site.btaSofia Museum of Contemporary Art Shows Little-Known Works by Kolio Karamfilov

The Sofia Arsenal - Museum of Contemporary Art shows little-known works by the renowned Plovdiv-based artist Kolio Karamfilov (1963-2014). Titled Kolio Karamfilov - beyond the Man, it shows works where the man is a recurring element and this is a man taken beyond the usual imagery and is transformed into a symbol and a signature of the artist and his oeuvre.

All artworks in the exhibition are previously unshown or or little-known, selected by curator Nadezhda Dzhakova together with the artist's son, Rosen Karamfilov, and gallery owner Radost Kotseva. 

Kolyo Karamfilov was born on December 7, 1963 in Plovdiv. He was a painter, graphic artist and sculptor. He also worked in the field of visual arts such as performance, art installations, photography and interior design. He studied stage decoration at an art school in his home town. At a very young age he was accepted as a member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists and won several awards. In 1989 he founded the avant-garde group "Rub" [Edge] and was one of the ideologists of the artistic organization, along with art historian Dimitar Grozdanov, Albena Mihailova, Dimitar Mitovski, Emil Mirazchiev, Monika Romenska, Nadia Genova, Rumen Zhekov. In 2008 he founded the U.P.A.R.K. gallery in Plovdiv.

From 1983 until his death in 2014 he made more than 30 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad. His works are part of private collections in Bulgaria and abroad. 

As a set designer Karamfilov worked with directors Petrinel Gotchev, Andrey Zholdak (Ukraine), Dimitar Elenov, Liza Shopova. In cinema, he was the production designer for the films Blueberry Hill by Alexander Morfov, The Keeper of the Dead by Ilian Simeonov and Ave by Konstantin Bojanov. He is the director and screenwriter of Casablanca, which won the Short Film Award at Sofia Film Fest (2014).