Freedom Within and Without: Ivan Kirkov and Alzek Misheff
Ivan Kirkov and Alzek Misheff: two artists and friends connected by the subject of freedom, which they both define as one of the most important values in human life. The one – Ivan Kirkov, who remains in Bulgaria to seek freedom within the closed world of socialism and the traumatic post-socialist transition; the other - Alzek Misheff, who left the country to seek freedom in the so-called Free world. The one within, the other without. But don't both of them, albeit by different paths, reach similar understandings of freedom? Is there actually a boundary between internal and social freedom, or is their separation a figment of our stereotypes? And what does freedom mean in the paintings of the two artists – beyond the political uses of the term?
The exhibition presents five manifestations of the subject of freedom in the paintings of Ivan Kirkov and Alzek Misheff.
The project is executed with the support of the Central Fund for Strategic Development of the Board of Trustees of NBU and is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Kirkov. With appreciation to Alzek Misheff, Dimitar Indjov, Hristo Chukurliev, Ivan Bogdanov and Maria Averina, who provided paintings from their personal collections for the exhibition.