Yanko Tihov's process begins with passports, coming from a fascination with it’s ever-changing nature, and how signifiers of history, politics, and identity can be held within a single document. Sourced from friends, relatives, collectors, and auctions over the years, Tihov has amassed an extraordinary collection of passports. For his works, Tihov takes these passport covers and emblems, and uses them to explore certain social and personhood ideas. For example, with his work London Passport Map 2024, Tihov used the city census to create a multicoloured map of different areas of the city by population size, celebrating the diversity of London. For World Passports Colour Wheel, Yanko wanted to reinterpret and represent the globe in a new way, focusing in on the colours of each passport, and how they relate to each other. For many countries, the chosen passport colours are signifiers of shared values, political relationships, or geographical ties, often changing with the shifts within the country.
Yanko graduated from the National Academy of the Arts, Sofia, in 2001, and has since exhibited internationally with TAG Fine Arts, across the UK, USA, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Works showing courtesy of TAG Fine Arts
Yanko Tihov's process begins with passports, coming from a fascination with it’s ever-changing nature, and how signifiers of history, politics, and identity can be held within a single document. Sourced from friends, relatives, collectors, and auctions over the years, Tihov has amassed an extraordinary collection of passports. For his works, Tihov takes these passport covers and emblems, and uses them to explore certain social and personhood ideas. For example, with his work London Passport Map 2024, Tihov used the city census to create a multicoloured map of different areas of the city by population size, celebrating the diversity of London. For World Passports Colour Wheel, Yanko wanted to reinterpret and represent the globe in a new way, focusing in on the colours of each passport, and how they relate to each other. For many countries, the chosen passport colours are signifiers of shared values, political relationships, or geographical ties, often changing with the shifts within the country.
Yanko graduated from the National Academy of the Arts, Sofia, in 2001, and has since exhibited internationally with TAG Fine Arts, across the UK, USA, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Works showing courtesy of TAG Fine Arts