GULUB GULUBOV, Sea Diary – painting, 16–30 October 2026

GULUB GULUBOV

Sea Diary

painting

16–30 October 2026

The diary begins where familiar coordinates are no longer enough. Sometimes a single glance from the shore is enough to reveal unexplored territories within a well-known landscape.

‘Sea Diary’ brings together fragments from a series of Gulub Gulubov’s days off – the glints on the waves, the specific shade of blue, the horizon and the human presence. These are moments of stillness and movement, captured through a radical scrutiny of the seemingly ordinary surface of everyday life.

In this exhibition, Galab Galabov rejects classical chronology to present the memory of that which usually remains outside the grand narrative. His painting becomes a conscious practice of attention – a way of holding one’s gaze on the world millimetre by millimetre, until it reveals its invisible layers and offers a new perspective on the landscape and the human figure. The artist constructs a pure, autonomously structured and clearly legible image that requires no further explanation or conceptual footnotes.

Thus, the sea functions simultaneously as a specific place and as an open space leading to imaginary geographies beyond the boundaries of the familiar. The artist affirms the uniqueness of these free, contemplative moments, capturing them before the gaze can turn them into a ready-made explanation.

Yana Bratanova, October 2026

How do I go about it? I love the reporting style; I want to capture the emotion inherent in the moment. As I don’t know what it’s due to, I paint everything with equal attention. I try to understand every part of it and I really do discover unexpected manifestations of form and colour. I don’t like contrasts and try to avoid them because they hide some of the beauty of the things I’m depicting. I try to enjoy myself throughout the whole process, and that’s the most important thing… sometimes I even succeed! I usually know where the counterpoint lies; it may be conceptual or visual, but without it there is nothing. These paintings were created whilst I was taking a break from other paintings and from my life.

Gulub Gulubov, October 2026

GULUB GULUBOV was born in 1956 in the town of Batak, Bulgaria. He graduated from the Art High School in Sofia, and in 1982 he completed a degree in ‘Graphic Art’ at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia.