Background: Young Artists 2025

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"When I was little, after dinner I would ask my father if there was something sweet for dessert, and he would say there was compote in the pantry. I got upset because I wanted chocolate. 
Years later, I appreciate how good his answer was."
— Radoslav Angelov on the painting Something Sweet (2024)

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Sarieva/Gallery, Plovdiv presents a new edition of the long-standing platform Background: Young Artists. Founded in 2010, it has established itself as one of Bulgaria’s leading platforms for debuting young artists. During the pandemic, the platform transformed into the Artist’s Studio at Sariev, providing space and support for emerging artists. In the fall of 2025, Background: Young Artists returns to its traditional format with a new message and the first solo exhibition of the young self-taught painter Radoslav Angelov.

Born in 1996 in Dobrich, Angelov graduated from a Foreign Language High School. He began painting around the age of 20, having previously been interested in music and cinema. His life spans multiple professions—surf instructor, tattoo artist, baker—but painting has remained his constant passion and primary form of self-expression.

Born on the cusp of the millennial generation and Generation Z, Angelov combines individuality and independence from traditional hierarchies with digital fluency and self-learning skills. He leads an orderly life, prefers healthy nutrition, does not consume alcohol, and is a culinary enthusiast. Raised in the less developed region of Northeastern Bulgaria, he often returns to his family and the Black Sea coast, which inspire his work.

For Angelov, art is a conscious choice and a way of life—personal exploration and growth, rather than formal academic education. He seeks alternative ways to master painting techniques and principles. His generation frees him from reverence toward art academies, museums, authorities, and hierarchies. He remains an outsider on the Bulgarian art scene, only minimally acquainted with the gallery system and established artists.

His works reflect a conservative classical aesthetic—realistic composition and technique, mainly seascapes and still lifes, some painted en plein air and traditionally framed. Contemporary elements appear subtly—bottles of popular drinks, surfboards, iPads—while the themes explore social engagement and societal issues such as loneliness, ecological crises, and overconsumption. The paintings convey intimacy with the subject, lightness, tactility, and joy in simple pleasures.

In the Background: Young Artists exhibition, Angelov’s works evoke summer and the sea as both a force of nature and a refuge (Summer Storm, Currents), quiet urban spaces and architectural details (The Quiet Landing, Concrete), childhood memories, family traditions, and everyday objects (Something Sweet, Behind the Cellar Curtains, Bread), the destructive impact of war on nature (Buried in the Sand), and contemporary solitude and isolation (My Empty Bed, Ash). Surfing and travels (Yokomo Surf) add a personal, biographical perspective. ome of his paintings were created in the living room of his apartment in Sofia, while others were painted en plein air, lending immediacy and intimacy to the scenes.

Angelov made his debut on the Bulgarian art scene in 2024 with the illustration competition The Sofianer and in the group exhibitions Edible Stories(Credo Bonum) and Art Start: Centrifugal Forces (Credo Bonum, Goethe-Institut). Sarieva/Gallery noticed him from the very beginning and, after a careful study of his artistic practice, invited him to present his first solo exhibition in Background: Young Artists. When selecting an artist for a debut, Katrin and Veselina Sariev take time to build a personal authorial context and situate the exhibition. The goal is to create a space for the artist’s growth and to present to the public and the collector scene high-quality art with lasting value that reflects the time. In this process, the coherent image of the artist is central—without vanity, with talent, inner strength, and a sense of stoicism.

The exhibition’s subtitle, Bliss, reflects perfect happiness and inner peace. During one of the first studio visits, the gallerists noticed a book with a quote by Robert Henri[1]: "The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable." The quote links both to art history and to the image of the compote that opens this text.