An exhibition of contemporary Bulgarian and Romanian artists entitled Trans aqua is presently pleasing crowds at the Sofia City Gallery.

The exhibit is intriguing for two reasons. First, because of the interesting influence and proximity between modern Bulgarian and Romanian art in the second half of the 20th century - a process which matters for artists who are still living. And second, due to the curator's ambition to gather together the works of top-class painters.

"The title of the project finds its place in the future building of a bridge on the Danube river, which is the border between the two countries," said Bogdan Alexandrov, curator of the project.

He explained how happy he was that art works are considered to be the best option for overcoming separation.

In order to be topical, the exhibited painters were given the option of working with water-based techniques (acrylic, aquarelle, tempera, etc.). The exhibition is about to be shown in the town of Vidin (the home town of the organizer and painter Alexandrov) and in Bucharest.

But the main attractions, lending a wholesome and compact appeal to the exhibition, are the closeness of the authors and the quality of their work. They are strong formally and work in summarized, modernist idioms on the boundaries between the visionary, synthesized nature, the abstract essence of objects, and the interplay of signs.

Among the contributors is professor Ion Salishtianu, born in 1929 - one of the legends of Romanian painting who has won national and international prizes. He is also the honorary chairman of the Union of Romanian painters. Indeed, this is a virtuoso painter with a light and quick hand. No matter if he is recreating motifs from plants or religious symbols, his imagination has the capability of reproducing an endless stream of variations, and one sees in each work of art a formal consistency of dynamics, harmony and influence. The type of painter Salishtianu reminds one of is Dechko Ouzounov.

Suzana Fantanariu, born in 1947 in Timishoara, works in the field of black and white drawings, specializes in the art of painting and performance, and is the holder of prizes from France, Holland, China and the Arab world. At the exhibition in Sofia, she presents a world of her own making, oriented predominantly around the sign image, which incidentally, communicates well to the spectator. Her two-dimensional images, demonstrating mixed techniques, boldly transcend into three-dimensional objects and are usually dynamically oriented, both horizontally and vertically. The extremely active composition grips one's attention and the secrets in the detail make it worth investigating.

Yulian Vitalis Kojokaru-Bebe, born in 1939, works in the Banat area and is an objectifying painter, but his landscapes and figure compositions search predominantly the physical environment, which the painter is observing. This is obvious from the almost alchemical work of the painter.

Alexandrov himself presents extra-large format compositions demonstrating dynamic and summarized forms. His talent has graphic dimensions, but at the same time carries a controlled and measured strength. He is still not famous enough, but his development is pending.

Roumen Zhekov, born in 1960 in Plovdiv, became famous as a member of the avant-garde art group Rab (Edge). He is one of the most representative names of Bulgarian conceptual art painting in the 1990s. Zhekov is a minimalist painter, and his canvases, perfect in their painting mastery, are a real meditating port for the eyes. His new cycle is called Windows of Pain, and, through it, he shapes in a new moment in his creative career.

Finally, Tzvetan Timoteev, from Vidin, is a somewhat forgotten painter from the middle generation, but his semi-abstract compositions are in perfect harmony with the general tone of the exhibition.

The Sofia City Gallery can be found at 1 Gurko Street, and the exhibit runs until Sunday.