opening: April 16th, Tuesday, 18:00

The exhibition “Georgi Alaykov / George Shopkin” presents the artist through two clearly distinct creative periods – from his years in Bulgaria under the name “Georgi Alaykov” to his new stage in the United States, where he works and signs as “George Shopkin.” It raises questions about

the name as a gesture, migration as both a personal and creative turning point,

and about continuity and difference in the development of an artist who has moved through diverse cultural and social realities.

The encounter between “Georgi Alaykov” and “George Shopkin” is not merely a chronological retrospective, but a carefully constructed narrative about change, memory, and new beginnings.

The exhibition brings together early works from the second half of the 1980s and some of the artist’s most recent pieces, brought from the United States especially for this show.

The paintings created in Bulgaria bear the marks of the local cultural environment, the artist’s personal explorations, and the formation of his visual language. They reveal the foundations of his artistic sensibility, thematic interests, and distinctive painterly expression. The new works demonstrate both a geographical and an inner transformation – a shift in context, scale, and conceptual framework. They testify to an expanded artistic horizon, a dialogue with a different cultural environment, and a conscious rethinking of identity.

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About the author

Georgi Alaykov (Shopkin) was born on July 6, 1950, in the village of Bogoslov, Kyustendil region, Bulgaria. He studied at the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Sofia (1965 – 1969) and graduated in Mural Painting from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia in 1974.
In the late 1970s, he created his first monumental works – two frescoes executed in egg tempera at a high school in Kyustendil. In 1997, he completed two large-scale sgraffito panels in the village of Sovolyano, Kyustendil region, further affirming his sustained interest in mural painting and working within architectural environments. As early as the 1980s, he participated actively in national and regional group exhibitions in Bulgaria. In 1983, he presented a solo exhibition at Gallery “Ruski 6” in Sofia.
After a one-year stay in Germany, he arrived in the United States on February 27, 1991. His international presence began with participation in exhibitions in Poland, Cyprus, and Germany. In 1992, he opened a solo exhibition at Georgi Gallery in Berkeley, California, followed by additional solo presentations there in 1994 and 2007. In 1994, he also held a solo exhibition at Brookline High School, Massachusetts. He has taken part in numerous group exhibitions in the United States.
From the mid-1990s onward, he developed an active teaching career in the U.S. Between 1995 and 2001, he taught art at Brookline High School, Massachusetts, and from 1996 to 2003 he served on the faculty of Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. In 1993, he received the Bronze Award in the Discovery competition of Art of California magazine, and in 1995 he was honored with the Nancy Rausen Memorial Award from the American Society of Contemporary Artists in New York. His works are held in numerous private and public collections in Bulgaria, Germany, Cyprus, Poland, France, Spain, and the United States.

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