The Prolet Gallery in Burgas invites art lovers to an upcoming painting exhibition titled "The Mirror of the Sea." The works are by artist Simeon Stoilov, and the official opening of the exhibition is scheduled for September 1. Visitors will have the opportunity to view the canvases until September 21, the cultural institution reports.
The name of the exhibition is a direct reference to Joseph Conrad's literary work of the same name. The event announcement emphasizes that the sea holds a lasting place in Simeon Stoilov's creative journey. It is not presented merely as a landscape, but as a complex combination of light, horizon, movement, and a sense of infinity. The artist's personal experience, gained through his passion for sailing and daily contact with the marine environment, directly influences his perceptions of life and painting. This closeness to the sea leads him to the philosophy of Conrad, in whose book the sea is revealed not just as a backdrop, but as a territory of the unknown, contemplation, and personal trials.
In his works, Simeon Stoilov seeks a specific painterly approach that is completely free from direct objectivism. He strives to create images that function more as an atmosphere and a trace rather than as concretely outlined forms. In this context, the exhibition appears as a natural continuation of his creative pursuits to date. A parallel with Claude Debussy's composition "La Mer" is sought in the way the artist builds rhythm and mood. In his paintings, the sea is not literally recreated but is presented as a changing state, enveloped by fog, time, light, and depth. The landscape gradually dissolves within the canvases, leaving the viewer with a lasting sense of silence, direction, and vastness.
The artist's biography includes the following key stages:
- Simeon Stoilov was born in 1971 in Yambol.
- In 1996, he graduated with a degree in Painting from the National Academy of Art in Sofia.
- In 2018, he earned a PhD with a thesis on contemporary forms of art in space from the mid-20th century to the present day.
- He is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists.
- His practice combines painting, spatial, and site-specific projects, exploring the connections between environment, material, and perception.
- Among his completed projects in the public sphere are his participation in the construction and design of the Paleontological Museum in the village of Dorkovo and the Paleontological Museum in Varshets.
- His work has been presented in numerous exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad, including at the National Art Gallery in Sofia, the National Gallery of the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as in countries such as Germany, the UK, Turkey, Belgium, and France.