American Pieces
A photo exhibition by Georgi Neykov
Georgi Neykov’s exhibition ‘American pieces” presents a series
of photographs made over the last 15 years in the US, where
he lived from 1989 till 2003. In his work the author looks
closely into the American pieces and lends new meaning to
images emblematic of American culture like the Hollywood sign,
the coast landscapes in California, the Manhattan skyline
and images coming out from Warner Brothers’ archives.
Georgi Neykov was born in Sofia in 1954. Has made over twenty
individual exhibitions in world acclaimed galleries worldwide.
His works belong to the collections of museums and private
connoisseurs in the US, Mexico, Germany, France and Japan.
For two years now he has been employed by the Peace Corps
in Bulgaria.
Don't expect Mr. Neykov to tell you the story himself - in
fact he may deny it - but the cops from the Hollywood Division
will probably still remember the case. The local police department
knew that there were some unstable hikers who, usually at
night, would look for the path to the famous metal Hollywood
sign structure on the top of the hill. Young actress Peg Entwistle
who flew off
the letter "H" to her death in 1930s started the
fashion of jumping off of the sign. Antiglobalists and Green
Peace activists who try to get around the sophisticated alarm
system in order to rewrite the sign will naturally avoid daytime
activity. Actually climbing up to landmark #111 is forbidden,
not to mention very dangerous. It is most likely that in this
situation a photographer who is on a mission and without any
disguise will fail miserably, especially during the day. That
particular part of Griffith Park looks pretty much like a
desert with rolling hills that deceivingly appear to be in
your reach, but are covered with marks reminding you of more
then a few unsuccessful adventures. This is a historical peak;
Mount Lee is the highest symbolic point at the end of Beachwood
Canyon, where the blasting summer sun shines on the logo of
the golden California industry. I believe Mr. Neykov had to
leave his car on the corner of Franklin Ave. and Beachwood
Dr., and leaving your car in the desert is as potentially
bad as not having any water there. Still, sometimes you have
to make hard choices, and carrying photo equipment uphill
to the 45 feet tall letters seemed more important then carrying
water.
George Neykov's appetite for vintage prints and places has
taken him to the archives of Warner Bros. Studio, the decks
of the anchored-for-life Queen Mary in Long Beach,
the beaches of Malibu, where the ocean washes off the base
structures of the most expensive real estate on the Pacific,
and made the police helicopters circling over him shout on
their loudspeakers the spontaneous and existential question:
"Sir! You with the camera! What are you looking for?"
Obviously the photographic search for America has become
a passion for him. The US National Baseball League is bothered
by the fact that some Neykov, George has been using the carefully
guarded eight-lens sequence camera, patented (in 1950s) for
the sole purpose of registering the movements of the batters
and pitchers at their windup position, for a purpose that
it wasn't designed for: photographing the American landscape.
Neykov, George can be spotted sometimes in another famous
location, a place where nostalgic travelers pull off at the
end of Sepulveda Blvd. There, he photographs the silver-white
bellies of the airplanes landing and taking off from the busiest
airport in the world, crossing over the curved lines of El
Segundo beaches. Landing or taking off though, it's hard not
to think about those three airplanes on 9/11 - specifically
the one that was destined for LAX - when you look at his "18
Disappearings" panel. In this piece, it looks like Mr.
Neykov offers a happy ending; nine people re-appeared in classic
Hollywood movie sets. Again, if you wish to follow continuous
shots of NYC panoramas, you'll find in these photographs everything
that you can't tell or show, but just simply feel about it.
It's clear though, you've got to be so obsessed with observation
of that strange place called America, that even your way of
seeing becomes truly American.
George Tenev (t.a.g.)
October 14 – November 2, every day between 3.00 p.m. and
7.00 p.m. except Sunday and Monday
Exhibition opening October 13, (Thursday), 6.00 p.m.
The Red House Centre for Culture and Debate, Nameless hall
and Gulliver hall
Free entrance
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