Quiet Riots 3

Quiet Riots 3 - Schmincke oils on canvas. Size: 140 x 195 cm, 2019, Anton Terziev. Photo: © the artist. Courtesy of the artist

В “Тихи бунтове” Антон Терзиев скъсява дистанцията между портрета и автопортрета, настоящето и миналото. Синът му е нарисуван в различни ситуации, моменти от формиращите му години. Но не буквално. Тук Терзиев поглежда и към собственото си детство. Той проследява как се променят понятията за свобода, безгрижие, отговорност, вина. Безвременността е нишката между работите в тази селекция. Може би за да покаже, че този период не е чак толкова различен между поколенията? “Истинският” живот изглежда като нещо голямо, далечно и страшно, но едновременно с това преборимо, поне във фантазията. Един удар с прашката и врагът е на земята.
Извън съвременното изкуство, Антон Терзиев е от първите киноблогъри в България. В този ред на мисли, лесно може да си представим картините тук и кинематографично, като части от по-голяма история – защо кучето в “Тихи бунтове 3” гледа към нас? Знае ли момчето какво изобразява свастиката на дланта му? На колко години си “твърде стар, за да умреш млад”? Историята зад изложбата продължава в главите ни. Следващите кадри са интерпретациите ни на тези въпроси, а кодът към разбирането им е да ги припознаем с неразрешените въпроси от собственото ни детство. Ако не можете, значи потискате нещо. Светослав Тодоров - писател , журналист, кореспондент

Quiet Riots exhibition, Contemporary Space, Varna, 2019
Photo: Bilyana Rubinova - cofounder with Vasil Daskalov of Contemporary Space, initiative of the Kreo Culture Foundation

In ‘Quiet Riots’ Anton Terziev reduces the distance between the portrait and the self-portrait, the present and the past.
Throughout this exhibition, his son is painted in different situations, mostly moments from his formative years. But nothing here is presented literally. In “Quiet Riots” Terziev also reflects upon his own childhood experiences. His works traces the changing attitude towards the themes of freedom, carelessness, responsibility, guilt.
The timelessness is the common thread between the works in this selection. Maybe to show that childhood is not actually that different between the generations? After all, back then the adult life always appears as something big, distant and scary, but nonetheless beatable, at least in the realm of fantasy. Just a shot with the wood catapult and there you go, the beast is dead.
While establishing himself in contemporary art, Anton Terziev also became one of the first movie bloggers in Bulgaria. In this train of thoughts, it’s easy to imagine to works in a cinematic way, as part of a bigger narrative - like, why the dog in ‘Quiet Riots III” breaks the “fourth wall”? Does the boy knows what the swastika on his palm means? At what age you are “too old to die young”?
The story of the exhibition continues in our imagination. The next frames are our own interpretation of the questions raised by Terziev. The key to understanding the works is buried in our own unsolved childhood issues. If you can’t find it, you’re suppressing something. Svetoslav Todorov - writer, editor, correspondent

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Quiet Riots sketches

Quiet Riots exhibition, Contemporary Space, Varna, 2019
Photo: Bilyana Rubinova - cofounder with Vasil Daskalov of Contemporary Space, initiative of the Kreo Culture Foundation

Encaptured painting from the seria: Quiet Riots 1

Photo: Bilyana Rubinova

Quiet Riots 3 - study sketch. pencil drawing ot 300lb Fabriano Artistico paper. Size: 26 x 37 cm, 2018, Anton Terziev
Property of Zoya Petrova
Photo: © the artist

Anton Terziev’s Quiet Riots 3 is a compelling exploration of vulnerability and unrest, captured through the portrayal of the artist’s son placed in a seemingly precarious urban environment. Executed in oil, the painting deftly marries elements of the real and the imagined to convey emotional tension rooted in protest, anxiety, and a deep generational rift. The composition is charged with an undercurrent of raw energy: the protagonist’s posture and facial expression evidence a simmering discontent, while the dog’s presence adds both innocence and ambiguity—an emblem of loyalty amid social fragmentation.

Terziev’s brushwork, marked by a gestural quality and textural richness, amplifies the child’s physical and emotional isolation, suggesting a break not only from the urban context, with its industrial tracks and detritus, but also from the comforting rhythms of nature. The viewer is drawn into the conflicting realms of youthful imagination—where resistance may be staged with authenticity and candor—and the harsher realities of adulthood, in which communication is often fraught or fractured. Through subtle color contrasts and layered compositional planes, Terziev underscores a sense of disconnection and longing for dialogue between generations and environments.

Quiet Riots 3 ultimately resonates as a visual essay on the fragile boundaries between innocence and awareness, courage and apprehension. By highlighting an inner world brimming with both quiet protest and palpable anxiety, Terziev speaks to universal tensions—those that linger unspoken yet press fiercely against the fabric of contemporary life.