my thoughts, that my momentary melancholy is entirely gone, that maybe temperature inversion has made me hope that what I get to see tomorrow will take me by surprise yet again…

All that is left for me to do is keep walking…”

20 March 2014 - 20 April 2014

Nikolay Maistorov is one of the most prominent representatives of contemporary Bulgarian art, standing out with his highly distinctive memorable style. His artwork is characterized by sharpness, expressiveness, and strong emotion, captivating the viewer in a way that leaves no room for indifference.

This SCAG exhibition, which was inspired by the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John the Apostle, focuses on “the things which must shortly come to pass“. The cycle “Apocalypse Now or Forever“ features more than 100 paintings, graphic artworks and drawings, created over the period 1993-2013, which have been displayed in chronological order. Each chronological period features 22 artworks, which corresponds to the number of chapters in the “Apocalypse“, to the exception of the graphic cycle created in  2000, which features 23 lithographs, two of which are based on the chapter “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse“. The oldest thematic cycle, created over the period 1993-1994, is characterized by brighter contrasting colors, compared to the canvases created in 2011 through 2013. The preparatory drawings drafted in 2010 for the final cycle of paintings (2011-2013) are particularly interesting, as they reveal a somewhat unknown aspect of the artist’s work. It is in this type of works that the artist’s strong emotion is revealed, as well as his attempt to capture his “visions“ and lend maximum expressiveness to the latter.

The exhibition reveals the different stages in the artist’s creative process, presenting each cycle in its entirety. The viewer can see the transformation of an idea, started in a drawing, developed into a lithograph to be brought into fruition in a painting. Each technique is characterized by a specific expressiveness of its own. The swift, anxious lines characteristic of the pencil drawings, the specific thickness of charcoal lines, the mellowness of egg tempera, the clear details and powerful message of the lithographs, as well as the expressive contrasting of colors in the artist’s paintings reveal his artistic leanings and his willingness to find the best way of expressing his ideas.

Nikolay Maistorov was born in 1943 in Sofia.

In 1969 he graduated from the “Nikolay Pavlovich” Higher Institute of Visual Arts, majoring in Painting under Prof. Nenko Balkanski.

He has been an active member of the national art scene, working mainly in the fields of painting and graphic arts. He is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists.

His teaching career started in 1972. In 1997-1998 he became the founder and manager of “Atelier 19“ in Sofia. He is a lecturer at the New Bulgarian University, where he was awarded honorary professorship in October, 2013.

He has had numerous solo exhibitions, including: “Paintings From a Drawer“, “Loran“ Gallery, Sofia, 2013; “Graphic cycle of lithographs “Don Quixote“ Cervantes/Unamuno“, “Loran“ Gallery, Sofia, 2012; Graphic cycle of lithographs “The Song of Songs“. Solomon, “Prolet“ Gallery, City of Burgas, 2012; “Drawings based on Pablo Neruda’s 100 Love Sonnets“, “Vazrazhdane“ Gallery, City of Plovdiv, 2012; “Creation” based on the The Book of Genesis – Holy Bible, The Old Testament, 6 “Shiplka“ St. Gallery, Union of Bulgarian Artists, Sofia, 2009; Exhibition of Paintings, National Art Gallery, Sofia, 2003; Exhibition of Graphic Artworks, “Vazrazhdane“ Gallery, City of Plovdiv, 2002; Exhibition of Paintings, Sofia City Art Gallery, 1998; Exhibition of Paintings, CBK GSA galerie Hilversum, the Netherlands, 2011; Exhibition of Graphic Artworks, Cité des Arts, Paris, France, 1998; Exhibition of Graphic Artworks, Düsseldorf City Theater, Germany, 1992, etc..

The artist has won numerous awards, including: the “Zahari Zograf” National Painting Award (2005); The “Golden Quill“ annual culture award of “Classic FM” Radio (2003); an award of the “SS Cyril and Methodius“ Foundation presented at the 11^th International Graphic Arts Biennial “Varna `01“ (2001); honorary certificate awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria for outstanding contribution to Bulgarian culture (1998); Painting award presented at the International Painting Triennial “Sofia 96“; The Grand Prize of the Union of Bulgarian Artists for outstanding  exhibition (1996); Graphic Art Award presented at the International Humor and Satire Biennial, City of Gabrovo (1987); The “Vladimir Dimitrov – the Master” Grand Prize for Painting, Union of Bulgarian Artists (1986); Critics’ Choice Award for Painting, Union of Bulgarian Artists (1984).

04 February 2014 - 09 March 2014

Whether it is a hobby, a passion, or a business, collection of artworks typically remains hidden behind personal motives and preferences, keeping away from, or simply failing to gain wide publicity.

The SCAG exhibition grants the viewer access to this personal territory through selected works from Dr. Slavov’s collection.

Prof. Chavdar Slavov, DMSc, is a specialist in urology, a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Standing Committee for Europe and also an international member of the World, European and American Urological Associations. He was born in 1953 in Sofia. He was granted honorary citizenship by the town of Kyustendil. He has been in close touch with artists and people belonging to various artistic circles throughout his whole life. He characterizes himself as an art connoisseur. He started building his collection in 1985.

Dr. Slavov’s collection features works by well-known artists, many of whom are represented by some of their most prominent artistic achievements. The broad variety of artworks presenting different genres, styles and techniques is complemented by the variety of the artists who created them, which includes classical Bulgarian artists, as well as contemporary ones. The collection is characterized by a marked preference for graphic art and drawing.

The exhibition features more than 100 graphic artworks by 81 artists, painting an intriguing picture of Bulgarian graphic art in the twentieth century and the turn of the 21^st century. The selection, which was done by Academician Rumen Skorchev, presents the best periods in the development of Bulgarian graphic art, as well as graphic artworks by a number of artists, whose most prominent works belong to other genres. Alongside graphic artworks by Vasil Zahariev, Veselin Staykov, Preslav Karshovski, Pavel Valkov, the exhibition also presents graphic artworks by Dechko Uzunov, Ivan Kirkov, Atanas Yaranov, Dimitar Kazakov, Svetlin Rusev, Andrey Daniel, Emil Popov. The exhibition also features Genko Genkov’s only endeavor in the field of etching, early work by Ivan Ninov or Ivan Dimov, as well as graphic artworks by Kolyo Karamfilov, Milko Bozhkov, Stoyan Tsanev, Maria Duhteva, Aleksi Nachev, Zahari Kamenov, Kamen Starchev and many others.

The exhibition is an in-depth study of Bulgarian graphic arts, as well as a personal view of tendencies and values, the outcome of genuine love for art and true dedication.

16 December 2013 - 26 January 2014

Photographers, cinematographers, visual campaign designers, creators of documentary features, videos and short films. Ideologists and founders of the AGITPROP film company, as well as co-founders of the Bulgarian Photographic Association, Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov are among the most prominent participants in the contemporary art scene.

Their Sofia City Art Gallery exhibition features more than 80 portraits of famous Bulgarian cultural and community leaders. The exhibition venue is transformed into a photographic spectacle, offering a summarized portrait of our society through the images of some of its most notable members.

The photographs featured in this exhibition were created between 1992 and 2013. The artists made a portrait of their generation and circle – contemporary Bulgarian actors, film directors, camera operators, photographers, authors, producers, musicians, television hosts, friends. Among them are Javor Gardev, Martichka Bozhilova, Nadezhda Koseva, Georgi Tenev, Kamen Donev, Koyna Ruseva, Snezhina Petrova, Deyan Donkov, Nina Nikolina, Ivan Lechev, Denis Rizov, Andrei Batashov, Stefan Valdobrev, Marius Kurkinski, Hristo Mutafchiev, Maya Bejanska and others. Also featured in the storyline are Bulgarian politicians, as well as foreign nationals having crossed paths with the artists: Antonina Stoyanova, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Sergei Stanishev, Terence Trent D'Arby, Javier Mariscal, Issey Miyake, David Carson, Elliott Earls.

The exhibition comprises two groups of portraits – representative and freestyle. The former abide by the laws of classic studio photography, where front-view shots, neutral backgrounds and statically arranged compositions prevail. The latter may be characterized as accidentally captured images revealing unusual perspectives and positions. Thus the artists have created two images of the same generation, which is liberated, yet also focused on its aims and mission.

Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov rely on techniques used in classic and advertising photography, coupled with snapshot techniques, thus creating a moving photographic language.

The presence of the people having been portrayed, as well as the compelling style of the artists, characterized by exquisite taste and intuition, render the project a positive sign of the times, namely of the past 20 years.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a book of photographs (180 pages, hardcover) by “Janet-45” Publishing, featuring texts by Walter Seidl, Maria Vassileva and Georgi Lozanov.

A project of  

The project received co-funding under the 2013 “Culture” Program of the Capital City Municipality, it was implemented to back up the application of Sofia and the South-western Region for European capital of culture - 2019 г.

With the kind support of:

04 December 2013 - 09 March 2014

We are debtors, and remain in debt to Sirak Skitnik! That exclamation came from a researcher of the life and works of Panayot Todorov - born October 22, 1883 in the town of Sliven. And one cannot disagree with these words. Siraka, as his friends by experience and profession named him, has left a number of most dazzling marks on the paths of his time - a huge heritage bequeathed to us - unfortunately long ago forgotten.

The words of Siraka - poetic, critical, scenic and graphic, have been washed away by the horrible masquerade of the mundane in this country. A significant part of the paintings of this master of color and line are still missing, scattered in private collections, and even those stored in the depots of public art galleries, rarely meet their viewers. Theatre work, poetry, prose, radio - although they are fragments of the artist’s creative profile, also remain poorly explored.

 The current exhibition, set up in the halls of Sofia City Art Gallery, is an attempt to outline the development of the artist as painter, by tracing the various stages in his creative path and his own understanding of art. From the first bright scenic attempts of Sirak Skitnik during his training in St. Petersburg (1908-1912), through the works created in the troubled war years between the Balkan and First World War, to the brightest of works with which the author set up his two solo exhibitions (1933 and 1935), the public will meet the immense color skillfulness of the artist. The visitors of the gallery will view his most famous works, together with those almost never shown before.

In the halls of the gallery are sorted out also some of his bravest experiments in graphic art, to which Sirak Skitnik reached out - to become an illustrator of books:   Poems  by Edgar Allan Poe, Bulgarian ballads by Theodore Trayanov, Puppets by Chavdar Mutafov and many others.

The public will have the opportunity not only to face the creations of the artist, but also to use the specially designed by the Gallery team audio-guides with intriguing information about key works of the author.

As part of its strategy to expand the number of visitors, Sofia City Art Gallery provides access for people with impaired vision to the world of art, supplying for a second time an exhibition with tactile maps with whose help sightless visitors will be able to contact the works of Sirak  Skitnik.

For the purpose of delivering an overall presentation of the man and artist within the scope of the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to watch the movies Sirak Skitnik - directed by Zunka Yankova,  and  Let’s ask Sirak - directed by Petar Petrov,  kindly provided by the fund of Bulgarian National Television.

Media Partner of the project – Bulgarian National Radio.

The exhibition includes works and documents from Sofia City Art Gallery, National Museum of Bulgarian Fine Arts, State Agency of Archives, Dimitar Dobrovich – Sliven Art Gallery, Petko Zadgorski – Burgas Art Gallery, Boris Georgiev - Varna Art Gallery, Nikola Petrov – Vidin Art Gallery, Kazanlak Art Gallery, Stanka Dimitrova  - Kardzhali Art Gallery, Vladimir Dimitrov the Master – Kyustendil Art Gallery, Kiril Petrov – Montana Art Gallery, IIiya Beshkov  - Pleven Art Gallery, Svetlin Rusev Collection - Pleven, Gallery -museum Philippopolis  - Plovdiv,  City Art Gallery - Plovdiv, Ilia Petrov  - Razgrad Art Gallery, Atanas Sharenkov  - Haskovo Art Gallery, Elena Karamihailova  - Shumen Art Gallery, National Literary Museum, Sofia Capital City library, and private collections.

29 October 2013 - 08 December 2013

For the first time in Bulgaria is displayed the cycle of engravings The Horrors of War created by the great Spanish artist Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828). The exhibition is set up by the Cervantes Institute jointly with San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, and its curator is Juan Bordes. Up to now the exposition has visited various centers of Instituto Cervantes round the world, such as Tokyo, Beijing, New Delhi, Warsaw, Krakow and more. The last point of the journey is Sofia, in the halls of Sofia City Art Gallery.

The exhibition includes 82 prints. The aim is to contribute to the promotion and study of this important series of prints. For this purpose, the printed works of the cycle are complemented with photographs by contemporary photo-reporters who from 1839 until now take the same anti-war approaches that, with his genius and amazing expressive power, Goya himself was taking.

The series of engravings Horrors of War (1810-1820) is conceived as an act of pacifism, by means of which the artist is not taking anybody's side, but is exposing the barbarity of the two sides in a war conflict. They are generated by the Spanish War of Independence (1808 -1814) that broke out as a reaction against the invasions of the French Emperor Napoleon. Goya is trying to go beyond the historical facts. The idea occured to him in Zaragoza, where he went at the invitation of General Palafox to report about the heroic defense of the city besieged by French troops, but instead he finds ruins.

"The Horrors" can be divided into three parts. In the first part Goya illustrates stories about real events with unquestionable authenticity, but in his prints he goes beyond the specific facts, loading them with a critical charge of more general character. In the second part the artist depicts the experience of war in the streets of Madrid, displaying the horrible year of hunger 1811, and describing war through its impact on people's daily lives. Finally, he makes a few prints in a symbolic code, that he names "categorical caprices." In them Goya focuses on the political situation in the postwar period, criticizing the establishment of absolutism and breaking off with the ideals of the Constitution.

In 1862 San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts gains the eighty plates of the cycle The Horrors of War. In the following year1863 this important series of etchings is printed for the first time. Until then The Horrors of War have been recognized only through the three available copies from the series, and through the small number of test prints, made by the great artist during his lifetime. Since then, six copies of the cycle have been printed, and the cycle itself is supplemented in 1870 with two new plates by the Frenchman Paul Lefort. Through these engravings the views of Goya on the horrors of war become known to the world.

The created therein images of his personal experiences herald to a great extent the photographic language, because they are perceived as photo shots. They miss the preconceived composition that can make them resemble arranged scenes, or can soften their heartbreaking message. Furthermore, the engravings contain areas without information - an effect that a photographer will achieve through a smear or a flash. Finally, just like in photography, Goya boosts the documentary character of the scenes through titles like "I saw it", "That too," or "It happened that way."

The eighty-two prints making up the cycle The Horrors of War are shown grouped into seven sections - The front, The Victims, The Executions, The Mass migrations and looting, The Hunger, The Woman, The Post-War Period, and do not follow the numbering of the metal plates. The aim is to outline the main themes and the ideas interwoven with them that Goya develops in the entire series.

23 October 2013 - 21 November 2013

The exhibition celebrates the 80th anniversary of the birth of Lyuben Dimanov – a prominent artist of diverse talents, as testified by his noteworthy contribution to various art genres and respectable presence on both the Bulgarian and the European art scenes.

Lyuben Dimanov’s art is among the most significant phenomena in Bulgarian visual arts. One of the leading figures having blazed the trail of new approaches to visual art in the 1960’s, he left a mark that contributed to the development of graphic arts and illustration in our country, creating idiosyncratic, memorable and monumental imagery. The tamed energy of his etchings or water colors, paintings, collages or illustrations move the viewer with its forcefulness and conclusiveness, as well as with the fine nuances of subtle sensitivity. Dimanov’s drawing, which is decorative and elevated, powerful and exquisite at the same time, is not only an introduction to the art of depiction, but also a bridge to spirituality.

The SCAG exhibition features selected works belonging to the genres of painting, graphic arts, drawing and collage, presenting various periods of Lyuben Dimanov’s artistic development, starting from the early 1960’s through to the present day. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a 10-piece series of paintings devoted to the ten commandments. Bibliophile editions such as “The Flowers of Evil”, “Sonnets”, “The Divine Comedy”, “When Flame and Rose Become One” are reminiscent of the highest peaks of the artist’s career in book design and illustration. Staying true to his identity in both his early works created in Bulgaria and his mature works created in Paris, the artist reveals the product of years-long artistic development, constituting a blend of expressiveness and spiritual messages.

An exhibition catalogue is available.