Valentin Stefanoff


Valentin Stefanoff, is a French-Bulgarian artist. He has lives and works in France.

Biography

Valentin Stefanoff was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He studied at the Sofia Art School and subsequently at the National Academy of Fine Arts Sofia where he graduated in 1985. His works cover the fields of photography, drawing, printmaking, painting, objects, video and video installations.
Between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, Stefanoff focused on printmaking. With his first participation in The International Print Biennial Varna, he was awarded the First Prize. After 1995, Stefanoff’s focus shifted to installations, videos, photographs, and objects. He works with materials such as plexiglass, wax, glass, and metal. His works often rely on the interplay between ghostly transparency and physical density contingent on the shadows thrown over the objects. Sound and text are also a key component of his art.
Stafanoff's artistic career also includes a fruitful cooperation with Nina Kovacheva, his spouse, especially with video and video installations in public and museum spaces. Their collaborative works are signed as ninavale. For the installation 'In the Out', at the 4th Biennial of Contemporary Art 2002 in Cetinje, Montenegro, NINA Kovacheva and Stefanoff were awarded the UNESCO annual prize for art.

Selected solo exhibitions

Collections

Stefanoff's works are included in the following permanent collections: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Albertina collection Vienna, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Musée d'art moderne France, European Investment Bank Luxembourg, National Art Gallery, Bulgaria, The City Art Gallery-Sofia.