There has been increased interest in Tekla Alexieva’s art over the last years, as indicated by the numerous exhibitions of her work presenting various aspects of her art. This rekindled interest is due to the artist’s book cover illustrations for the Galaxy science fiction collection. The year 2024 marks the 80^th anniversary of Tekla Alexieva’s birth. The Sofia City Art Gallery is the only museum whose permanent collection features works by the artist. The latter were acquired in the 1980’s. These are the main factors that prompted the organization of a large-scale retrospective showcasing the artist’s diverse work created between the mid-1970’s and the present day.

The exhibition seeks to draw a map of the artist’s work, outlining the many directions it took in her easily recognizable signature style and visual language. Tekla Alexieva is one of the few artists whose work spans multiple visual arts and the requisite techniques, mediums and means of expression. Throughout her career, she has worked in the genres of painting, mural painting, book illustration and book design, printmaking, animation, stained glass painting, embroidery. Perhaps the most interesting question raised in researching Tekla Alexieva’s work is how have the impact and authoritativeness of her images affected the sensitivity of different generations, mostly 1980’s youth, but also the young people of today. That is why the exhibition team includes Nikola Andreev, who is a sculpture major at the National Academy of Arts assisting the project by representing the views of twenty-year-olds of today. His role is to share his thoughts on Tekla Alexieva’s work, as well as to appraise the exhibition’s curation from the vantage point of his generation.

The exhibition features more than 120 works. It is accompanied by a catalogue.