Vladimir Shunev

Vladimir Shunev was born in 1961 in the town of Dupnitsa. In 1987 he graduated from the University of Mining and Geology, Sofia. Freelance artist since 1990. Member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists since 1992. Winner of the painting award from the Regional Exhibition “Struma-95”, Bulgaria, and the painting award from the International Painting Symposium “Alley-2002”, Lebanon. For many years he has lived and worked in the town of Kyustendil.

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Vladimir Shunev tries to transport us to those distant times when man, alone and homeless, survived among the elements. But we turn out to be homeless, because in the paintings, resembling prehistoric drawings, there is much more logic, interconnectedness and hierarchical order than in our modern world. Some contemporary authors seek self-identity and their true expression through the language of pre-modernity. Vladimir Shunev finds his expressions in pre-historicity. Perhaps because of this, his works are executed in the pure aesthetics that usually rule the “primary” worlds. That is why the compositions are harmonious, the “chaos” is balanced, the line is extremely economical. Most often in sunny yellow (less often in blue), with few figurative images, the paintings are serene and almost abstract. The deified deer, fish, horses and others are active and equal participants in this “cosmogonic slice”, creating a sense of completeness and completeness, fully satisfying our atavistic sensations. It is interesting that we feel comfortable with these paintings – they should dissolve layers of our memory towards the terrible, unimaginable distance, but in fact they present the idea of ​​an open space with a lot of light, where deity and element are one and the same, and there are no personalities – the world is whole and indivisible. The realization of this “warm connection” becomes possible probably because Vladimir Shunev is looking for some truths in pagan roots that would reconcile us not only with nature, but with life in general.

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Participation in plein airs:

1995-International plein air “St. Joachim Osogovski”, Kriva Palanka, Macedonia
1998-International plein air “St. Luke”, Kyustendil, Bulgaria
1999-Plein air “Apolonia”, Sozopol, Bulgaria
2000-Plein air “Sound and Color”, Golden Sands, Bulgaria
2001-International plein air “Pirgovo”, village of Pirgovo, Ruse, Bulgaria
2002-International Symposium on Painting “Alley-2002”, Lebanon
2008-International plein air “Followers of the Master”, Kyustendil
2010-International plein air, Bosilegrad, Serbia.

Vladimir Shunev’s works are in the Sofia Art Gallery, the Vl. Dimitrov-Maistora Art Gallery, the Hemus Collection, the Apollonia Collection, private collections in Bulgaria, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Spain, Austria, Korea, Lebanon, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, Turkey, Algeria, Venezuela, Panama.

Solo exhibitions:

1986 – Sofia – Student House of Culture

1990-Kyustendil-Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora Art Gallery; Sozopol-exhibition “Apolonia”
1991-Sofia-gallery “Hemus”
1992-Sofia-gallery “Art-36”
1993-Munich-VVNV&gallery “Art-36”; Sofia-gallery “Ata-Rai”&Sheraton
1994-Plovdiv-gallery “Starinna”;Sofia-gallery “Vitosha”;Kyustendil-HG “Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora”
1995-Sofia-gallery “Art-36”
1996-Sofia-gallery “Ata-Rai”&Sheraton
1997-Sofia-gallery “Vitosha”
1998-Sofia-gallery “Art-36”; Plovdiv-gallery “Dyakov”
1999-Sofia-gallery “Art Forum”
2000-Beirut, Lebanon – Bulgarian Embassy;Sofia – Gallery “Vitosha”; Sofia – ”Snelling” BG
2001-Plovdiv-Gallery “L’Union”; Sofia-Virtual exhibition in Sofia Metro
2002-Sofia-Hotel “Downtown”; Plovdiv-Gallery “L’Union”; Skopje and Strumica- Macedonia; Sofia-Gallery “Apollon&Mercury”
2003-Plovdiv-Gallery “L’Union”; Sofia-Gallery “Astri”
2004-Plovdiv-Gallery “L’Union”
2005-Sofia-Gallery “Seasons”; Sofia-Gallery “Lik”
2006-Sofia-Viennese Confectionery “Dolly” & Gallery “Artefir”; Paris-Bulgarian Cultural Center; Sofia-Gallery “Ikar”
2008-Sofia-Gallery “Espresso Bar TSUM”
2011- Kyustendil-HG “Vladimir Dimitrov-Master”
2012-Sofia-gallery “Icarus”