Although it may seem like another exhibition in the artist’s creative biography, the exhibition The return by Rumen Petkov is actually a deliberate gesture of retrospection toward the roots of his personal plastic language. In the space of the Nenko Balkanski House Museum, the artist presents works that seek out dialogue between the accumulations of maturity and that first youthful spark that ignited his journey. The title carries a strong philosophical charge – it is a return to the first visual explorations, to that pure sensitivity in which form and colour are the only necessary instruments for expressing the world.
Rumen Petkov’s painting is distinguished by categorical materiality. This is art of constructed form, in which the canvas becomes a relief structure through dense layering and dynamic application of the palette knife. He works with panache, reducing objects—whether fruits, trees, or architectural details—to their primordial tectonic masses. In his compositions, light is not an external phenomenon but rather seems to be enclosed in the very matter of the paint itself, pulsing through saturated ochres, deep blues and explosive yellows.
At the centre of this exhibition lie the artist’s own question about the meaning of “maturing.” Is it possible, after decades of creative activity, for a person to return to that initial sincerity without having lost the energy of experimentation? Rumen Petkov proves that this return is not a degrading move but rather a test of the resilience of his aesthetic ideals. His works stand far from descriptiveness and verbosity; they are an attempt to structure reality through the logic of pure painting, where the figurative is merely a pretext for constructing an autonomous universe of colours.
As a student of Prof. Nikola Gelov at Veliko Tarnovo University and an artist with over 30 solo exhibitions, Rumen Petkov has long established his distinctive artistic voice. The present exhibition, however, introduces us to an artist who refuses to rest on the laurels of routine. The return is an invitation to engage with art that does not need excessive praise, because it speaks convincingly through its density, sincerity and character.
This event is part of the gallery’s cultural calendar marking the 125th anniversary of the founding of the art collection of Art Gallery – Kazanlak.
General media partner: Bulgarian National Radio.
