I discovered Anastas Konstantinov's art in 2016 in Plovdiv. I was framing something at a frame shop on Danail Nikolaev street and I saw the adjacent painting there.
I thought the painting was very beautiful and unique.
I inquired about the artist and realized that he has a gallery in Plovdiv Old Town which I immediately decided to visit.
I called the gallery and made an appointment. Emilia his wife welcomed me.
I saw hair raising paintings and immediately decided to buy one for my collection...
I bought the adjacent Megaliths 2014. It brings back into memory the Archetypes that Carl Jung talks about... Later on that year, I was reading the Orthodox Philokalia and realized that the Archetypes concept was written about in this ancient compendium way before Jung's time. It is free to download as a PDF from the internet...
The Sacrifice of Abraham was one of the hair raising paintings that I saw at Anastas' gallery ...
It brought that powerful scene from the Bible back to life...
This is Reactive Ichthus which I later added to my personal collection.
The fish with hands is a trademark of Anastas. It represents the Ichthus the ancient Gnostic symbol of the Savior Christ. It participated in an exhibition in Galerie Schwab in Beaubourg, Paris which was procured by Christian Noorbergen.
This painting is called Big and Little Man...
Anastas had a tempestuous relationship with his son Konstantin Konstantinov...
This one is called The Pious Man.
The kind of man that is very hard to find these days...
Memories from the Beach 2011.
I think that was the year Anastas participated in Art Basel, Florida.
Todorov Den 1980 or Saint Theodor's Day 1980 - powerful painting. Probably with an anti-Communist subliminal message. I am not sure if it was one of his Red Pigs series.
Todorov Den is also known as "Horses' Easter" because of the horse races (kushii) commonly held on that day.
According to folk tradition, the newly married women would make a ritual Theodore's round loaf of bread decorated with a dough-modelled image of a horse's head.
Pieces of this bread used to be given out to neighbours or strangers by the women who would accompany the ritual with bouncing and neighing like mares.
The ancient roots of this folk festival lay in Thracian mythology.
The horse is a sun symbol, while the horseman is known in the Bulgarian lands through the cult of the Thracian.
Following my first purchase in 2016 I got to meet the artist and a friendship developed between us. Unfortunately Anastas passed away prematurely at 61 in June 2017 from a massive stroke.
Anastas was a larger than life person. He was honest, direct and outspoken. He was a free spirit and a great cook too. He loved to listen to Jazz.
He participated in many world wide Art events such as NY Frieze and Art Basel. Some of his paintings were painted in his US studio in Pennsylvania.
What makes his art unique is that it draws inspiration from Thracian and Christian metaphysics (i.e that which cannot be seen with the naked eye) and expresses itself in explosive colors and shapes on the canvas. His style is called Mystic Expressionism which in itself is a kind of renaissance in a European continent which seems to be drifting away from its Christian roots. Perhaps it is not coincidental that Bogomilism which originated in Bulgaria sowed the seeds of the Italian and French Renaissance. Perhaps it is not coincidental that Orpheus one of the greatest poets and musicians of ancient times originated from the Rhodope mountains which are an hour south of Plovdiv... These are lands steeped in esoteric knowledge... the kind of knowledge that is only transmitted from master to student, the kind of Knowledge that only Gnostics, the early Christians knew about...
We spent several nights together in the company of friends drinking good wine, listening to good music and cooking good food. The discussions are always philosophical and spiritual. I have also become acquainted with his son Konstantin Konstantinov who is a rising artist and have acquired some of his paintings too.
If you visit Plovdiv, don't miss out on visiting one of the greatest if not The Greatest Thracian sanctuary for modern art in Old Town. Just google Gallery Anastas.