Preslav Kostov CBPP (b.1998) is a painter and illustrator based in the United Kingdom with paintings in private collections across Australia, Europe, UK and US.
His work is inspired by traditional sensibilities and craft, but seeks to explore the possibilities of experiencing painting in the present day where competition for visual stimulus has never been higher. Through his work, Preslav hopes to cast a spotlight on the intimacy and emotions of the moments which lose the competition for our attention in the rush of our modern lives. Working largely autobiographically, he aims capture the essence of daily life, untarnished by the heavy pressure to curate and overcorrect, imposed by social media and the publicity that it casts on every aspect of our lives.
Press:
Tomorrow's Talent Vol. II, Booooooom Magazine (2021)
Editor's Pick, Booooooom Magazine - https://www.booooooom.com/2020/08/25/isolation-by-artist-preslav-kostov/
Issue 12 Portraits & Figures, Artit Magazine (p.68)
Interview, Joshua Van Leader 2020 - https://joshuavanleader.com/artist-focus-107-preslav-kostov/
Exhibitions:
More Heed - Auction Collective x The Magic Garden Battersea (2021)
Figurative Art Now - Federation of British Artist x Mall Galleries (2021)
Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Award - Virtual Exhibition (Longlisted) (2021)
Small Pleasures - All Mouth Gallery x The Auction Collective (2021)
Annual Exhibition - Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Mall Galleries (2021)
Jackson's Painting Prize (Shortlisted) (2021)
Quotidian - Blanco Gallery, virtual exhibition (2021)
Isolation - Blanco Gallery, virtual exhibition (2020)
Feel, Don’t Feel - Leeds, West Yorkshire (2019)
Royal Drawing School Foundation Year Show - Trinity Buoy Wharf, London (2017)
Education:
Royal College of Art (2021 - 2023)
Leeds Arts University (2017 - 2020)
Royal Drawing School (2016 - 2017)
Lavender Hill Studios (2014 - 2015)
Experience:
Recipient of The Elizabeth Greenshields Grant 2021
Member of the Contemporary British Portrait Painters Society
Copy Painting - reproductions of historical paintings to serve as props within the TV industry
Various private commissions for portraiture and still life
Finalist in the Gap x Me T-Shirt competition
Studio QD and Nicky Haslam - Watercolour Interior Rendering
(featured in the November issue of House and Garden magazine 2017)