“I improvise on paper or canvass, always walking towards an open-ended finale. When should I stop and when could I consider a painting complete, is the question? Therefore it is hardest for me to put my signature on a painting”, says Rumen Rachev. The artist opens his new exhibition on March 20 at a Sofia-based Astri gallery.

"I haven’t displayed my works in Sofia for three years. I now present my new paintings and drawings. The exhibition will be on a smaller scale as I have selected several highlights. Among them is a symbolic picture for me, quite large in size. I have selected it also for the invitation and poster for my exhibition. Three years ago, I showcased it at the European Parliament in Brussels. I presented there my own exhibition regarding the National Day of Bulgaria, March 3. And now I have a reason to show it also to the home audience, in fact it was the reason for this exhibition at the Astri gallery. The exhibition is upbeat with an optimistic message, full of only a pinch of melancholy, sadness and nostalgia, but that's part of the urban spectrum. Henceforth I want to appear more and more often on the Bulgarian arts scene. I think there's more for me to show and to surprise the audience and art admirers."

In 1982, Rumen Rachev graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia. His work is better known abroad than at home. For more than eighteen years he has been living and working in Germany. Only for the past six years he has been in Bulgaria more often, yet without interrupting his connections with German gallerists and colleagues.

From 1988 to 1996, he made solo exhibitions in the U.S., Finland, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, England, and Russia. In 1991, he won the honorary award of the International Jury of Toronto, Canada. Since 1996, he has been displaying his works also in Bulgaria. His paintings are included in the collections of the National Gallery in Sofia, the Sofia City Art Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art and the Library in New York, the Museum of New Orleans, Bremen - Germany, Zurich - Switzerland and other public and private collections. In his current solo exhibition, Rumen Rachev shows a cycle of paintings interpreting the city – from the inside and outside, and its inhabitants. The composition and pattern is in the spirit of German Expressionism with a slight reference to El Greco, Picasso, and David Hockney. Thus emerges an image of Rumen Rachev that is memorable and leaving a lasting mark in the fine arts.