It’s not time for romance

“It’s no time for Romance” is a thought that pops into my head sometimes. It comes when I’m feeling romantic, but I am on public transport, or when I want to paint kissing people, and it’s war and art deals with science and serious subjects. Alas, the “fit in” complex, carefully nurtured over the years, often makes me hold back on romantic manifestations to avoid becoming another escapist. However, this time is different .

Babe, it is not time for romance! Acrylic on canvas, 130 x 100 cm.

Back to France, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 100 cm.

The works are related to romantic moments of the summer of 2022. It is important to emphasize that my attitude toward the romantic cliché is positive and is directly related to the beauty category in art.

For contemporary art, beauty, especially romance, as a direction of creative approach, can be risky territory, often pointed out as banal. There are a lot of “serious” themes. Romance can easily be seen as an excess, or a pretension, without this being sought as an effect. In such a situation, the works are seen as naive. On the other hand, if romance is deliberately presented with the decorative language of the kitsch aesthetic, there is a risk that the creator’s attitude to romance will be wrong understood, as if he lightens the meaning and, using the cover of self-irony. It is also an option for the artist to make a projection by exploring the romance in someone else’s life to remain seemingly distanced from it. That is the price the artist must pay to fulfill his need for romance in the creative act with impunity.

I take this risk and find that these scenarios can easily be played out concerning my work because “This is not the time for romance.” If the viewer allows himself, in public, to take romance seriously, it would mean that he does not see and belittle the consequences of the war out there, global warming, violence against women, hunger, and several other serious topics.

Installation view from the exhibition of finalists for BAZA AWARD in Sofia City Art Gallery 2022

With my work, I would like to give up on self-denial, in which romance and war cannot coexist. It’s both here as a part of reality. There is hidden aggression in these sweetish canvases, and we willingly inflict it on ourselves. It consists of the ego’s intention for us to love and belong. This aggression is elusive, just as romance is elusive on the battlefield. Does it exist or not?

I allow it to all who seek permission for romance, and I hope someone will allow it to me when I lack the courage to express it.

Tickle tickle, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 100 cm., 2022