Who says that the Cyrillic alphabet is worse than its Latin equivalent? It is true that the latter is more widely spread than the former but that cannot be a sign of value. According to a French artist currently exhibiting his works in Bulgaria, the Cyrillic alphabet is actually more artistic than its Western relation.

"The Cyrillic alphabet looks much more artistic than the Latin one," said Valero Damien when he was shown Cyrillic letters on Monday. "The Cyrillic letters resemble handwriting." An exhibition of the French artist's work opened on the same day at Sofia's Solers Gallery (6A, Golo Burdo Street). Damien has arranged 25 silkscreen prints and etchings in three different sizes, which will be on view until the end of the week. Some of them will stay longer at the gallery, said Milena Pavlova, director of Solers.

"All graphics are monotype; that is, these are the only prints of the works and therefore they are unique," explained Pavlova. She first encountered Damien in November 2000 at the Estampa international graphics exhibition in Madrid. She liked his work and decided to invite him to Bulgaria. "His work is very different to what we are used to seeing from Bulgarian graphic artists," said Pavlova.

The canvases draw the viewer into an abstract world of forms and colours accompanied by symbols dominated by images of letters.

Damien is a renowned professor of typography, etching and silkscreen printing at the Architectural Institute in Paris. The 36-year-old artist received a diploma in Visual Arts and Sciences from the Sorbonne in 1997. He has shown his works in many solo and joint exhibitions all around the world.

As well as etchings and silkscreen prints, Damien also makes paintings and drawings. In his paintings he always includes graphic elements in the form of collages. He has also made cartoons and illustrated books. There are letters present in most of his works.

"At some point during my studies I noticed that the forms of letters were very interesting," said Damien. "A simple line can explain everything. Even the writing of the letter A resembles a cow," he said with a smile and added that it was very difficult to understand a symbol because it was like a labyrinth. In his work he redesigns existing symbols and creates his own.

Like many contemporary artists, Damien also makes use of new technology in his work, particularly for enlarging images. "I prefer to draw with my own hand because that gives me much more pleasure," he said.

His works have been exhibited at the National Gallery of France this year and he did not hide the pride he feels about this. "It gives me a very pleasant feeling, so maybe I will continue with the same style," he said.

According to Pavlova, the French artist's presence in Bulgaria is very important. "It is now crucial for Bulgaria to open up to the art of Western Europe."