Kamen Startchev

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1971.

Lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Education

1990 High School of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria;

1996 National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Selected solo exhibitions

2014Water purification plants I & II, U-P.A.R.K. Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria;

2013Water purification plants II, The Fridge / Xaspel, Sofia, Bulgaria;
Water purification plants I, Rakursi Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;
U-P.A.R.K. Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria;

2012Haus Wittgenstein, Vienna, Austria;
Bulgarian Cultural Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia;
Bulgarian Cultural Institute, Berlin, Germany;

2011Bulgarian Cultural Institute, Prague, Czech Republic;
New Land, National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2010Arosita Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2009ANEL Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2008Arosita Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2004Green Cat Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Some art participations

2013Kaleidoscope: Contemporary Art from EU Member States, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin, Ireland;

2012West Park Story, Open air art festival West Park, Sofia, Bulgaria;
MOST, Vivacom art hall, Sofia, Bulgaria;
Sofia Underground 2012, UBA, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2011Digital print, Industrialna 11, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2010Sixth International Print Triennial, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2009Mtel Annual Awards for Contemporary Bulgarian Art 2008, Varna, Bulgaria;

2007Cultural identity, University of Connecticut, New Groton, USA;
Cultural identity, Gallery Sofia Press, Sofia, Bulgaria;
Equilibrium, UBA, Sofia, Bulgaria;

2005Sculpture Symposium, Art center Ilindentsi, Village of Ilindentsi, Bulgaria.

Residencies

2011Cité internationale des Arts, Paris, France

Contact

Email: kamen_startchev@abv.bg

Website: www.kamenstartchev.com

Kamen Startchev

Photo: Datim Dimov

Wastewater Treatment Plants II

Solo exhibition at The Fridge / Xaspel

26.11 - 07.12.2013

Curator: Yovo Panchev

Wastewater Treatment Plants II is a part of the Wastewater Treatment Plants cycle, shown earlier this year. The exhibition consists of digital prints (pigment on paper) made in the author's typical technique of basically abstract drawing. A catalogue featuring the whole series as well as texts is published for the show.

The Fridge / Haspel is a territory ideologically dedicated to the struggle for today's existence.

This space is located in a backyard, formed by a supermarket, a brothel, the Mozart café and a nonstop liquor store - locations that are at once symptomatic for the environment and shaping it into what it is. The social and intellectual energy and commitment of the Fridge / Haspel set the conditions for a responsible treatment of art. Here Wastewater Treatment Plants II sounds different, carrying a clear message for a personal quest for a connection between substance, in its most abstract and individual sense, and one’s own cleansing efforts.

What's relied upon are its arguments, experience, socialization, the introduction into a regime of a personal ritual, the distillation into a creed, a choice for a Sisyphus boulder, a rescue strategy or a fast track for evacuation.

Yovo Panchev