A Few Words...

Unit 4, Portraits in Motion, 108-230cm, Acrylic on Canvas, 2013

A few words...

Bogdan Aleksandrov is one of the best known Bulgarian born artists active since 1990. He is a prolific artist known for his large format acrylic works which target the deeper complexities of the social and psychological experiences of modern life. His mode of working is concise, often beginning with the choice of a unifying theme or concept around which an entire painting cycle will occur. It is normal in his working practice that such a theme will consume his work for an entire year or in some cases several, in this way it has become natural to divide his work into periods based on conceptual development. If it is correct to say that Aleksandrov’s work can be divided into periods based on unifying concepts, it is equally correct to speak of the importance of the aesthetic in his work. In his work he demonstrates the belief that the best painting is one which operates on many levels simultaneously, if it begins with an idea that satisfies the intellect, it continues with an aesthetic that pleases the eye. There is a deep relationship between concept and aesthetic in his paintings, it is natural then that as his ideas have evolved in periods so has his aesthetic expression. His earliest works can be described as “Lyrical Expressionism” characterized by the sense of the metaphysical grounded to reality with his very plastic handling of the paint with the use of a broad brush; his most recent works by contrast utilize a technique he refers to as “visual noise” which virtually defies technical explanation, though they may best be described as taking the material physicality of our world and lifting it to some higher level of metaphysical reality. He has won numerous national prizes for contemporary art in his home country, exhibited internationally, participated in international festivals for video art and has had his work enter in many important private and public collections.

Gordon Carter, February 2014

Unit 5, Portraits in Motion, 108-230cm, Acrylic on Canvas, 2013