Ognian Zekoff

Born in Bulgaria in 1964, Ognian Zekoff acquired his MFA at the National Art Academy in Sofia before moving to Montreal, Quebec, where he currently resides. Since his education, Zekoff has always concentrated his artistic aim at carrying on the strong tradition of European methods he learned, such as charcoal drawing, oil painting on canvas and his intense use of light and dark in his works. He stays true to these classic and universal painting techniques, never working from a photograph but only from live objects and models. He gives you every visual feature of the subject matter; every wrinkle, fold and line of the hands, every minute detail of a body, an apple or even a loaf of bread.

The hands are one of the most expressive parts of the human body. Zekoff has mastered the ability to capture what is the mood of his subject by simply portraying the hands. Their imaginative positions have an incredible emotive power and can conjure a range of states of mind such as anxiety, concern, protection and love. Life pulses from the fingertips of one figure and transfers its energy to the fingertips of another. There is a sense of innocence and longing in these lifelike representations of bare flesh. Zekoff's figures are typically depicted in a peaceful and vulnerable state, lying somewhere in the realm between dreaming and wakefulness.

The artist's high-realist technique adds such a tangible quality to the viewing experience that one can almost feel the surface texture of the subject. Zekoff creates a new reality through his images that generates a feeling of crossing the boundaries between space and time. The order and repetition of forms in his compositions reflects a harmonious equilibrium. The simplicity and purity of these stimulating images exude a soothing calm as they contradict the overwhelming influx of images that saturate and convolute our everyday lives in modern society.