This year, at the representative Sofia gallery Impression Art, Daniel Dinev opened his sixth solo exhibition. It has special significance for him as an artist because it presents his art after many years without a public appearance. His works carry the force of different messages, while his deepest desire is to paint and create art. At the beginning of the 1990s, a period marked by Bulgaria’s democratic changes, the artist held his first solo exhibition.
His subsequent appearances made him known not only to the public but also to serious art critics such as the late Maximilian Kirov. Kirov’s assessment of Daniel Dinev’s work was positive and clearly expressed his approval. The young artist’s painting and style revealed talent, very good technique and a distinctive attitude toward color.
During the years in which he did not show his works in exhibitions, Daniel Dinev never stopped painting and became deeply involved in graphic design. He persistently explored the possibilities of new techniques. After 1992 he began working for various publishing houses, creating book covers and illustrations. Later he founded his own advertising studio.
His art is imbued with the deep sensitivity of an author absorbed by creative searches that do not leave him even at night. Like the Surrealists, he transforms his dreams into paintings. This explains his interest in Salvador Dalí and also in prominent names in Bulgarian art such as Jules Pascin and Georges Papazoff. He is also interested in Picasso and in the Russian and Dutch schools. He regards them highly without simply following their influence.
In color, composition and plastic form, the artist’s works demonstrate a well-mastered technical skill that underlies his creative success. The size of a painting is not important to him: he works in both small and large formats, though he prefers more spacious ones.
Daniel Dinev creates both figurative and abstract compositions. They contain strong dynamics, a search for perfection of form, precise construction of volumes and individual elements, and a vivid emotional quality. He has a characteristic sense of composition and insists that his work be carefully considered and sustained in this respect. The titles of his paintings are particularly important to him and form part of the overall conception of each work. “The Blue Snare”, “Trinity”, “Family Walk”, “The Year of the Horse”, “The Cake…”, “Smile Through the Stained Glass”, “Changing Places”, “Courtship” and his other canvases reveal the artist’s effort and ambition to create art that affects and delights the viewer.
Daniel Dinev’s paintings appeal not only to Bulgarian audiences but also to collectors abroad. Years ago many of his watercolors went to Great Britain. A Dutch admirer and patron organized an exhibition of the artist in Amsterdam at the end of the last century. Dinev invests enormous intellectual energy in his works and therefore seeks to provoke viewers to think as well. He wants their response to be strong enough to make them return again and again to what he creates.
Dochka Kisyova-Gogova
Art historian, PhD in Art Studies
06.03.2014