Petrinel Gochev: Paint or die

Petrinel Gochev is one of the nine authors who are presented at The national autumn exhibitions this year in Plovdiv, which are organized with the support of the Municipality of Plovdiv and are part of the Cultural Calendar of the city.

Petrinel Gochev's biography includes dozens of solo exhibitions. His works are known beyond the borders of our country.

And today he successfully combines his work as a director and as an artist. But what is the thing that perhaps prevails in his preferences, we will find out from him himself. Petrinel Gochev is our interlocutor in the program "The Flowers of Plovdiv" on Radio "Focus".

Tell me what you will present at the National Autumn Exhibitions in Plovdiv?

I will show several types of things from different cycles. One is some spiritual landscapes in a large format, which I showed in Sofia 2 years ago. The others are works that I worked on in the last two years mainly for an exhibition in Sofia, which will be on the 18th now, they are very colorful things again in relatively large formats and a ceramic sculpture that I worked on and a sea, this is.

What is the thing that predominates in your works, the thing that you emphasize, perhaps?

I will never give up the image, the creativity, let's call it, the figurative direction in the fine arts. It's a very conscious direction from when I was very, very young. For me, this is an inexhaustible source of occasions for work, of provocations. For me, this kind of work in the fine arts is extremely valuable. And so far I am faithful to this and I will hardly go from this direction.

I am looking at your works now, really quite provocative things seem to be?

I cannot define them as an impact on how the viewer encounters these things. I am specifically interested in them, for example I work a lot in biblical themes, biblical subjects, these classical subjects that have been fed by European art for centuries. They continue to seriously provoke me personally. The female figure is an endless inspiration for me.

I guess as an artist you don't really like to talk about yourself. But still, where does this passion for visual arts come from, I see that you later graduated from NATFIZ and are a director at the moment. Where does this love for fine art come from?

To be honest, I don't remember the beginning of it. For as long as I can remember, I always had a ball of plasticine and drawing paper in my hands, and that was it for me. Not that it's any dedication like that, but it's just been my day since I was a kid, since I was very young. I didn't play with toys, I made the things I wanted to play with from plasticine. And it just went on like that, I always knew I was going to be an artist, I never had any doubts about it.

Rather, my going to the theater was still some kind of enriching line, and it happened again on the way to that. But it is still not regular, because in the theater somehow the serious presence, the presence inside of the person, of the hero, of the drama of the person, I rather find it as a regularity. In addition, the theater gives me an extremely good opportunity to observe the person in a completely unusual situation, some kind of special imitative situation of real life. Imitative, we can say it in the most naive sense. It is very difficult to observe the person in real life because one does not like to be observed. If someone catches me staring at something I've been staring at, it won't feel very good. Whereas as a director this is literally my duty. Actors, for example, get very annoyed if they catch the director not following them or not following their work, because they need him as a mirror. As an artist, this is a great blessing for me.

And the fact that you like biblical stories and recreate them in your works, where does this passion come from?

Well, I really believe in that. I'm a Christian first, but other than that, to me they're such primal stories that have an awful lot of messages and there are stark, unshakable truths. And it is not by chance that they fueled so many masterpieces in European art, because somehow the artists treated them first with respect, second with such, how should I say, genuine curiosity. Literally, from an artistic point of view, it's like finding another way to solve a math problem, so to speak. For example, we take any subject, say the Crucifixion or the Pietà or the Flight into Egypt, etc. it's just a task for you, how will I now solve this plot, this case study, literally as a variant of solving a mathematical problem. And because the options are endless, no two people can make the same painting or sculpture, it is inexhaustible.

Is there anything modern, innovative in the technique you use?

I can't say, I avoid mixing techniques, firstly because the quality of the materials requires a different approach. And then there is a lot of material that contradicts itself already in the later life of the works. Some behave in one way over time, others in another way. Rather, it can be said that in the modern world it is very difficult to be neat and ascetic in technique. If you paint with oil paints, to paint with oil paints, if you paint with tempera paints, to paint with tempera paints, it's actually quite difficult. Mixing the different materials is more, I think, an attempt to help ourselves when we can't handle something that we know the greats once accomplished. And they have really achieved, are they perfect examples for us. And over time, it is difficult to preserve all this skill until now. So, I don't really like to mix things up.

And what do you think about art patronage?

Patronage in art is first of all something very valuable for every single author who has this chance. Second, I think it is a better option at the legal level to support the arts, not culture at all. Because they are hard to sell. We are actually, roughly speaking, we are engaged in an absolutely meaningless activity. The world will not suffer if we do not...

Nothing to lose, so to speak.

Nobody will understand anything, it won't even be understood. It could be, let's say, a discovery for the world if it suddenly turns out that we have made some kind of masterpiece. Then they will say to themselves “Well, here we have something of value," but if we don't do it, no one will know. So in that sense...

But, on the other hand, it also appears as spiritual food for some, who unfortunately are declining more and more.

Well, it's like that here, it's not like that at all in the world, which actually speaks in contrast to what is done outside and everywhere, it's state policy, for some reason here we have politicians who are impartial to art. It's just that the political filter is such, the filter that admits people to this level of public life is such that there remain such people who do not have such biases. Everywhere in the world - both in the West and in the East, and in the various third, second, and first worlds, we can find patrons who have serious interests in any form of patronage. Whether it's like performing arts, or cinema, or fine arts, or visual arts, the modern forms, it doesn't matter, they're there. It is some form of value, absolutely clear and definite.

Let's hope that one day it will happen here too, although things look a little desperate now!

I act somehow on the principle of draw or die and that's it.

But on the other hand, art is something that remains eternal and imperishable, right?

Well, yes, we must look at our work as a mission and where it is called, while we have half a slice of bread, to squeeze what is given to us from above, as potential and as talent. After all, one never knows what will happen from there.

Yes, and hopefully someone will still notice and appreciate it.

I can't complain, I say again, I have the chance to have serious support over the years. But I just see it in general, as such a clear phenomenon in our society that we don't have, against the backdrop of property people, we don't have biased, and I'm not even talking about business, I'm talking about the political class, and the management class as well. Because, for example, last year we went to Paris and I was extremely shocked by the fact that “Orsay" - one of the greatest museums in the world was made on the idea of Valery Giscard d’Stan - French president, you know that name. Some kind of old station that almost had to be demolished and he said: “No, here we will make such and such a museum" . And this is the museum that has been gathering the whole world in itself for 30-40 years. Well, we don't have such a thing here.

That's right. We will look with curiosity at the things you will present during the National Autumn Exhibitions in Plovdiv. And I was very pleased that we talked.

Me too. Thank you very much for your attention.