Vihrоny and Adelina Popnedelevi Painting and Installation
29 October – 31 December 2026
Opening: 29 October, 6:00 p.m.
How much has the world around us changed? And how much have we changed ourselves?
Art Gallery – Ruse presents Painting and Installation, an exhibition by Prof. Vihroni Popnedelev and Prof. Dr Adelina Popnedeleva, organised by Vihрони Art Centre.
The two artists have distinct artistic languages, yet share something essential: the freedom to think, experiment and express their own positions. Their artistic paths are connected to the transformations in Bulgarian art during the final decades of the twentieth century and to the development of new forms of artistic expression.
Vihroni Popnedelev – The Freedom to Paint
In 1986, Vihroni Popnedelev was among the founders of the avant-garde group The City (Gradat), which challenged established notions of art. Yet, despite his experimentation with new artistic forms, he has remained faithful to painting.
Influenced by the expressive freedom of French Fauvism, the artist has developed a distinctive style characterised by vivid colours, bold brushstrokes and expressive compositions. Landscapes, portraits, still lifes and the human figure are among his favourite subjects. In these works, he seeks not so much to reproduce appearances literally as to convey a sense of life, movement and emotion.
After many years of teaching at the National Academy of Art, Vihroni Popnedelev now lives and works surrounded by nature in Dolno Kamartsi. There, at Vihрони Art Centre, established by the two artists, he continues to paint with the freedom he has always defended.
For him, creating a painting resembles nurturing a living organism – a process that requires time, care and freedom.
Adelina Popnedeleva – The Questions That Remain
Adelina Popnedeleva is among the artists who have helped establish conceptual and socially engaged art in Bulgaria. In her practice, she uses video, installation, performance, photography and painting to explore the relationship between the individual and society.
The exhibition features the works Pink Light, Proud Flags. Nadezhda District, Fresh and What Else.
In these works, the artist addresses themes familiar to us all: social inequality, notions of success, national identity, hopes and disappointments, and the gap between official narratives and everyday reality.
In Proud Flags. Nadezhda District, the national flag appears in different urban settings, prompting us to reflect on what lies behind the symbols with which we identify.
Pink Light confronts us with the seemingly ironic message, “Don’t expect too much from the end of the world.” Today, amid political uncertainty, social tensions and anxieties about the future, these words take on a renewed resonance.
Created years ago, her works have lost none of their relevance. On the contrary, changing social circumstances lead us back to the questions they raise.
Art in Which We Can Recognise Ourselves
This exhibition makes room both for the joy of colour and for uncomfortable questions; for the beauty of ordinary things and for what we sometimes prefer not to see.
Visitors do not need to know the history of art to discover something that resonates with them. It might be a landscape, a human face, a memory, a hope or a question they have asked themselves.
Because time passes, but some questions remain.
