1983 Born in Ruse, Bulgaria.
Lives and works in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Education

2008MA at AMDFA, Plovdiv;
2001Secondary Art School “Prof. Veselin Stoyanov”, Ruse.

 

Awards, Supported Projects, Residencies
2016 Gaudenz B. Ruf Award for New Bulgarian Art;
2015 Residency at International Artist Village Guanlan, China;
2012 Award in Printmaking. National Awards Allianz Bulgaria, Plovdiv regional exhibition;
2010
2009Residency at International Artist Village Guanlan, China;
National Competition for Young Artists, Critics and Curators, Sofia, Bulgaria.





Solo Exhibitions
2016
2013
The Industrial Temple, Night of Museums and Galleries, Plovdiv, Bulgaria;
Forcing the Election, National Autumn Exhibitions, Plovdiv, Bulgaria;

2011  Art Alley Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;
2008 Autograph Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
 



Group Exhibitions
2017 Tractatus Locus - raum im zeitgenössischen kunstwerk, Bulgarisches Kulturinstitut Haus Wittgenstein, Vienna, Austria;
2012 New Acquisitions 2010 - 2011, Sofia City Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;
    The Fifth Beijing International Art Biennale, Beijing, China;
International Print Triennial, Krakow, Poland;
    Fusion - International Contemporary Intaglio Print Exhibition, China.


 

Contact
Email: lyubomirkrastev@hotmail.com

Lyubomir Krastev
Photo: archive of the artist

Scar Field

Participation in a group exhibition Tractatus Locus. Space in contemporary artwork - a curatorial project of Kristina Schrei.
3 - 12 October, 2017
Bulgarian Cultural Institute Haus Wittgenstein, Vienna.

“When artists produce a work, a structure is created. This does not just mean that it produces a concrete, tangible object. Rather, a work of art creates a content that goes beyond the purely visual and opens up spaces of association. This ranges from sculptural gestures, which form constructs, to fictive spaces that tell stories, to fantastical figures that create dreamlike spheres.” - Kristina Schrei

In the project Scar Field, Lyubomir Krastev interprets this subjective space - abstract and real - exploring its possibilities in an "alienated and disturbing reality". The work is a reflection on the nature itself, as an abstract essence and its contrast to the industry, but also as a metaphor of consciousness. Observing the balanced plan of the scarred rock surface, depicted in his large format etching, we could immerse in a meditative contemplation and spiritual delight, as if we are among nature where we turn inward, breathing slowly, but in this feeling of balance, the elements such as craters, lava, fire and flying soot bring premonition of a disaster pulsating beneath the surface of a perhaps peaceful scenery.

Scar Field explores different versions represented by the multilayered nature of the graphic narrative as “intermediate territory” that leaves the fixed boundaries of printmaking, but at the same time originating and related to this definition. This is once presented in the state of the pure graphic print, and again in the perception of the printing plate as an independent aesthetic object - a reference to the historical emergence of the used technique.

The project is realized with the kind support of Gaudenz B. Ruf Award for New Bulgarian Art.