Yanko Tihov & Nadia Tsakova

About

Yanko Tihov was born in Bulgaria in 1977. He graduated in 2001 from the National Academy of Art and later in the same year moved to London where he still lives and works. Yanko is known for his fine portraiture and surreal figurative images. He has exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, National Portrait Gallery’s BP Awards, Royal Societies of Portrait Painters, and Lynn Painters Prize among others.

His work includes a series of ‘Passport Maps’ where each print’s design is determined by the colours and motifs of each country’s passport. The series has become highly collectible and his first edition of ‘Contemporary Europe’ sold out. Yanko’s passport map series include historical elements such as maps showing the British Empire and how Europe has changed politically through time. These maps are a fascinating reminder of the distinct laws and jurisdiction which bind our lives and continue to create separation despite an increasingly globalised world.

This exhibition is a collection of Yanko’s different approaches from fine portraiture, figurative paintings and drawings to his latest passport series.

Nadia Tsakova attended art college in Bulgaria in 1992 and later attended the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, gaining an MA in Fine Arts, Printmaking and Graphic Arts. Following this, she won several national awards and competitions in Bulgaria. After moving to England she continued to earn recognition, winning prizes for exhibits in London at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the National Print Exhibition. Her work has been featured at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, RP and ING Discerning Eye.

Nadia is an accomplished figurative painter. She describes herself as being fascinated by the quality and beauty of light which creates and forms the composition. Her inspiration is often sourced from the beauty of everyday life in London. She sees herself as an observer and views London residents through a more romantic lens, imbuing the city with a dreamlike quality, out of focus figures and soft light. She sees people, not the city, as the subject of her work, turning what could be lifeless cityscapes into intimate figurative paintings. The buzz of central London is a recurring theme in her work, giving her the opportunity to explore figurative form, colour, shadows and reflections.

Yanko and Nadia met at the Art Academy in Sofia. They had two joint exhibitions in 1999 and 2001 as students in Sofia.  They are now married and live in London with their young daughter Alexandra.  This is their first exhibition together in London.