“The full picture” project could be defined as a study of the ways through which visual perception overcomes the fragmentariness of image. This too general definition in fact refers to a series of ambiguous images created to lure the vision of an abstract plane between the fragment, active on its own and the whole picture. At the same time, they form a series of impossible and absurd situations.
“The full picture” is the name of the exhibition’s central work. This is a photographic installation consisting of nine parts, ordered as a unit, like a puzzle makes a whole picture. Every single module of this picture contains the endless triviality of a situation, easy to recognize and decode. These are three identical kinescopes in different
The concept in the photography named ‘One isolated moment’ has been constructed in a similar way. It depicts a girl in a ‘low start’ position. Contrary to all expectations, her whole pre-start impetus is directed towards a flat, white wall.
The video ‘Switch Over’ is also a part of ‘The full picture’. Its object is a building in the center of Vienna, predominantly remarkable with its untypical length of 1.5 km. – completely in the characteristic spirit of socialist megalomania. The video documents a performance in which one person runs the whole distance of Karl Marx Hof. For the time for which he reaches its opposite end, the night is changed by day.
The paradox comes from the common aim of all these optical illusions and provocations and it is the most objective re-discovery of truth. The very expression “the full picture” is like a model metaphor of “the whole truth”, which suggests exposure of the controversial reality.

Svetlana Kuyumdjieva

BORIS KOLEV LAYERS

23 November 2004 - 15 December 2004

The “Layers” exhibition presents the latest works of Boris Kolev, created especially for the area of Sofia City Art Gallery, in 2004. The artist possesses a specific method of work, combining and piling in layers a variety of materials: colored paper pulp, sawdust, charcoal, acrylic pigments and objects that were found. The impact of these creations is due to the work with colors, structure and texture of the painting surfaces. These creations are best perceived through intuition and senses.

On one hand, the exhibition’s title embodies the typical for the author technique, and on the other hand, it fits in the exhibition itself; the next ‘layer’ in his consistent creative development.

Boris Kolev was born in 1970, in Sofia. In 1989, he finished the National School of Arts in Sofia; in 1996 he graduated from the National Academy of Arts, major Painting. From 1991 to 2003, he organized numerous one-man shows in Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany and Turkey. In addition to that, he has participated in several general art exhibitions in Bulgaria, Austria, Belgium and Turkey. Some of his paintings are owned by Sofia City Art Gallery and the National Palace of Culture, private collections in Bulgaria, Germany, the USA, Belgium, Canada, France, Great Britain, Turkey, Greece and Spain.

BOIKO MITKOV THE SILVER RIVER

21 November 2004 - 15 December 2004

After absence of long years from Bulgarian art landscape, the sculptor Boyko Mitkov came back with the exhibition the Silver river. It will show the viewers his latest not shown works created in the last year. The exhibition was carried out on the occasion of the fifty-year anniversary of the artist.
The title “the Silver river” is a poetical interpretation. The author uses this metaphor to generalize and define the process of his creative development throughout the years. The exhibition is subordinate to an overall artistic idea and is created especially for the space of Sofia City Art Gallery. Nevertheless, each work exists independently and irrespective of the rest. The exposition includes litho prints, drawings, reliefs and spatial sculptural compositions.

ART IN THE NEW US EMBASSY IN BULGARIA U.S. Embassy Unveils Artwork of New U.S. Embassy Complex

16 November 2004 - 01 December 2004

The U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria will mount a major exhibit of American and Bulgarian art at the Sofia City Gallery, November 15 - December 1. These paintings, photographs and sculptures will decorate the offices and grounds of the new U.S. Embassy complex in Sofia, which is slated for completion later this year. This new Embassy building will not only house the offices and staff of the U.S. Embassy; it will also contain major works of art by American and Bulgarian artists. The exhibit at the City Gallery will offer to the Bulgarian public the unique opportunity to view these major works before they are moved to the new U.S. Embassy building.

Among the Bulgarian artists to be featured in this collection are; Svetlin Roussev, Ivo Hadjimishiev, Emil Christov, Emil Popov, Nadezhda Lyahova, Emil Mirchev, Penka Nikova, Pavel Koichev, Elena Panayatova, Ivan Tomanov, and the team of Missirkov/Bodganov. Featured American artists include Wolf Kahn, Jim Campbell, Richard Misrach, Francesca Pastine, Greg Rose and Antonio Murado, Stuart Allen, Robert Cottingham, Ken Fandell, Caio Fonseca and Pamela Harris.