Stefan Nikolaev

Stefan Nikolaev was born in Bulgaria in 1970, and studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1997, he founded the Parisian space Glassbox, of which he is now co-director. Living between Paris and Sofia, the artist exhibited at the Center for Contemporary Art in Glasgow in 2006 and presented his exhibition "Bad Lux" in Nantes the same year, focusing on the themes of nostalgia and disappearance.

His work is largely inspired by of his dual cultural backgroundwhich is why they manifest themselves through an aesthetic of discrepancy.

Stefan Nikolaev is imbued with the codes that govern today's society, invaded by logos and signs in identical places. His art has a dual character, being a synthesis of synthesis of minimal art and Pop Artcombining economy of means and bright colors.

Like a contemporary Andy Warhol, Stefan Nikolaev appropriates images of mass culture to create his luminous still lifes. He elaborates a vocabulary of objects and brands, seeking to to capture the chaotic atmosphere of duty-free zoneswhere cultures and histories meet in suspended time.

Assembling neon Murano glass and hammered copper supports, the artist creates sculptural objects. He seeks to go beyond the "Pop" aesthetic by not simply magnifying the mass-market object, but also giving it functionality.