Through the Night

Sasho Kostov

Looking at Sasho Kostov’s paintings is to give time to one's thoughts, a journey of associations. The paintings, rich in their array of mark-making and often combining oil and acrylics with ink and pastels, are simple yet highly engaging. It is often stated that Mark Rothko’s paintings have a spiritual and restful quality, they afford the viewer time to stop, to reflect. Visually, Kostov’s works have an energy and movement that one wouldn’t ordinarily associate with Rothko, yet, in common, both artists embrace abstraction. As viewers, we are invited to sit with the works: to think, to dream, to imagine, to reflect, or even just take a break. Look more closely and one’s thoughts segue from one thing to the next. Perhaps the flashes of yellow hint at the lavish gold so familiar in the Sienese School of painting, or maybe the busy and generous brushwork hints at landscape, of something figurative. More than concrete subject matter, Kostov’s paintings speak of art’s restful, tranquil qualities. His paintings are a pertinent reminder to take time for ourselves and those around us. A moment’s rest.