Opening: February 27 (Thursday), 5:30 p.m.
Floor 4, Museum of Humor and Satire
The exhibition will remain until July 31, 2025.
The Museum of Humor and Satire presents “Worlds” – a large-scale retrospective exhibition of the beloved Gabrovo painter Ivan Hristov – Groga (1942 – 2024). Located on the entire fourth floor, the exhibition includes over 100 works and traces various stages in his professional development.
The exhibition is part of the celebrations marking 165 years since Gabrovo was declared a city.
The work of Ivan Hristov – Groga is a true revelation in the world of art. In a photorealistic style and with poetic sensitivity, he saturates his pictorial worlds with unique depth and significance.
Nature is his favorite subject. The artist depicts it not just as a background, but as a living organism. Particularly impressive are his winter landscapes, filled with cool tones and ethereality, evoking deep emotions and reflections on the transience and fragility of life.
Groga creates “portraits” of birds, with a refined sensitivity to their beauty.
His painting is not only a means of aesthetic revelation, but also a public position and a warning about human activities that destroy nature.
The exhibition features paintings from the collections of the Hristov family, the Museum of Humor and Satire, Hristo Tsokev Art Gallery – Gabrovo, Aspect Gallery – Plovdiv, Djurkovi Gallery – Plovdiv, Vidima Gallery – Sevlievo, Assen and Iliya Peykovi Art Gallery – Sevlievo, the Specialized Museum of Woodcarving and Iconography Art – Tryavna, Otets Paisii 1928 Art Gallery in the village of Dumnitsi, and private individuals.
The exhibition includes a screening of 3 documentaries, which provide the audience with the opportunity to get to know the artist’s personality.
Ivan Hristov – Groga was born in the Gabrovo village of Dumnitsi into a family with rich traditions in stonemasonry. An alumnus of the Aprilov High School, in 1969 he graduated from the University of Veliko Tarnovo, majoring in Poster Art.
For over a quarter of a century, Groga devoted himself to teaching at the Secondary Art School in Tryavna, inspiring generations of young artists.
Despite his specialization in posters, he remained faithful to his “old love” – painting, turning it into his main means of expression.
Groga’s creative legacy includes dozens of solo exhibitions and successful appearances in prestigious forums.
He is an active and highly appreciated participant in 14 editions of the Gabrovo Biennial of Humor and Satire in Art, with distinctions in 1999 – third prize for painting, in 2005 – the special prize for painting of the Ministry of Culture.
In 2005, 2006 and 2013, the artist won the Hristo Tsokev Аward of the Municipality of Gabrovo.
In 2014, he was awarded the Honorary Badge of Gabrovo for his overall contribution to the town’s cultural life.