A graduate of the Academy for Fine Arts "Nicolae Grigorescu" in Bucharest, Romania (1970–1975), under Professor Paul Vasilescu's beneficial guidance, Ivan Minekov's striking talent quickly attracted the attention of the Bulgarian artistic society.
In the period between 1975 and 1990 he completed a number of large monumental works in many Bulgarian cities, among which his native Pazardzhik, Burgas (1978), Rousse, Lovech, Dorkovo and others.
The Bulgarian National Television produced a short film about his monumental work Levski (1987) and a documentary about the artist (1988), which is now included in BNT's golden fund.
In 1993-94 the Harada Collection in Tokyo commissioned Ivan Minekov to create the portrait of Peter Michailov and in the year of 2000, Minekov's inclination towards mythology and history brought to life Dimitar Peshev's portrait, honoring the great politician for saving the Bulgarian Jews in World War II.
In 2007 Ivan Minekov was chosen as one of Bulgaria's leading artists to be represented on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official website.