“When you wake up in the morning the first thing you do is to wash your eyes. One needs the same strength for painting. Reaching at yourself - that is purity!” Those were the words of late artist Kolio Karamfilov, said for the author of a documentary, shot right before his passing away. Now his mysterious works of art which are thousands continue to thrill our imagination, as he used to leave his beautiful trace on any object around – rough wrapping paper, a small white napkin, the board of an old school desk and many others. The artist is still alive with his words: “No day off for the free spirit. I don’t like days with nothing done. I work for God, not for the state!”

Kolio Karamfilov was most excited by people’s faces – light and dark wrinkled images that can be seen in the exhibition, set by close friends of his. It has been named the right way – Lovingly.

“These are artifacts of his love and friendship – paintings created on the spot and gifted right away. One can see the different face of Kolio here. There are thousands of his works across Bulgaria and we ask all those who own things that have remained not presented with the current exhibition not to feel sad, because it won’t be the last one for sure. Being a collector myself, I know that Kolio used to be an extraordinary European artist,” says Mr. Petar Nedelchev who also owns some of the exhibition’s artifacts.

“The event has been named 'Lovingly', because Kolio gifted all those things to people as a sign of tenderness. One can feel his presence in the hall, as the whiff of a bird that is here, looking to get in touch with us,” says artist Stefan Bozhkov.

“The current exhibition is the love and smiles of Kolio. Even the poster I have created is representative for him as a person. One can see the deepest and most intimate world of the artist here – the smile of a friend, the fest, the glass, the spilling, the mixing, the throwing, the breaking, the tear and joy – everything is gathered here. He was a volcano who was never at peace; his world was a constant movement – a person, spreading love around. The man was an incredible artist who worked in all kinds of spheres. He sang well, using the guitar in a skillful manner. He knew poetry well. Kolio was also an incredible stage designer with a great spirit and that artistic touch… His art will never be forgotten, as each and every one of us carries a piece of him inside. I keep many gifts from him and he used to keep things that I had created for him. Those will be always displayed at exhibitions. I have his paintings at home and I am sure many other friends do as well. We do miss him, his energy and his big heart. The way I see it, the artists of my generation are placed too low in Bulgaria – most of our works are displayed abroad or can be found in private collections, but not in this country’s exhibition halls. A whole period is missing, regarding the past years. In time they will say nothing happened in Bulgaria over our period and this is not true,” artist Stefan Bojkov says in conclusion.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev