Painting, drawings, aquarelle

“About the Stone…Every stone is marked at birth as perfect creation…The work of the artist in the Salon of Nature is – patiently to shape the pedestal” Boris Hristov

Poet Boris Hristov has been listening to the whisper of rocks for years. Initially, he reflected on the peculiar outlines of the patina of lichen and moss, trying to decipher their language that locks Time in with the key of Silence. This is how The Book of Rocks was conceived (published by Elements, 2006). Then, he started associating photographed rocks and their transformed otherness with thoughts by philosophers and poets having left their verbal mark (from the 5th century BC till the 20th century, from Lao Tzu to Joseph Brodsky). This is how the Rocks and Words anthology was conceived (published by Riva, 2015). Then came the poet’s own verses, which, together with the photographs, inspired artist Milko Bozhkov to use the language of the brush to comment upon the images of rocks bathed in poetry. This is how this exhibition was conceived, as a presentation of works blending poetry and philosophy alongside works blending poetry and painting.

The exhibition features 55 paintings offering an original interpretation of both the Poet’s photographs and his reflections. In the majority of cases, the outcome contradicts the claim that the artist’s involvement shall be limited to ‘sculpting the pedestal’. The selection of paintings is complemented by 42 watercolours and 40 India ink drawings.

Exhibition souvenirs include Metodiy Petrikov’s publication The Gallery of Nature (published by Metodievi knigi, 2020) and Giclee art prints of the paintings on Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper, 350 g.

If they come some day, they will emerge from the direction

of the Stone, where they have lived from the very beginning

and from whose rifts and hiding holes

I hear at night the voices of stones around the new building –

the rejected ones rage because the masons

choose them not by their Soul, which is eternal,