Five former students in Prof. Andrey Daniel's class gather on his birthday to continue a conversation they once started in the 51st studio of the National Academy of Arts.

"Thoughts in Material" is the title of the exhibition at the Sofia Press gallery-bookstore, in which Galya Georgieva, Desislava Kostadinova, Ekaterina Radenkova, Eleonora Drumeva and Minko Yovchev illustrate one of the first instructions they received in Prof. Andrey Daniel's studio: "How the artist manages to materialize the idea through the complex relationship between the mind and the hand, which are forced to work together and at the same time be slightly independent of each other." The advice with which the young artists were once greeted is recalled by Marko Daniel, art historian, curator of the exhibition and son of the professor.

Having graduated about 15 years ago and skilfully built their own artistic path, the five artists put the meetings at the center of the exhibition – not only in art, but also art as an occasion for meetings in real life.

"The place provoking a desire for a meeting may be any one,” their teacher Andrey Daniel once said in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio. “Perhaps, the more important thing is that the person who is going to a meeting is ready, because usually these meetings represent an internal state – how one has prepared to talk, to enter into a dialogue, or actually, these are meetings with oneself. Most of all, I want to create an opportunity for meetings, which means continuing to paint – when the painting happens, it turns out to be a possible place for a meeting."

These words were spoken by Prof. Andrey Daniel shortly before he left this world. Born in 1952 in Ruse, the artist grew up in the family of the great theater director Leon Daniel.

Known primarily for his painting, he also worked as a muralist, graphic artist, set designer and book designer. A few years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, together with artists Gredi Assa, Bozhidar Boyadzhiev, Vihroni Popnedelev, Nedko Solakov, Svilen Blazhev and with art historian Filip Zidarov, he created the avant-garde art group "The City". The problems that Andrey Daniel focused on in his work are his discoveries that were born in travels, his clash with different artists in different eras and his attempt to communicate with them, the element of theatricality in the paintings. The artist left this world in 2020.

"The exhibition is a tribute to him, a memory of some of the conversations held, an attempt by the participants to show the lessons learned, to find solutions to the problems that excite them with great respect and love for his personality,” art historian Marko Daniel says. “Working with students was perhaps one of the most important things for Prof. Andrey Daniel"

Prof. Andrey Daniel admitted that being a teacher is a risky business, especially since the relationship with the student hides an inexplicable mystique. "Reality can always refute the supposedly time-tested statement that serious painting necessarily implies canvas, oil paints, brushes and seriously thought-out plots," he said.

In her painting "The Illusionist Artist" Ekaterina Radenkova makes a portrait of Prof. Andrey Daniel, who to some extent also turns out to be a fictional character. With a slight smile and a cigar in his hand, he poses with his invariable red glasses in front of his island, which he personally created from various objects in one of his canvases.

"Where the weather is always good" – "Andrey Daniel is present as a sunny image, as he always brought positivity to our days. He taught us an incredible number of things, but most of all to remain positive to the end and to move on. This is what we are doing right now with the exhibition", Galya Goranova says.

The main theme in the painting "Until New Meetings" by Desislava Kostadinova is the studio and art, life and eternity.

The artists resurrect memories and lessons learned from the studio and, closing their eyes, they will always imagine what Professor Andrey Daniel would say, leaning over their new painting.

"The lessons are countless and I cannot say which one is the most valuable, but perhaps it is to think in material because when we paint, more ideas come to us" Ekaterina Radenkova says.

"Andrey taught me tolerance,” Galya Goranova recalls. “Of course, in the studio we also learned many painting techniques, that the plot is extremely important in a painting. Of course, the material is perhaps the first lesson - it has its own grammar and we must think about how to behave, so that we both follow its rules and express our idea."

"He was very charismatic, very humane,” Desislava Kostadinova says. “I can compare communicating with him to the thrill of falling in love, of wanting to talk to him more."

Gathering after so many years on the occasion of their professor's birthday, five of his students send a universal message - to be united and move forward together. In the space where Prof. Andrey Daniel is metaphorically present through the paintings, it is as if the conversation in the 51st studio has not stopped. "Probably warm, with the aroma of a cigar, with a bottle of whiskey on the table, he is energetic, waving, everyone has their ears pricked up and their breath held, but with great curiosity, listening, paying attention," Marko Daniel adds the final touch to the image that has emerged.

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photos: Diana Tsankova, Ani Petrova -BNR