Ivan Iliev
Ivan Iliev’s artistic production conjugates, in a fervent poetic synthesis, the scrupulous observation of reality, the noblest artistic tradition of the XVII and XVIII centuries, the chromatic component and its modifications, and the combination of shapes, in a symbolism which expresses a thought or an allegory.
Nature is observed and studied in all its fascination and expressive potential, and with masterful skills, its details are reported – embedded with metaphorical meanings, in a context where the chromatic dimension actively participates to the communicative strength of the whole structure.
His lyrical vision, with the undisputed and masterful ability and knowledge of the technique, results in an imaginary idea, and in an imaginative vision of reality. The artist renders a dream world with a strong evocative value, and gives to his canvases a mysterious, inscrutable, surreal and imaginative effect, protagonist of which is a fruitful, decadent and timeless Nature.
In these captivating compositions and intense and vivid chromatic brilliance of the whole, a poetic imaginary emerges. Rich in allegories and metaphors that invite the observer to a deep analysis, going beyond the traditional aesthetical standards of Beauty, and emphasizing the allusive power of the artistic creation.
The Bulgarian origins and the past as a professional graphic designer influence his expressive language, which is charged with an attentive study of the details, and is enriched with historical elements. The Still Life tradition, the glorious Renaissance and Baroque past and the Flemish painting are strongly present in the artist’s mind throughout his whole artistic path, and are given a new life with a desire for a subjective vision, and the need to retrieve his own perceptive sphere.
Iliev is fascinated by the expressive codes of Creation, overflowing with charm and mystery, and his fascination for the real, combined with the great interpretative sensitivity, gives life to harmonic prospects, able to express that underlying potentiality that the average eye can’t grasp in everyday life. Hence the artist activates an interpretative process, which results in new meanings of the objective element.
His are paintings that impose themselves for the technical ability, precise and rich in details, chromatic intensity and scrupulous study of the light, where each element is displayed with extraordinary pictorial skills, in a chromatic magic that calls for contemplation.
His works are not limited to a subtle suggestion to admire the shape, the whole aesthetic structure, or the mere emotional transportation. They invite the observer to go beyond the known and established, towards a new dimension, rich, suggestive, and evocative.
Dr. Monica Ferrarini
