Seemingly nervous young man Mikhail Tenev hides a whole universe inside, full of thoughts, feelings and art. Part of his inner world is demonstrated by the young artist with the Bez San /Sleepless/ exhibition, described by him like that: “Let me tell you a story on a place, covered with sand, dry bushes and dreams. Paths in this place are not on the ground, but in the skies and the sun rises from the West. Your body and soul will be tested there and you might even get lucky enough to take a glimpse at its treasures. Let me tell you about the place which will discover you if you refuse to dream and about the person, wandering there right now.” This mysterious place is the desert and you are the character. However, why did Mikhail pick up the desert as a main character of his works?

“The desert is really special for me. When I was in the USA some time ago it played a major role in a difficult time for me. It left a mark in my mind. I think the desert is rough enough, but also fair. It puts you to the test, but at the same time gifts with values, treasures and rises. It is also empty enough for everyone to be able to fill it in with his or her stories and thoughts. The man in the story is always watched from behind. I decided not to determine his personality, in order for everyone to be able to step into his shoes, finding him/herself,” young Tenev says.

The compilation of pictures looks like it has been manmade, with a brush and paints, but in fact visitors witness a new and modern type of art. Mikhail uses digital technologies and Photoshop for the creation of the landscapes, relying on chiaroscuro. It took a month and a half to the young artist to spend endless sleepless nights while creating the images. That was one of the reasons why he named it Sleepless. However, yet another reason occurs: “At one point you need to stop dreaming about a change and you should try to make the change yourself,” Tenev comments.

The exhibition aims at the revealing of the power of human spirit, meeting us with the challenges that everyone of us faces. Sometimes they might seem insurmountable, but the only option is to go through them.

“My goal with this exhibition, besides showing my path is more like to make people see their own in these images and with more luck to inspire them to get out of that bad position they are into. I find it much more important that simply someone saying: “I see the story of Mikhail in this picture.” The more important thing is to see yourself,” the young artist says.

Sleepless gets the applause of the people. It gives an opportunity to the visitors to interpret the pictures and the short stories behind, thinking over the “I” in its desert.

Another exhibition is a part of Mikhail’s future projects, this time with handmade pictures. He is to graduate the Cartoons specialty soon. Then a short animated movie will follow. The Sleepless exhibition might be viewed by September 15 at the A:part:mental café in Sofia.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev