SOFIA CITY ART GALLERY; From February 11, 2025 to April 6, 2025; Opening: February 11, 2025, 6 p.m.

The exhibition “Possible Connections: Images from the Studio of Nikolay Shmirgela” traces the known and unknown contacts over time between Shmirgela and the people who left their mark in his studio. The focus of the exhibition is on the works carefully kept for many years in his studio, which allow us to take a brief look into the intimate world of the artist.

In 2023, the Sofia City Art Gallery received a large donation from Yulia Bankova and the heirs of Nikolay Shmirgela. It contains works by Bulgarian and foreign authors, which are the basis of the current exhibition.

In an interview from 1991, Shmirgela stated: “My life was full of friends by profession and friends by conviction. Imagine the people I have met over the years.” Shmirgela’s diverse collection includes works with whose authors the sculptor was in close relationships: Alexander Zhendov, Stoyan Venev, Georgi Popov – John, Alexander Stamenov, Svetlin Rusev, etc. Some of these relationships undergo metamorphoses and are often difficult to trace in their entirety. Others, which definitely stand out, have a long history, such as the one with the Cuban artist Carmelo Gonzalez, who was a guest in Shmirgela’s studio. With other artists, it is difficult to assume whether they knew each other, such as Georg Gross, André Messon, Eva Schulze-Knabe, etc.

The collection has an eclectic character. It contains much more than works that came to Shmirgela in unknown ways. It is rather a personal collection that testifies to biases, sympathies, inspiration, friendship, but probably also untold stories of personal relationships between many talented artists.

 More info: https://sghg.bg/en/exhibitions/possible-connections-images-from-the-studio-of-nikolay-shmirgela/