The exhibition was prompted by the artist’s sudden and untimely death. It is a tribute exhibition affording us yet another opportunity for an encounter with his work, which possesses enormous positive energy.

Without being a retrospective, the exhibition covers various periods and tendencies in the artist’s work. Part of the exhibition is devoted to early works completed in the early 1970’s, which the artist was planning to present in a separate exhibition. The latter constitutes a project demonstration the artist’s approach to his work and his commitment to the creation of art.

The exhibition is comprised of dozens of drawings dating to various periods of his career that had special value to the artist. Having been created every day and everywhere, those are not preliminary sketches or works meant for presentation at exhibitions, but rather works having a life of their own, indicating a separate trend in the artist’s life.

The exhibition also features some of Edmond Demirdjian’s last works, retrieved from private collections and his studio. The exhibition highlight is the artist’s signature image, namely “the hanging turbots”.

An artist and a musician, Edmond Demirdjian goes down in the history of Bulgarian art as a prominent figure, having filled galleries and concert halls with his bright colours and explosive rhythms. He managed to create his own distinctive style, characterized by the fantastically colourful atmosphere his works exude.

Curator: Maria Vassileva

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Edmond Demirdjian (1951-2009) graduated from the Academy of Arts, Sofia in 1978, majoring in mural painting, to become part of the art scene at home and abroad. He organized numerous solo exhibitions. He worked in the fields of drawing, collage, painting and graphic arts. In 1994 he was granted a US green card for extraordinary ability in the field of art. In the period between 1994 and 1998 he split his time between the USA and Bulgaria. In 1995 he was awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship for painting. In 2006 he was granted the Sofia extraordinary merit award for exceptional achievement in the field of art and culture, as demonstrated by the “Unexhibited Works by Edmond” Exhibition at the 6 “Shipka” Gallery, Sofia. His career as an artist may be divided into several periods: 1978-1983, when he created figure compositions, interiors and still-life in a constructivist manner; 1983-1987, when he painted mainly grotesque figure compositions using tempera paints in expressionist style; following 1987, when his art started becoming more and more influenced by abstract expressionism. In 2008 he opened a gallery of his own, namely the “Edmond Studio and Salon” at the 21 “March 13” St in Sofia. www.edmondartist.com, http://edmonddemirdjian.blogspot.com