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On May 28 Paris Gallery will present Boyko Kolev’s solo exhibition under the name ‘8’. The artist is well known to the Bulgarian audience as a master of replicas, yet, for the last several years he has been creating his own pieces of art in hyperrealistic style. Boyko Kolev is a virtuoso and master of the brush, with his painting technique ‘underpainting’ being exceptionally precise. A most curious fact lies behind this – Boyko Kolev is a self-taught artist who never attended art school. His school is the school of the Great Renaissance Artists whose works he has been studying for many years. Re-creating great masterpieces in his replicas, Boyko Kolev reveals the world’s art treasures to the Bulgarian audience. A good example of this was Boyko’s 2005 exhibit at Paris Gallery – “Re-creations” – where he presented replicas of some of the best known paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. The title of this exhibition, “8”, was not selected in an attempt to find some mystical association, but simply because eight paintings will be displayed in the exhibit. The artist finds deep philosophical content in certain paintings, while in others the accent is upon the play with light, shadow and colours. Boyko Kolev is a contemporary artist and very often his ideas are provoked by today’s urban environment. In this exhibit “Chocolate” and “Coffee at 8 a.m.” are good examples of this urban influence. It is really impressive to see the way the artist handled these otherwise difficult to paint materials like paper and foil, glass and porcelain, rock and steel. Pop art, photorealism and hyperrealism are the three styles that intertwine in the latest works of Boyko Kolev. This is an exhibition that must be seen before the end of June. It is also available on the web site of Paris Gallery.