Famous Bulgarian artist Nikolay Panayotov, who has been living and working in France for 30 years, opened an exhibition of abstract paintings in the large town hall in the so-called Latin Quarter of the French capital.

"This hall brought difficulties as it is large and has architecture from the XVII-XIX centuries, with decorated ceilings - a complex space. It took me a long time to pick things up in order to create good harmony. There are over 50 works on two floors. One can see collage, there are layers of fabrics, textures, acrylic layers," Nikolay Panayotov has told BNR. He says that his work on the scenography for Wagner's cycle "The Ring of the Nibelung" at the Sofia Opera has also had influence on the works. “I started to like some wigs that I made for the costumes and then they emerged in my works. The mixing of fabrics, paints and resins produces elements that resemble the human body, but one can also assume that they are fields, trees, etc. Abstraction gives complete freedom.”

The idea for the exhibition came from a circle of collectors of abstract paintings by the artist. In his homeland he is mainly known for his surrealistic works.

"I also create abstract paintings; even when I was in Bulgaria and I was involved in murals, I created abstract mosaics in this style. The figurative line is not enough for me. This comes from some inner temperament.”

The feeling of unpredictability is one of the reasons for Nikolay Panayotov to turn to abstract painting.

"There are two emblematic mosaics that date back to 1999 and that I have kept for myself. There are also brand new works created a month ago that are more direct, free, somewhat marked by street art. There are even fluorescent paints, which are interesting to me and in Paris they are associated with the yellow vests.”

In his latest exhibition, the freedom, imagination and scale that are characteristic of the artist are invariably present:

"Even in my latest works, it's there, because that's how I feel - very unpredictable. Over the years, the surprise that the start and the finished work provides has become more and more interesting. Not to mention that it's never quite finished - sometimes I take things from ten years ago and see something that I can change.”

Nikolay Panayotov was born in 1956 in Sofia. He graduated in mural painting from the Academy of Arts in the Bulgarian capital and from 1983 to 1990 was lecturer in the same major. He then settled in Paris, where the French Ministry of Culture provided him with a studio. He has had a series of exhibitions in galleries in Paris, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the USA, and Bulgaria.

Interview: Svetlana Tarashoeva, BNR - "Hristo Botev"

Edited by Elena Karkalanova

English: Alexander Markov