Artist searches for the invisible

Three white rectangles float before the white wall. A halo of color surrounding each signals that this is not just some attempt at sound baffling.

Closer inspection reveals a question faintly inscribed in each white field.

This is Bulgarian-born artist Encho Avramov’s invitation to discuss the ideas represented in his one-man show, “The Most Essential Is Invisible,” at Smokebrush Gallery today through Nov. 25.

Avramov’s fans know him best for exquisitely formal Orthodox icons and whimsical folk scenes. But he plans something different for this show. “Now is not the time to paint pretty images,” he says, “Now is the time to have a conversation.”

And Avramov, who immigrated to this country in 1991, is not afraid to discuss in his work two subjects polite natives have been taught to avoid: religion and politics. Many pieces skewer hypocrisy in religion, the corrupting influence of money in politics, and the intersection of the two.

Other works are introspective, with a nod to Saint-Exupéry’s classic “The Little Prince” (Avramov brandishes the Bulgarian translation) and its lesson that what is most essential is invisible to the eye.

A visual artist expressing the invisible?

Avramov’s subtle use of colored sand and real gold does point to something otherworldly.

In a humorous “self-portrait,” a sea of arrows pointing down encounters one pointing up. “That’s me,” Avramov says.

He laughs at the suggestion that perhaps being the upward-facing arrow, the only one seeing things his way, might mean he’s arrogant.

“I am,” he says, explaining that an artist must be a little arrogant to perform his role: making society’s conscience visible.

“the most essential
is invisible”

When: Opening reception 5-8 p.m. today

Where: Smokebrush Gallery, 218 W. Colorado Ave.