Sofia Press Gallery is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a solo exhibition by an artist who explores the fine line between fine art and the prettification of modern consciousness born out of the deluge of over-curated banal imagery churned out on social media.

If you are living with your nose glued to your phone, "You Can Sit With Us," by Desislava Kostadinova (b. 1985), is bound to quietly make you uncomfortable.

The small-scale, exquisitely painted still lives, compositions and portraits embody artistic skill and mastery. Initially they seem pretty, colourful and harmless. Yet the longer you stay with them and the closer you get to explore the details, the paint strokes and the texture of the oil, the more disquieted you may become.

What at first seems like a show of pretty small-size paintings transforms into a close study of the modern craving for belonging and the authenticity that we lose in the process.

"The still lives explore the objectification of existence, the compositions capture the complex dynamics of groups and the portraits become the last refuge of humanity in a dehumanised world," says the exhibition's curator, Olympia Daniel. The accumulated effect is that of entering a kind of hyperreality; here the saturated colours and the cut fruit become a metaphor for the modern obsession with full transparency, for trading our inner selves on social media for likes and comments.

The painting technique underlines the hidden chasms of our digital existence. Everything is painted in a demanding material that asks for patience and skill: oil. Sometimes rough but always painstakingly detailed, the works are juxtaposed with the easy glossed digital images we are drowning in.

The small size is another challenge to the viewer. "The paintings require looking from an intimate distance, coming physically closer," Olympia Daniel says. "The complete opposite of scrolling on screens. By turning away from the ease of the instant result, the artist has discovered the only meaningful alternative to mass culture."

"You Can Sit With Us" is an exhibition about the people of today, a tale of conformism and the price we have to pay for it. A fitting choice of topic for a gallery that is already looking towards the beginning of its third decade on Sofia's cultural map.

Where: Sofia Press Gallery, Sofia, 29 Slavyanska St

When: 20 March – 3 April

Curator: Olympia Daniel