Bio
Stefan Kotsev was born in 1990 in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. He completed his studies in sculpture in 2016, earning a master's degree from Prof. Angel Stanev's studio at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia. A contemporary figurative sculptor, Kotsev has been a member of the UBA, Union of Bulgarian Artists, since 2018. His sculptures are executed following classical techniques, using an initial plaster cast that is then filled with bronze, brass, or other materials. This approach has enabled the artist to develop a deep understanding of matter and its influence on the creation of volume and form.
The focus of his artistic research is the representation of the human figure and its inner world, as contextualized in contemporary society. These act as leverage for the opening of a social dialogue and are tools for investigating "eternal" themes such as Piety, Charity, Empathy or Power and Strength. Bulgaria's semi-abandoned villages have served him as a model for years. Invested by the upheavals of post-Soviet society and modernity, the Bulgarian countryside, like many other parts of the world, remains in a sort of purgatory between oblivion and decay on the one hand, and the relative security of a not-distant but equally elusive past on the other. Here, souls move lonely through the streets, carrying on traditions and memories doomed to disappear forever, and now on their last legs of a slow, certain death. So too the forms he creates dry out, lose their flesh, they get stripped to the bone, barely sketched in the plaster cast.
The sculptures he has worked on in recent years mark a significant phase in his development as an artist, characterized by the emergence of a personal plastic vision of nature. The sculpture The Queen for example, offers a vivid representation of the contradictory human conception of power and a true allegory of its changing nature. In her majestic authority, the queen embodies power and possession, but at the same time highlights the transience of such attributes since power itself is subject to constant change and uncertainty, eventually revealing nothing more than a weak and ephemeral nature.
Kotsev's works can be found in important collections in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Bulgaria. His sculptures have been exhibited in several museums, including the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) in Barcelona.
Esposizioni
Main Exhibitions:
2023 – National Exhibition Painting and Sculpture 2023 – Young Bulgarian Artists, Art Gallery Rayko Aleksiev, Sofia, Bulgaria
2023 – Gallery Dousdebes&co – Collective exhibition, Saint-Emilion, France
2023 – Expresiones – Collective exhibition Galeria Vearte, Alicante, Spain
2023 – Solo exhibition – The Last Ones, Sculpture and painting, Dryanovo Historical Museum, Bulgaria
2022 – In the Beginning IV, Collective Exhibition, UBA, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022 – Wales contemporary – Collective Exhibition, Wales, UK
2022 – Chianciano Biennale – Collective Exhibition, Chianciano Art Museum, Italy
2022 – 140 years since the birth of Vladimir Dimitrov – the Master, Collective exhibition, Art Gallery Petko Churchuliev, Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria
2022 - Solo exhibition – Еxperienced, Sculpture and painting, Art Gallery Petko Churchuliev, Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria
2022 – The Land of Botev – National Exhibition, Art Gallery Ivan Funev, Regional Historical Museum Vratsa, Bulgaria
2022 – National Fine Art Exhibition Sliven 2022 – Art Gallery Dimitar Dobrovich, Sliven, Bulgaria
2021 - National Sculpture Exhibition - In the Beginning is Nature 2, UBA, Sofia, Bulgaria
2021 - National Exhibition Painting and Sculpture 2021 – Young Bulgarian Artists, Art Gallery Rayko Alexiev, Sofia, Bulgaria
2021 - Exhibition Roots: 16 Contemporary Sculptors on Galin Malakchiev, Curators: Nadezhda Dzhakova and Tanya Staneva, The National Gallery - Sofia Arsenal – Museum of Contemporary Art, Bulgaria
2021 - Exhibition Miniature, Collective, Art Gallery Petko Churchuliev, Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria
2021 – 50 years – National Exhibition Ludogorie, Razgrad, Bulgaria
2018 - Solo exhibition - Gallery Art 36, Sofia, Bulgaria
2017 - Exhibition "Young Bulgarian Artists", collection Todor Staykov – UBA, Bulgaria
2017 - Solo exhibition - "City Portraits", HIVE Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2015 - Exhibition for young authors - Art in a drower- Andrey Nikolov's House - The Red House with the support of the BHC, Sofia, Bulgaria
2015 - Program "EXPERIMENTS" of National Gallery, Vaska Emanouilova, Sofia, Exhibition "The Monument - Public Misunderstanding" curated by Lachezar Boyadzhiev, Bulgaria
2014 - Seventh Biennial of Small Forms – Collective Exhibition Art Gallery Ilia Beshkov, Pleven, Bulgaria
2014 - National Sculpture Exhibition UBA, Bulgaria
2013 - National Sculpture Exhibition UBA, Bulgaria
2013 - Miniart, Ruse Art Gallery, Ruse, Bulgaria
Premi e riconoscimenti:
2023 – Painting Plein air Ilindentzi, UBA, Ilindentzi, Bulgaria
2022 - National Painting Plein air "Dryanovo of Master Kolyu Ficheto - memory and present", City of Dryanovo prize, Bulgaria
2021 - Competition for Monument of Vasil Levski, Yambol, Bulgaria
2020 - Miniature Award, Tenth International Biennial of Small Forms, Pleven, Bulgaria
2019 - National competition, exhibition "Young Bulgarian Artists" - award of Finesse Gallery
2019 - UBA Award, Competition for residence and creative specialization in the studios of the Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris
2016 - Competition for young authors of Bulgarika Foundation – Varna, Bulgaria
2015 - Competition for young authors of Bulgarika Foundation - Varna , Bulgaria
2013 - FIGURATIVAS 2013, European Museum of Modern Art MEAM, Sculpture Award, Barcelona,
Spain
2013 - National Student Arts Festival, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Museums and private collections:
Dryanovo Historical Museum, Bulgaria
Art Gallery Petko Churchuliev, Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria
Union of Bulgarian Artists, Bulgaria
Art Gallery Ilia Beshkov, Pleven, Bulgaria
European Museum of Modern Art MEAM, Barcelona, Spain
Private collections in Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Bulgaria
