Donkov was born in Mazgoš, near Dimitrovgrad, in 1956. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Department of Painting, in 1981. He obtained his M.A. from the same faculty, in the class of professor Radenko Mišević in 1984. He has been a member of the Association of Serbian Artists (ULUS), as a free-lance and distinguished artist, since 1983. Professor at the Faculty of Art, University of Niš 2008-2022 (full professor since 2014). Member of the Council of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Department in Niš, since 2018.
Being one of the most significant representatives of neoinformel, Donkov participated in all the important art events and exhibitions in Yugoslavia during 1980s and 1990s (Controlled Gesture, Yugoslav Documents 89, Thirty most relevant artist of the VIII and IX decade in Yugoslavia, Youth Biennial, October Salon etc.). He has been featured in all the relevant reviews of the fine arts scene in Yugoslavia and Serbia since 1981.
Donkov held 35 solo shows (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Vršac, Gelsenkirhen, Sofia, Oslо, Paris etc.), and participated in more than 200 group shows.
Donkov is the laureate of 15 awards and accolades for his painting, including Student award of the Faculty of Fine Arts (1980), Silver medal of the University of the Arts in Belgrade (1981), Art Gallery Nadežda PetrovićAward (1984), Đorđe KrstićAward (2001), ULUS Golden Palette (2007), White AngelAward (2007), Milan KonjovićAward (2010), PolitikaAward (2020). He received the greatest social recognition awarded by the city of Niš – Award 11 January(2010).
His works can be found in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art (Belgrade) and Belgrade City Museum, Gallery SLU (Niš), Art Gallery Nadežda Petrović(Čačak), museums in Kruševac, Pančevo, Vranje, as well as in many other public and private collections and art spaces in Belgrade, Niš, Sofia, Venice, Thessaloniki, Balcik, Oslo, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.
PERICA DONKOV (1956)