Exhibition "Trilogy of a Friendship" - Bogomil Nikolov, Krasimira Drenska and Yuli Dermendzhiev
Curator: Nadia Rozeva
"Mission" Gallery
16.06.25 – 30.07.25
Opening: June 16, 18:30
The State Institute for Cultural under the Minister of Foreign Affairs, together with curator Nadia Rozeva and the Swiss Embassy in Bulgaria, present an exhibition of three authors, three friends who walked in the same direction, but on different paths.
Three is a complete number, the number of harmony and stability. Pythagoras' favorite number. The number of a long-standing friendship of three artists and uniting their paths again with an exhibition at the "Mission" Gallery.
In the first part of the trilogy we will see the small and large medals of Bogomil Nikolov and we will return to the grace, the measure, the silky touch of the classics, but with the contemporary sound that only Nikolov can capture. His playful quirks and winks are derived from biblical plots, myths, paradoxes of our time and in one breath are transferred to the medal, as if untouched by human hand. The medal is a complex genre that requires an exceptionally rich culture and knowledge, and Nikolov easily creates his images, which themselves are both a problem, a culmination, and a denouement. It is no coincidence that Bogomil Nikolov is the holder of the highest world award “Saltus” for exceptional contribution to the field of medal sculpture – of the American Numismatic Association.
The second part of the trilogy is reserved for the elegant fluid geometry in the drawings of Krasimira Drenska. Minimalist ideas spill out structuredly on the white paper. The hand follows the intuition of free movement. Monochromatic nuances of ink and watercolor overflow and build networks of delicate sensations for the transformation of spirit and matter. The encounter with Krasimira Drenska's art is memorable, the consciousness continues to follow the contours in a labyrinth of color and transparency, evoking an almost hypnotic meditation - a journey to unexplored depths. These monochrome subconscious networks of lines and shapes flow easily into forms with sculptural flesh. Following certain laws, they seek to capture the transient essence of what is seen.
Yuli Dermedzhiev's wooden sculptures spin us elegantly around their invisible axis.
In this part of our trilogy, matter is concretized in vertical energy, in warm, optimistic columns that grow with hope towards the sky or immerse us in underwater worlds saturated with mystery. The taken away tree leaves gaps, but not absences. Imaginary symbolic spaces grow before our eyes, entire celestial palaces tell us stories with pulsating organic rhythms. The energy outlines harmonious forms, the hand wants to touch the soft wood, to feel its strength and gentle impulses. The spirals of time have reached their culmination, forever frozen in a calm equilibrium.
The trilogy is complete, the friendship continues. And art is eternal.
Nadia Rozeva
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Prof. Bogomil Nikolov, born in 1943 in the village of Brashlyanitsa, is a long-time head of the Metal Department at the National Academy of Arts (NAA), doctor honoris causa of the NAA. He is the founder of the Medal Sculpture Studio (1996), the driving force and reason for the formation of the new generation of Bulgarian medalists since the 1990s with his unreserved dedication and assistance.
Krasimira Drenska, born in 1947 in Sofia, has lived in Basel, Switzerland since 1980, where he was a lecturer until 2009. in the Faculty of Fine Graphics and Book Art, Schule für Gestaltung Basel. Since 2004, nasam has organized and curated numerous international exhibitions on the theme of Author's Book with the Author's Book Forum Basel (FKB).
Yuli Dermendzhiev, b. 1947, born in Blagoevgrad, graduated from the Art High School in Sofia in 1966, and in 1975 graduated from the National Academy of Arts, Department of Sculpture. He has participated in numerous general and group exhibitions of the Union of Bulgarian Artists, as well as in international symposia.