Preslav Kostov

The many tangled figures of Preslav Kostov’s imposing paintings jostle against one another, groping and clutching, and stay suspended in action, as in history painting, but remain untethered from any specific narrative, any grounding element that may lend itself to easy interpretation. With a lugubrious palette drawn from Old Masters paintings, and a sense of figurative distortion recalling certain works by Francis Bacon, such expressions of painterly virtuosity at first obscure Kostov’s seemingly automatist approach to composition, both the surrealist kind, in the lineage of Andre Masson, and the sort of uncanny images produced in recent years by artificial intelligence programs. Whether referring to the bardo or the algorithm, these paintings seem to emerge from an interstitial space between aggression and eroticism, the actual and the virtual, the historical and the present – a liminality informed by Kostov’s own personal histories, his acute understanding of immigrant experience and identity formation. ...

Founded in 2016, Baert Gallery maintains a distinct focus on bridging the historical legacies and artistic sensibilities of Europe and Los Angeles. Working with a roster of emerging artists, the gallery is committed to showcasing a diverse program of work that engages complex philosophical, critical, and political concepts while challenging settled and conventional aesthetic expectations. Located in Los Angeles’ Arts District, the gallery is dedicated to fostering and promoting the region’s unique art scene in a spirit of local cooperation and in dedication to mindful sensitivity towards its broader geographical and social milieu. ...