Biography
Alzek Misheff was born in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria on October 8th, 1940. He graduated in Painting in 1966 at the Academy of Fine Arts of Sofia. In 1971, he escaped by foot from his native country to Italy.
In the book “Europa-America - The different avant-gardes” published by Franco Maria Ricci in 1976, Achille Bonito Oliva refers to him as one of the thirty most representative artists in Europe. In the 70s he performed live exhibitions in swimming pools, art galleries and theaters (Franco Parenti', Milano) and in public squares (in Pavia and Ferrara).
Among his most famous public events, 'Music from the Sky, a live concert in 1979 with four flying balloons - 6 meters diameter each - in Piazza del Duomo, Milan and at Mills College (San Francisco) and at Irvine University (Los Angeles). He gained fame for the project “Swimming across the Atlantic”. After twelve exhibitions between Milan and New York, the project is set in the swimming pool of the “Queen Elizabeth 2” in 1982, on the route from London to New York.
In 1984 he painted “500 young faces”, a series of portraits on paper with names, in five big Italian cities and in Grenoble in 1985. Each portrait is 2 x 2 meters, handmade and displayed on public billboards anticipating social networks.
At the Venice Biennale in 2000, he performed “Proliferating truth of Sentiment”: immersed within a cylindrical tank full of water, live playing with “Lightning II” (digital midi controller stick by Don Buchla) while directing “The Swimmers”. In May 2005 at Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea in Milan, he performed 'Concerto per violino Stradivari, pianoforte Disklavier e quartetto di violini telefonini' with Paganini Prize violinist Eugene Sarbu. At the Venice Biennale in 2007 along with the Italian flute Orchestra, he performed the Biennale closing concert at Spazio Thetis.
For the Council Hall in Acqui Terme, he paints in 2013 “Orchestra sinfonica II”, a 9 x 3 meters painting, and two years after 'La festa dell'uva' in Ponti (Alessandria). Since 2015 he has worked on four big paintings “Country concerts”, featuring New York, Moscow, Milan and Acqui Terme in the background.
In 2019, after fifty years, he returns to Bulgaria with the personal exhibition “The Newest Small Paintings Of The Swimmer” in “Swimming Pool”, downtown Sofia. On the occasion of the artist's 80th anniversary, in the period September 23 - November 21, 2021, the exhibition "Acqui - Milan - Sofia" was held. It filled all thirteen rooms in the National Art Gallery (the former royal palace) in Sofia, with 146 paintings.
Gallery
Alzek Misheff
Lindbergh - the Flight and the Swim, 2010.
Painting
Details
- Material: verdigris, tempera, canvas
- Width: 210.00 cm Height: 150.00 cm Depth: cm
Alzek Misheff
Country Concert, 2017.
Painting
Details
- Material: tempera, canvas
- Width: 300.00 cm Height: 300.00 cm Depth: cm
Alzek Misheff
Escape from New York, 2021.
Painting
Details
- Material: tempera, canvas
- Width: 200.00 cm Height: 200.00 cm Depth: cm
Alzek Misheff
The Swimming Pool, 28 June, 1997, 1997.
Performance
Details
- Property of: Dov’e la tigre Gallery, Milan
