Georgi Shtarbev

Georgi Shtarbev

(b. 1972, Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

Education

1986–1991 Tsanko Lavrenov High School of Fine Arts, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

1999–2004 Accademia di belle arti di Roma, Rome, Italy, Bachelor's degree in Painting

Along with his solo shows Georgi Shtarbev has participated in many joint exhibitions and projects in major galleries in Bulgaria and abroad. Here is a list of

Selected Exhibitions

2022

Unfinished Seasons, jubilee solo exhibition, Aeterna Art Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Fragments of a Journey, solo exhibition, Nesi Gallery, Burgas, Bulgaria

2021

Joint exhibition with Stanimir Videv, painting, Maria Luiza Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

The Labyrinth of Summer, group exhibition, Labyrinth Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Painting NOW. Plovdiv 2021, group exhibition, curatorial project of Monika Romenska, City Gallery of Fine Arts, 2019 Exhibition Hall, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2020

30x30, annual group exhibition, Astry Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

A Collection of Small Drawings, group exhibition, Labyrinth Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Solo exhibition, painting, Red Pony Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Solo exhibition, painting, Nesi Gallery, Burgas, Bulgaria

2019

Solo exhibition, painting, Labyrinth Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2018

Solo exhibition, painting, Nesi Gallery, Burgas, Bulgaria

Solo exhibition, painting, Red Pony Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2016

About the Letters. The Cyrillic Alphabet in Contemporary Bulgarian Art, exhibition project visiting the Palace of Nations, UN Geneva, on the occasion of 24 May

Solo exhibition, painting, U'Park Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2015

Solo exhibition, painting, Degas Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

Solo exhibition, painting, Art GalleryAspect, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Solo exhibition, painting, Nesi Gallery, Burgas, Bulgaria

2014

Group exhibition, National Allianz Bulgaria Competition for Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking, National Exhibition Centre, 6 Shipka Street, Sofia, Bulgaria

2013

Solo exhibition, painting, Red Pony Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Five Variations of the Landscape, joint exhibition with Lyuben Genov, Stanimir Videv, Zdravka Vasileva and Kiril Haralampiev, VOX Gallery, Burgas, Bulgaria

2012

Group exhibition for opening of Hugo Voeten Art Center, Herentals, Belgium

Fragments, solo exhibition, painting, Sredets Gallery with the Ministry of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria

Group exhibition, National Allianz Bulgaria Competition for Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking, National Exhibition Centre, 6 Shipka Street, Sofia, Bulgaria

Interior/Exterior, exhibition, project for 2012 Night of Museums and Galleries, Art GalleryAspect, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2009

Solo exhibition, painting, Testa Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

Joint exhibition with Zdravka Vasileva, painting, curator Vessela Radoeva, Argos Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

Two Brothers, group exhibition, Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Bratislava, project of the Union of Bulgarian Artists

2008

MO>VI ARTE, group exhibition, curator Annamaria Sandona, Palazzo Spada, Padua, Italy

The Cyrillic Alphabet, travelling group exhibition Sofia–Brussels, joint project of the State Cultural Institute under the Minister of Foreign Affairs with the Ministry of Culture, the Regional Administration of Plovdiv District, City Art Gallery in Plovdiv and Music Centre "Boris Hristov" in Sofia, Bulgaria 

2007

Two Monologues, solo exhibition, painting, Art GalleryAspect, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Group exhibition, Mtel Awards for Contemporary Bulgarian Art, Tobacco Warehouses, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Recollection of Georgi Baev – Djurlata, group exhibition, National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

Annual Exhibition of the Society of Plovdiv Artists, Award for Painting, Gladstone Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2004

Participation in a curatorial exhibition project for young artists, ILLA Gallery, Rome, Italy

2003

Group exhibitions of young artists, Centro di Capo Gallery, Rome, Italy

Here is what the art critic Galina Lardeva writes about Georgi Shtarbev's work:

"The art of Georgi Shtarbev is remarkable for its ability to occupy intermediate territories and forms, to venture into problematic and equivocal means of expression. Deeply rooted in his artistic handwriting, this ambiguity embraces expressions of both the abstract and the figurative, gently subverting their tenets: the abstractionist denial of mimesis is no less questioned than the ability of the figurative to develop its immediate meanings.

The latest works of Georgi Shtarbev seem to pursue more classical means of expression. They contain thematic nodes reminiscent of the past or of distant places, be it Antiquity or Italy. But the sense of not-here and not-now is obtained by adherence to a rustic asceticism, and not through the use of specific symbols or landmarks. This kind of disciplined minimalist austerity, notably in the composition and in the often geometric nature of the forms and their interactions, is a counterpoint to Shtarbev's characteristic ambivalence.

The only visible extravagance in Shtarbev's canvases is found in the dramatic complexity of their textures, in the intense and multidirectional labour of the seemingly endless layering. This signature style contributes not only to the specific internal voluminosity and materiality of his works. The traces of application form additional compositional and thematic accents and connect individual works into series.

Such a protean painterly style leads to a duality in the impact of Georgi Shtarbev's paintings: they can carry a certain material monumentality and a figurative elusiveness at the same time. Shifts between an interest in the monochrome and a play with colours and their application are a constant feature of the same dynamics. In this sense, the informal and the abstract expressionism, which have been used by observers over the years as points of reference to Shtarbev's art, are only tentative and imperfect characterizations of an apparently repetitive but intrinsically dynamic creative process. In front of us we have a strong artistic individuality and a distinct presence in contemporary Bulgarian art."