VALIO TCHENKOV

He describes his artistic approach as follows: “I take notes about events that have never happened, allowing myself to be influenced by insignificant motives. I start painting thinking I know where I am headed. But if I have no luck, I complete the job too quickly, and disappointment inevitably settles in. Then the real work begins. I start all over. If I am lucky, my painting emancipates itself from the initial intent and the figures are integrated into or assimilated by what has already happened in it. Bits of it mutate. Everything is beyond my control. I feel as if I am driving on a highway: I speed up, there are no rules… suddenly there is a sharp turn, but I go straight ahead anyway, speed up even more, and, lo and behold, I find myself in the ditch.”

German critic Annegret Erhard notes in an article on Munich-based artists (Weltkunst magazine, 2013) that Tchenkov handles coincidences very well. “He is also technically very skilled, which is crucial to the survival of painting in times when it has been declared dead.” She adds that he is mixes in substantial doses of skepticism and reflection, without making a claim to genius. “There are things that cannot be painted and things that must be painted,” says Tchenkov, “… there is no real point in painting anyway, so you might as well do what you must”.

SARIEV Contemporary has presented Valio Tchenkov’s work at Art Cologne, Art Brussels and Vienna Fair.

Text courtesy SARIEV Contemporary, Plovdiv.