Ghosts appear between the visible and the invisible, the past and the present, the virtual and the material, to remind us that history repeats itself.
Mitch Brezounek
Through virtual interventions and by blending history, visual art, reality, and fiction, Mitch Brezounek is inviting us to reflect on Europe’s past and reimagine its present. In his exhibition, THE GHOST IS HERE, the artist digitally reconceptualizes 12 Soviet monuments on EU territory, challenges their perception, and questions the messages they carry. THE GHOST IS HERE exhibition is created with a dual purpose: to provoke dialogue by entwining art and historical facts, and to generate funds to support the art scene in Ukraine and Bulgaria.
The inspiration behind the project is the collision between Soviet domination in the past and Bulgaria’s current vision for the future. А country torn between the present and the past, Bulgaria still hosts 186 Red Army monuments.
In his exhibition, Mitch Brezounek will digitally reimagine some of those monuments. The exhibition will be opened on September 9 - a significant date in the country’s history. September 9, 1944, marks the beginning of the pro-Soviet communist regime in Bulgaria.
For the first time, with this exhibition, the artist explores the digital world by creating artworks in 3D video format - an artistic approach that allows him to simulate interventions on existing monuments. The public will experience the digital interventions on those monuments through 3D artworks that challenge the long-lasting perception of the monuments and the messages they carry.
The exhibition’s centerpiece represents a real-size 3D video work, portraying the Alyosha Soviet monument in the city of Plovdiv, alongside 11 more 3D works recreating various Red Army monuments in different cities in Bulgaria.
The crowning component of the exhibition is a three-dimensional digital map that frames the artist’s idea and unifies all the elements. The map metaphorically represents the two “faces” of Bulgaria. On one side, the map reflects the strategic locations of the Soviet monuments. On its other side, with the 12 stars on the EU flag placed on the exact same locations, the map reflects the present - Bulgaria’s membership in the Union. It is by bringing these two conflicting mindsets together, that the artist enables us to reflect on the past and the present.
As a continuation of the exhibition, a physical transformation of the Alyosha monument in Plovdiv into a giant ghost figure is going to take place. The artistic intervention is planned for springtime 2023.
The exhibition will be further developed in other digital formats, such as VR and AR, and presented in other countries in Europe and around the world. THE GHOST IS HERE is part of the Plovdiv-based artist’s larger art project - GHOST, which also will be officially launched on September 9. On the same date, the first NFT artwork from a collection of 12, will be released on the GHOST project’s website.
70% of the proceeds, generated by the NFT sales, will go to supporting Ukrainian artists and cultural events in Ukraine, as well as to supporting the Bulgarian independent art scene.
Discover the historical context behind each work on Soundcloud.
Mitch Brezounek
Born in France in 1989, Mitch Brezounek has been living and working in Plovdiv since 2016. He graduated from the Beaux Art Academy of Lorient, France with a bachelor’s degree in plastic arts. He was a member of the art collective Ouest Fisting from Lorient (2013 - 2017), part of the underground graphic culture with the fanzine, silkscreen print, DYE, video, and others. His first solo show “Incubus” was curated by Voin de Voin in 2017 at the independent Æther gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria.
In 2021 he was nominated for the BAZA Award for contemporary art, Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2022 his movie RECYCLE LIFE was selected for the Burgas International Film Festival in Burgas, Bulgaria.
Among his other solo shows are: “How to become the best artist in the world”, Institute of contemporary art Bulgaria, Sofia (2021), THE FUTURE WILL COME, KO-OP Gallery, Bulgaria, Sofia (2021).
His work has also been part of many curatorial group exhibitions and projects as:
2022- Manifesta 14 - curator: Kalin Serapionov, Luchezar Boyadjiev | Pristina, Kosovo
2022 - Tropic of Cancer: Turn Back Time @ ReBonkers | Varna, Bulgaria
2021 - US and THEM @ Kapana Gallery | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | curators: Nathalie Hoyos & Rainald Schumacher
2020 - Force of attraction II @ Sariev Gallery | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | curators Nathalie Hoyos & Rainald Schumacher
2020 - Sofia Art Week @ Æther gallery | Sofia, Bulgaria | curator: Voin de Voin
2020 - #sarievselfisolation | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | curator: Vesselina Sarieva
2019 - Background young artist @ Danchovata house | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | curator: Sariev gallery
2019 - Life in Plastic @ Fluca - Austrian cultural pavillon & artnewscafe | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | curator: Sariev Gallery
2019 - The Goods of Time @ Goethe Institut | Sofia, Bulgaria | curator: Anastasya Skvortsova