Robert Dandarov. Paintings and Drawings

Viewing Robert Dandarov’s works is akin to standing at the edge of an apocalyptic nightmare. Wavering between the primordial and the rational as well as the sacred and the secular, his works communicate through the symbolic language of myths. But here, he denounces traditional portrayals of such mythical narratives. His surreal imagery incorporates both the familiar and the fantastical by appropriating phantasmagoric forms, mythological figures and religious iconography in unusual, enigmatic contexts that push the limits of the sublime.

Dandarov’s paintings portray a tumultuous world where orthodoxy and paganism exist side-by-side and challenge the truths of the other. He does not critique the tenets of any particular faith, but rather invites the viewer to recognize the destructive potential inherent in all of them. Confined within the work are precariously violent worlds that have become forcefully untethered and devoid of moral guidelines upon which to measure one’s humanity. Delineations between good and evil are distorted and obscured and even religious icons evoke a sense of cataclysmic foreboding.

While his works convey conflict, struggle and dark whimsy, they also reflect Dandarov’s passionate belief in the significance of human experience, which is paramount in connecting the past and the present. He also reveals an understanding of the primal forces that propel us throughout our lives. Ultimately, Dandarov’s stark and darkly poetic vision can be translated into a metaphor for the transformation and evolution of human society, which is never an idyllic one.

Robert Dandarov
Paintings and Drawings
Kurator: Willy Van den Bussche