"Legion" - Kiril Kiryakov

Kiril Kiryakov's exhibition, Legion, focuses on a series of portraits that explore the image of "demons" - the dark places of the human psyche. The title of the exhibition is inspired by the legend of Legion from the Bible, which tells of Jesus' encounter with a man possessed by demons. The demons that settled in Legion were aware of Jesus' great power and begged to be spared and not thrown back into the bottomless pit that is Hell. Instead of driving them away from the man's body, Jesus granted their wish, allowing them to live in a herd of pigs. When the demons took possession of the pigs, they fled to the Sea of Galilee and bulged into it. Kiryakov's series of paintings can be seen as the artist's attempt to exorcise the demons passing through his mind. His images are not figures of fear, but rather creatures that have acquired human features, which we observe as if in slow motion. They are revealed, surrendered and cast into infinity, no longer needed. Each portrait reminds us that they can be collected within the canvas, they can be disarmed. In spite of the dark images, Kiryakov’s intention to achieve healing is strongly felt in several places in the exhibition, where inexplicably cheerful colours are present at first reading. It seems as if he has tried to banish them with paint as they wander through his mind, slowly and insolently, trying to settle in. Kiriakov's exhibition creates that slightly tense feeling that precedes the beginning of something new.