Abstract Expressionist Inspiration

Even in abstract expressionism many painters organize their works of art around a center point of interest. It is believed that such approach engages the viewer more and creates more emotional and meaningful experience. Many artists extend this more by organizing objects into an easily recognisable geometric shape.

It is often hard to determine if an author truly intended the creation of a certain shape. Art critics love to see them everywhere but the truth is that many times L-shapes and triangles are unavoidable. If we look at a seascape picturing sheer cliffs we always see a 90-degree angle. The furthest part of the sea is always perfectly horizontal and when we combine it with the perpendicular line of the cliffs we get L-shape.

Abstract art is definitely more free in terms of geometric perfection but many painters still seek some structure and organization. Yordan Kondov prefers a non-focal point approach. It is no surprise Willem De Kooning is Kondov’s favorite painter.

When we talk about his non-figurative paintings the Dutch artist never organized his pieces around a determined place of interest. Such an approach creates a completely different experience for the viewer.  Our brains are programmed to constantly explore the surrounding environment.

We seek visual repeating patterns and events. Knowledge about things that happen often are more valuable. Kondov considers well planned and executed central focal points as a story that was told too quickly. We don’t appreciate such stories so much. When you know everything to be known the loss of interest is inevitable. A determined place of interest in a painting creates less interest in the end.

Expressionists like De Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Arshile Gorky most of the time did not organize their work around a focal point. This way their artworks looked more coherent and the viewer’s brain was free to discover repeating patterns. 

Yordan Kondov follows such philosophy in his paintings. There is no central place of interest or recognisable geometric shapes. The artwork is aiming for dynamic fluidity which could be considered as the real thing which is supposed to attract the viewer’s attention.  

Nowadays a lot of abstract paintings appear monochromatic. Limiting your color palette makes a work of art more easily look homogenous and harmonious. Often more loose brush strokes and richer palette create the impression of a painting that consists of few smaller paintings. Nevertheless Kondov considers the limited palette as lifeless and less engaging. De Kooning's approach to art is the closest thing to Yordan’s vision of abstract art.

The Dutch expressionist uses lots of colors, loose brushstrokes and no central focal point. He created homogenous painting using more elements and created harmony in a harder but more meaningful way. The Bulgarian painter strongly opposes the notion of less is more and he shows it in his paintings.

The direction he always follows could be described as organized chaos. Nevertheless the color wheel palette and the smaller fluctuations in values is what brings some order back and balances the extremely loose brushstrokes.

Another repeating pattern in Kondov’s art is the combination between hard and soft edges which he finds so appealing in De Koning’s paintings. We can say this abstract approach has a lot to do with how objects appear in real life.

It is impossible to go outside and observe hard edges only. The resolution of the human eye will never allow that. The further objects always appear more blurry and things that are close to the viewer possess harder edges.

This is the reason Kondov finds the constant fluctuation between hard and soft edges to be more eye and brain pleasing. Hard-edge paintings styles like geometric abstraction and color field paintings are too far away from what Yordan considers as close to his soul.