The Founder

Dimitar Atanasov Grozdanov was born on 03.10.1951 in the town of General Toshevo in the family of Atanas and Maria Grozdanovi. In his childhood years, together with his sister Silvia, he studied in the town of Berkovitsa and the town of Dobrich near his parents. He spent his student years in the capital, where in 1978 he graduated from the Academy of Arts, majoring in History and Theory of Art. From that moment on in his biography, the manifestations of the critic and the artist began to inextricably intertwine. That dramatic symbiosis not only reflected the line of his own path - it was also an expression of the genesis and the development of unconventional artistic practices in Bulgarian art. Until 1986, Dimitar Grozdanov was a participant, organizer and/or instigator of more than 60 non-standard exhibitions, performances and events, affirming to some extent the equal existence of unconventional forms in our art. From that moment on, a kind of boom of new artistic manifestations came into being in the country. Many critics, being excited about the roots of the avant-garde in our country, investigated this phenomenon, and their assumptions were associated with numerous premises, from the energy crisis, the negation of the old and the look into the new-unknown, to the renaming campaign, the growth of stagnation in the field of culture, etc. More importantly, all this unleashed "creative games" and experiments in response to overall societal tensions.
It was the time where the boundaries of the concept of "artistry" were definitely expanding, and the role of the critic in art was being upgraded and illuminated. Dimitar Grozdanov became the editor-in-chief of "Art" magazine (1990-1991) and of "Art in Bulgaria" magazine from 1992 to 1999. He founded an international festival for contemporary art "Process - Space" in 1992, when its first edition was held in the town of Balchik. The Balchik festival quickly became a center of attraction for states hitherto unexperienced by Bulgarian artists - avant-garde, post-modernist, trans-avant-garde, etc. Dimitar Grozdanov quite easily united large groups of like-minded people around him, provided a stage for the exchange of ideas, games and creativity.
In 1993, Dimitar received a scholarship from the BINZ-39 Foundation, Zurich. Subsequently, he was awarded a critic's award and an award at the Festival of Plastic Arts in Mahares, Tunisia. President of Triennial Sofia'96. Recipient of a scholarship from the De Fabriek Foundation, Eindhoven in 1998, and Cité des Arts scholarship, Paris 2001.
At the same time, Dimitar was an art teacher at the Bulgarian University (Blagoevgrad branch) in 1979, at the Art High School in the town of Troyan, 1997, at the Academy of Arts, Sofia - lectures on contemporary art, 1996 - 1998. He was the Deputy Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Artists from 2011 to 2018.
Over the years, Dimitar Grozdanov has been the curator of numerous art events and happenings in the country and internationally, among which "The Road", "The Brick", "Van Gogh's Ear", "Labyrinth", "The Cobweb", "Large Graphics" "The Safety Pin" and others. He has been the participant, organizer, critic and inspirer of many group exhibitions, festivals, plein airs, symposia. It was about activities not so much creating artefacts but rather awakening artistic and public reflexes and their interaction. Because Dimitar realized that those non-traditional forms as an artistic choice arose precisely because of the search for the lost communicativeness and dialogicity, without which art was lost.
Dimitar Grozdanov embarked on the adventure of an artist in the 1980s, with his artistic practice being closely related to his critical views and strategies. His works are held by the NAG (National Art Gallery), SCAG (Sofia City Art Gallery), Dobrich Art Gallery, "Savchevi" Art Gallery, Oryahovo, Ruse Art Gallery, Balchik Art Gallery, Dobrich Art Gallery, "Process - Space" Foundation, Collection of "Symposium Lomeya" and other galleries and private collections in both Bulgaria and abroad.
His texts as a critic journalist are characterized by a particular sharpness of evaluation and a firm position, regardless of whether the message concerns society, art, personal existence or the metamorphoses of human behavior. His studies, articles and reviews have been published in many magazines, newspapers, collections and catalogues, such as the Art magazine, Culture newspaper, etc. He is the editor and compiler of a number of publications, among which is the series 120 years of Bulgarian Art, where he is also the author of articles.

    Some selected publications:
-    "The Labyrinth, or the Theseus and Minotaur Unity", "With a little nostalgia", "For a few attempts", "A look at yesterday", "Venice - Biennale" and others. (Art magazine);
-    "The Art of the 90s", "Process - Space Festival", "Varna Artists", "Technology and Graphic Space", etc. (cf. Art in Bulgaria);
-    "Fragments of a year", "About the Graphics" (Contemporary magazine);
-    "Communication through the mass or development through high culture", "The provocations of the "Ж/F"", "Mass and nationalized vanguard", "For the young", "For the associations", "For the change, for the replacement and for God ...", (Culture magazine);
-    Studies as part of the Mtel catalogs for contemporary art - 1, 2, 3 and 4 exhibitions, "Distrust of Post-Optimism" (collection in honor of Ruzha Marinska), "View on contemporary Bulgarian art" (Current Scene in Bulgaria catalogue published by the Ludwig Museum, Koblenz) etc.;
-    "20 years of Process - Space" Catalog;
-    "120 years of Bulgarian Art" series;

Practice:

1979-1988 Editor of the Art magazine
1988-1990 Deputy editor-in-chief of the Art magazine
1990-1991 Editor-in-chief of the Art magazine
1992-2003 Founder and editor-in-chief of the Art in Bulgaria magazine
1992-2019 Founder of the Process – Space Contemporary Art Festival.
1996 President of Triennale Sofia
1996 To date delivers lectures at the Sofia Art Academy on contemporary art. He has led a number of lectures at Troyan Art High School, the Bulgarian University of Blagoevgrad, Dobrich, etc.
1998-2001 Head of the International Department of the UBA (Union of Bulgarian Artists)
2003-2014 Curator of the Lomea Art Symposium
2011-2014 Member of the UBA bureau.
2014-2019 Deputy Chairman of the UBA. In charge of creative activities.
He has over 50 solo exhibitions and has participated in dozens of collective and common exhibitions in the country and abroad.

Selected solo exhibitions:

2017 Shadow in the Black, at Shipka 6, Sofia
2014 Resonance Gallery, Plovdiv
2014 "Bitch and Cat", Seasons Gallery, Sofia
2013 Arosita Gallery, Sofia
2013 Hedgehog Gallery, Veliko Tarnovo
2012 CAG (City Art Gallery), Veliko Tarnovo
2011 Installation 8, at Shipka 6, Sofia
2011 Seasons Gallery, Sofia
2009 City Gallery, Balchik
2008 "Silver Donkey", Agrion Gallery, Sofia
2008 Track Art Gallery, Plovdiv
2007 Gemma Gallery, Vidin
2007 Rayko Alexiev Gallery, Sofia
2007 Art Gallery, Dobrich
2007 Savchevi Gallery, Oryahovo
2006 Art Alley Gallery, Sofia
2003 City Gallery, Balchik
2001 NAG Project, Sofia
2001 Cité Internationale, Paris
1999 City Gallery, Ruse
1998 De Fabriek, Eidhoven
1997 With Black Eyes, XXL Gallery, Sofia
1994 Art 36 Gallery, Sofia
1993 BINZ39, Zurich
1993 Gallery of Mexican Art, Plovdiv
1991 Zribi Gallery, Tunisia
1991 48S-44N-22J, Shipka 6 Gallery, UBA, Sofia
1989 Art Gallery, Dobrich
1988 Names of the subject, Rakovski 108 Gallery

Selected group exhibitions:

2016 CAG Veliko Tarnovo, "25 years of Process-Space Festival" exhibition
2014 CAG, Dupnitsa
2013 Curator exhibition, Resonance Gallery, Plovdiv
2012 Sculpture Symposium Exhibition, Gabenski Gallery, Tryavna
2011 Process - Space Festival, Balchik
2010 Collective exhibition, CAG, Ruse
2009 Sculpture Symposium, Bratsigovo
2009 Small format exhibition Astri Gallery, Sofia
2009 Born Independent Exhibition, Shipka 6 Gallery, UBA, Sofia
2009 Section 13 Exhibition, Shipka 6 Gallery, UBA, Sofia
2008 Self-portrait, SCAG, Sofia
2008 Close Distance, Shipka 6 Gallery, UBA, Sofia
2007 Equilibrium Exhibition, Shipka 6 Gallery, UBA, Sofia
2007 Joint Exhibition, Bucharest
2006 10 х 5 х 3, Shipka 6 Gallery, UBA, Sofia
2005 100 Artists for Museum of Contemporary Art, Casoria, Naples
2004 NEXO Festival, Toledo
2003 The Landscape, NAG, Sofia
2003 10 years of Art Magazine, SCAG, Sofia
2003 Military Museum Exhibition, Istanbul
2002 The Male Body, Shipka 6 Gallery, Sofia
2002 Bulgarian Painting after 1989, NPC, Sofia
2001 Informal, Rayko Alexiev Gallery, Sofia
2000 Contemporary Bulgarian Artists, National History Museum, Bucharest
1999 Subculture, Annual Exhibition of the Soros Center, Varna
1999 Urban Flowers of the World – video project, Berlin, Copenhagen, Sofia
1997 Meeting of the Arts, Istanbul
1997 Image of the 1990s, NPC, Sofia
1997 Black, Grey, White, Sofia - Helsinki
1996 Container 96, Copenhagen
1995 Biennale Kuwait
1995 BG+CH Exhibition of the BINZ 39 Foundation, Sofia
1994 Contemporary Bulgarian Painting, Strasbourg
1994 Bulgarian Graphics and Drawing, Tucson - Arizona
1993 Idea for Bulgarian Painting, Ata-Rai Gallery, Sofia
1992 The Brick Exhibition, Akrabov Gallery, Plovdiv
1992 First Process – Space Festival, Balchik
1991 Artium Gallery, Ankara
1990 Labyrinth, Shipka 6 Gallery, UBA, Sofia
1989 The River - Event, Blagoevgrad
1989 God’s Feet - Performance, NPC, Sofia
1989 The Large Graphic - Event, Targovishte
1989 The Dress - Event, Balchik
1988 Invocatio – Happening, Yambol
1987 The Dragon – Happening, G. Toshev
1985 The Road – Happening, G. Toshev, Kraishte, Targovishte

Selected curatorial projects:

2017 "Form 2017" Exhibition, Gabenski Gallery, Tryavna
2016 International Glass Fest, Sofia
2016 CAG Veliko Tarnovo, 25 years of "Process-Space" Festival exhibition
2014 120 years of Bulgarian Art
2013 One Decade - Exhibition at Shipka 6, Sofia
2013 "Hospital for Lovers" Exhibition, "Raiko Alexiev" Gallery, Sofia
2012 Exhibition of Slavka Deneva and Ivanka Sokerova at Shipka 6, Sofia
2011 20 years of Process - Space Festival Exhibition - Shipka 6, Sofia
2010 Curator of the Contemporary Bulgarian Art Exhibition, Balchik Gallery
2009 Materials Exhibition – C’Bank Gallery, Sofia
2009 Drawings of Magda Abazova Exhibition, Shipka 6 Gallery, Sofia
2009 Exhibition of Rafael Mihaylov, NPC Gallery, Sofia
2008, 07, 06 Mtel Competition for Contemporary Bulgarian Art, Plovdiv
2008, 07, 06 Lomea Art Symposium, Ruse
2008, 07, 06 The Man and the City Plein air, Oryahovo
1996 Van Gogh's Ear, Sofia
1995 Safety Pin Event, Sofia – Balchik
1993 Idea for Bulgarian Painting, Ata-Rai Gallery, Sofia
1992 The Brick Exhibition, Akrabov Gallery, Plovdiv
1992 First Process – Space Festival, Balchik (organizer and curator until 2019)