An Exhibition by Slavena Petkova as a part of the 2025 Night of Museums and Galleries
Gallery33 is pleased to take part in the European Night of Museums and Galleries – Varna 2025 by presenting the work of the talented young artist Slavena Petkova, a multidisciplinary artist and graduate of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Netherlands.
Her artistic practice spans mixed media, painting, textual archives, and the exploration of communities. The exhibition will also feature a glowing installation in the The Box window of Gallery33, showcasing paintings illuminated by UV light.
"If We Were Friends" is Slavena Petkova’s solo exhibition, in which the artist turns toward what remains unspoken between us.
Desires born in silence – fragile, hesitant, at times painfully honest – take form in her paintings. These are dreams that fear the light yet yearn for understanding. Characters caught in moments of waiting – for a meeting, a word, a glance that says everything without speaking.
“Intuitively, I search for a certain energy that feels foreign to our reality yet carries a sensory code we deeply need. I want to create a space for all that is denied to us in the ‘official’ reality, and to touch a sensitive place that speaks of intimacy in an intimate way. Because I believe that when we go deep into the personal, we find so much in common, we enter the universal.”
Slavena describes her style as "naïve", aiming to use contradictory methods that simultaneously help narrate personal stories and evoke a childlike playfulness. She works with mixed media: print, paper, canvas, lace, spray paint, oil and acrylics, and a wide range of mark-making tools and text.
This exhibition does more than show images – it asks a question.
If we were friends... what would we confess to one another?
🟣 Opening: May 17, 2025, at 18:00
🟣 Location: Gallery33, 2A Gabrovo St., Varna
🕒 Gallery hours on May 17: 13:00 – 21:00
📅 Exhibition duration: May 17 – May 30, 2025
🎟️ Free admission