Emil Stoychev (b. 1935) is one of the most significant figures in Bulgarian fine arts from the second half of the 20^th century. His first appearance before the public took place in the current building of the Sofia City Art Gallery, when he exhibited his works at the emblematic First Youth Collective Art Exhibition in 1961. The exhibition had the glory of the first significant “thaw” in art after the death of Stalin and the April Plenum of the Bulgarian Communist Party (1956). This generation of artists would be called the April generation, and in the following years, it would give rise to the new look of Bulgarian fine arts. With his first solo exhibition (1965), Stoychev was recognized as a phenomenon such critics and observers of artistic life with a nose for the new like Kiril Krastev, Vladimir Svintila, and Dimitar Avramov.

This typical urban man and artist began as a landscape artist. From the mid-1970s onwards, the figural characters that had sporadically populated his landscapes and interiors up to now would become dominant, with a radically altered role—they would become the main organizing centre around which the “plot” of his compositional decisions would develop. Emil Stoychev would transform into a narrative, allegorical artist, a quality he has retained to this day. The painting begins to turn into a rebus, a semantic field, with the psychology of human figures being of decisive interest.

For the past 30 years, Emil Stoychev has divided his time between Paris and Sofia, and he continues to create. His figurative language is increasingly mysterious and difficult to penetrate. But what is the purpose of this complicated language, which seems more an obstacle to sharing than a help? It is because only in this way can messages be sent; this is the language of messages—more of a witty and veiled game, a riddle, an enigma, than a thesis.

Stoychev is not a moralist; he is a sceptic, relating to the activities of life—our struggles, triumphs, and failures—with more of a smirk and an ironic smile. “In a painting here must be mystery,” says Stoychev. The secret is tempting and attractive only so long as long as it remains a secret. Once it is revealed, it becomes mere banality. We can only be oriented towards the secret.

The exhibition is a retrospective organized on the occasion of the 90^th anniversary of the artist’s birth. It includes works from the collections of the Sofia City Art Gallery, the National Gallery, the Art Gallery – Kazanlak, the Plovdiv City Art Gallery, the Georges Papazov Art Gallery – Yambol, the Nikola Marinov Art Gallery – Targovishte, the Smolyan Art Gallery, the Iliya Beshkov Art Gallery – Pleven, the Hristo Tsokev Art Gallery – Gabrovo, the Museum of Humour and Satire – Gabrovo, and the Dobrich Art Gallery. The exhibition is accompanied by the publication of an album.

An original animation by Alexander Sokerov, dedicated to the exhibition, can be seen at the UniCredit Bulbank Gallery, 7 St. Nedelya Square, Sofia. A companion exhibition, From the Studio, will open on March 13 at the Academy Gallery of the National Academy of Art, Sofia, where the artist’s works from recent years will be presented.

The exhibition was organized with the assistance of the Process–Space Foundation, the Zlatyu Boyadzhiev Foundation, and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, the Lachezar Tsotsorkov Foundation, Aurubis – Bulgaria, Dundee Precious Metals, Kaufland – Bulgaria, Ellatzite-Med, and Unicredit-Bulbank.

Exhibition curator: Ivo Milev.