An exhibition by acclaimed artist Lyuben Dimanov opened at Nirvana gallery in Sofia on 19 September and will be on until 19 October. The artist who lives in Paris called his exposition “Stillness and motion”. Why so?

“Life, if you take a close look at it can be expressed using these two words – stillness and motion. Speaking of my own self, I can say that my own career started out with stillness, with my desire to portray humans as strong and steadfast, ready to face life’s troubles with pride and dignity.”

Lyuben Dimanov admits he is ever an optimist and always looks on the bright side of things. He did “frescoes” at the National Art Academy in Sofia but as this is a sphere in which there is very little demand, he turned to graphic art, illustration and drawing. In the mid-1970s he was invited to London to illustrate Shakespeare’s sonnets and then received an invitation to work in Paris where he ultimately settled with his family. Lyuben Dimanov has illustrated and designed books of works by Ovid, Dante Alighieri, Apollinaire, Mallarme… He has worked on some bibliophile editions like Dante’s Divine Comedy, Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil. What does the artist put into his work when he is illustrating authors of such stature?

“Oh, I put in a great deal of love, that much is certain. I can’t say I have had any worries, it is more a sense of responsibility, but that too has a lot to do with love; love is the common denominator of everything.”

What are the themes Lyuben Dimanov enjoys working on most?

“My themes are universal – woman as a symbol of so many things, the source of life, tenderness, a mother’s love. I love to work on animals – the bull and the horse as a manifestation of power, of strength, of freedom. The sea horizon is something I love in graphic art as the boundary for many things. So, my work focuses on women, men, family, the eternal values. In this sense, I used to think that when it comes to stillness, these values are eternal. But I can see that, as things change so quickly nowadays, values change too, and, regretfully, some of the values that are fundamental.”

English version: Milena Daynova