The City

To The Artworks

solo exhitibiton of mosaic by Strahil Naydenov

21 February– 11 March 2020

Opening – Friday, 21 February 2020, 6:30 PM 

On February 21^st, a solo exhibition of mosaics by the Bulgarian artist Strahil Naydenov named "The City" will open at Largo Art Gallery. In his works, Strahil uses the classic mosaic technique, the so-called “direct technique”. In it, the mosaic is arranged directly, in the form in which it will be seen / perceived, as opposed to the reverse technique, in which the mosaic is mirrored in how it will be perceived in its final form. Strahil uses natural materials in his work - limestone, granite, marble. He also uses glass, ceramics, semi-precious stones - lapis lazuli, agate and others. In his work he does not use ready-made, purchased tesserae (shaped pieces of mosaic), but works with large pieces of stone, from which he himself cuts such pieces of mosaic as he needs in the process of creating a work. This way, he can freely create his ideas without depending on the size of the mosaic, playing with the size of a tesserae, which in one work can range from 5 millimeters to 2 centimeters. Thus, Strahil avoids the monotony of the image, gaining more dynamics and diversity in the compositions of his mosaic artworks.

The idea for the exhibition "The City" was born 4 years ago in the author's head and heart. During his meeting with gallerist Nelly Valcheva during his solo exhibition at the Palace in Balchik in the summer of 2019, Nelly invites him to have a solo exhibition at Largo Art Gallery, suggesting that the exhibition is conceptual, complete, dedicated to one theme. Strahil embraces the idea of ​​a dear heart, using the occasion to realize the theme of the City that has been contemplated over these four years. The cycle begins with an older piece called "Alma Mater." In it and subsequent works, the artist elaborates the theme of the beginning- first life in the caves through stylized cave drawings in some works, then leaving the caves, the emergence of primitive villages, then gradually turning the villages into cities. So, transformation after transformation, we go through different stages until we reach the modern city. Through the search and the exploration of the modern city, Strahil also searches for the image of the modern man. This person is not present in the works, but his impact on the city, his spirit is felt. For example, in the Green Area artwork, we will find the walls between which a piece of land has thickened, which is someone's free space. A hint of how we surround ourselves with real or virtual walls. Different ways are stylistically represented in the work "In Different Directions" - they come together and divide, intersect and continue, just like human ways and destinies. We humans are in the same city together, but often our trajectories are completely different and may never intersect.

In the "City" cycle, Strahil Naydenov creates his mosaic panels in a unique and different way. In his artworks we will see something atypical of the mosaic - he uses a lot of free space in his works, they "breathe", they are lightweight because they lack the density of the classic mosaic. These free spaces are made in white and this gives lightness and freedom to the works, he does not enclose them in a frame. In this way, the artist manages to inspire us with his ideas for the City - a place with many destinies, many roads, going in different directions, a place for flight and humility, for communication, meetings and sections, beating with the rhythm of human hearts.

More about the artist:

Strahil Naydenov was born on September 2, 1973 in Pleven, Bulgaria. He works in the field of mosaic, 3D mosaic and sculpture mosaic. He uses natural stones, minerals and ceramics in his works.

Strahil has over 10 solo exhibitions, some of which: Ruse Art Gallery (2018), Art Signal Hall, Plovdiv (2018), Rafael Mihailov Exhibition Halls, Veliko Tarnovo (2019), Art Center House of Artists, Pleven (2019) and others. He has participated in numerous National and International exhibitions and competitions, some of which: Eighth and Ninth Biennials of Small Forms, Pleven, participation in the Contemporary Trends exhibition at the Merlino Gallery, Florence, participation in the Art Links Exhibition - Merlino Gallery ", Florence, participation in the Art Biennale Biennale (2017, 2019) in Tokyo, Japan, participation in" The Art Box Project Basel ", Basel, Switzerland (2017) and" The Art Box Project New York ", New York, USA , (2018), participation in the Third Annual Mosaic Show, Oregon, USA (2017), participation in the Bulgarian Monumental Art Exhibition - Gallery of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute - Prague, Czech Republic (2018), participation in Belgrade Heritage House Mosaic Festival - Belgrade, Serbia, (2018) and more. In 2017, he won a finalist award at the Art Olympia International Biennale in Tokyo, Japan. He lives and works in Pleven.

The opening of the exhibition will be on February 21^st at 6:30 PM at Largo Art Gallery, Varna, 8^th Han Krum str. The exhibition runs until 11.03.2020.                                                                                                                              

                                      Nelly Valcheva, Director