From February 20 to March 18, PROLET gallery presents PINK SANDS / NAMIBIA, an exhibition – painting by DESISLAVA MINCHEVA. opening: February 20, 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Here is what the author says about the exhibition:
PINK SANDS
If there are any coincidences in our life, then I went to Namibia just like that – by chance. Then, within 2 months, I left a second time. We traveled together with my son, but for brevity I will write in the first person, singular.
What I saw, experienced and experienced there was unexpected, despite the prior information. It was completely new to me and in fact it was love at first sight. Strong, impactful beauty and strangeness that make you rethink all previous notions and clichés. From the very beginning, I knew internally that I had to preserve in paintings (not only photographs) this feeling of the majesty of nature, and I hope that the exhibition in the SPRING gallery will be the beginning of a project with a continuation.
It is impossible to describe in words that anticipation of dawning in the Namib desert to encounter the absolute, unreal beauty of the pink sands – perfect in their natural geometry, with the sharp lights and dark blue shadows, it is difficult to express the amazement and the fullness of feeling before infinity and the perfection of the earth’s forms and the desire to hold the moment before the light changes the landscape literally in minutes… Climbing 300-meter huge dunes and rising to the top, the dark red sands to the absurd by the ocean, the archaic canyons and uninhabited mountains, the tribes you really touch – exotic to us and still completely authentic, the herds of seals and the lakes pink with flamingo colonies, the night sky with a bright Milky Way and countless stars in unknown configurations hanging over you as if in layers… The wild animals, walking through places that have existed since their creation and remained intact until now… All of this is something that makes us, even requires us to put ourselves in our rightful place – tiny specks of dust briefly inhabiting the big world. We could and should show him at least our admiration and love, at least that! In Namibia, you wish you could extend your given life and be able to see this immeasurable beauty again. But even if I am not destined to stand speechless again among the dunes, even if I no longer manage to be a spectator and participant in this spectacular spectacle, I know that my memories of this place will accompany me to the end. In Namibia, it is as if you are returning to where everything on Earth began. The experiences on those lands are somehow very deep, archetypal. Real! Beyond the unconditional beauty, in a special way you encounter Creation itself, unveiled and unstained by the dust of civilization. That’s why this place is so strong!
We saw dead seals on the shore, some dark sculptures, sinister but peaceful. The waves will take them in… The living were beside us and with us, making incredible joyful sounds that make you smile. One of them came to me and lay on my back…How can I forget that? The women and children of the Himba tribe, with their clothes and ornaments and with their orange, clay-smeared hair – radiating primalness, but also dignity… and their eyes – somehow golden, especially the babies, alive and hypnotic! The Herero tribe – another incredible world – so beautiful in their colorful, long dresses against the background of desert mountains that they looked like characters from a play created by unbridled fantasy. The canyons and rocks – powerfully folded, desolate, scary and enchanting at the same time… The sunsets – like nowhere else, turning everything into carmine, and the sunrises – an orange glow, growing into pure, vibrant light… It is absolutely impossible to paint all this! The artist (or at least it is so for me) is faced with an unequal battle with nature, doomed to lose it. But in spite of everything, you go to test your strength with her, somehow you can’t give up. You cannot and should not be literal in recreating it, but it is also difficult for you to transform it in your own way, because you will deprive it of its power and authenticity. A very, very difficult task!
I try to convey in my paintings my great admiration for the land of Namibia and the spirit of the place, its uncompromising beauty and power, but you have to breathe the air there, drink a great coffee at the last gas station before the desert, travel for long hours, covered in white dust, to some coveted place and only then to feel at least a little of this country. Only then…. And I will continue to fight with her and above all with myself!
Desislava Mincheva, 2024
#exhibition #Pink #Sands #Gallery #Spring
