Vladimir Berberov belongs to the new generation of Bulgarian visual artists. He presents us with a very wide gamut of paintings, with qualities of expressivity as well as versatility and virtuosity in his drawing techniques. The combination of expressive ability and drawing facility places him in the category of painters who are open to modern visual-arts movements, but who also do not disregard the basic and timeless principles of visual-arts creation (design, linear and atmospheric perspective, harmonious conjoining of color contrasts).

His purely pictorial creations (ink drawings, water colors, crayon-pastels, etc.) are distinguished for their solidly grounded expressionistic synthesis of feeling which are dominant in his representational presentation of sites in both the traditional-provincial and in the cosmopolitan developed countries (water color paintings of the harbor of Sozopol, ink drawings of Bulgarian neighborhoods, but also urban high-rise buildings in the neo-baroque architectural style in his "Downtown 1, San Francisco"). The dominant impression, namely that this painter who uses with ease, virtuosity, but also passion all the tones of black and white but who is simultaneously a remarkable colorist, is totally confirmed if one places vis-a-vis one another and in juxtaposition the inks having the theme of the lighthouse and the harbor of Sozopol with the acrylic-on-pasteboard "San Francisco Downtown 2" and "Sunset." Both in the themes from Bulgaria and those from the new World, Vladimir Berberov succeeds in painting the depicted sites while consolidating in this way the basic expressionistic perceptions according to which there is nothing in the tangible, in the visible world that does not radiate not only electromagnetic light but its own psychic energies as well. In his more advanced pictorial or non-representational (abstract) compositions, Berberov successfully dares to provoke interest and literally a sympathetic attraction by using "unorthodox colors in ... orthodox designs" (female nudes, murals of psychedelic compositions). Dark blue and purple tones mixed with bright orange and pale colors in the solidly grounded sitting figure of a female. What we have here are "subversive" chromatic conjunctions that attest to the search for a different tomorrow. In conclusion, we would say that Vladimir Berberov is conscientiously following a steady course, with creations that are favorably predisposed toward nationalistic approaches, but a course having roots in the timeless principles of the visual arts and also in persuasively bold openings toward innovative creations, by way of his audacious chromatic conjunctions.

Petros Maktis

Journalist - Peintre Membre de L' Association des Journalistes de la Presse Athenienne de la Confederation Internatione des Journalistes (Bruxelles) of the Visual Arts Chamber of Greece and the International Art Association (UNESCO)