Тhe Best Won But This Time It Is Her

Тhe Best Won But This Time It Is Her/ Най-добрият побеждава, но този път това е тя

Schmincke oils on canvas. Size: 120 x 100 cm, 2021. Anton Terziev, Photo: © the artist. Courtesy the author

Foto material used: Getty photograpy image of Taylor Starling vs. Charisa Sigala's bare knucle feb.2021 fight (The LGBT flag is on me)
Charisa and Taylor's BFKC fight was one of the greatest displays of terrible deadly toughness I have ever witnessed

Title credit: Svetoslav Todorov - journalist, editor and writer

Part of No Time for Losers ongoing seriеs of drawings and paintings (2019-)

Anton Terziev’s The Best Won But This Time It Is Her is a visceral portrayal of our society’s conflicted fascination with power, violence, and spectacle. The two female MMA fighters—battered yet exultant—embody a primal, almost gladiatorial vitality that confronts the viewer with modern culture’s twisted glorification of physical dominance. Terziev’s bold brushwork and saturated color palette heighten the rawness of the scene, emphasizing every bruise and drop of sweat as both a badge of victory and a stark reminder of brutality.

By positioning these women at the juncture of aggression and alleged empowerment, the painting questions whether society’s celebration of strength has veered into the realm of spectacle, forsaking long-held notions of femininity. The fighters’ intertwined postures evoke both camaraderie and contention, underscoring how modern values can distort basic instincts into something deemed “cool” or “sexy,” while glossing over the deeper psychic and physical toll. Terziev’s composition is unapologetically direct, forcing us to reconcile the uneasy allure of violence with our uneasy complicity in consuming it as entertainment. The result is a resonant critique of our contemporary appetites: a challenging testament to how easily raw aggression can masquerade as modern heroism.

Award winner at Parallel worlds exhibition - 04.06.2024 - 28.06.2024, Union of Bulgarian Artists, Sofia, Bulgaria

Тhe Best Won But This Time It Is Her - sanguine on 220 Rosaspina fabriano paper, 60% cotton

Private collection