The two halls of the Cyclop Gallery turned out to be too small to accommodate all the people who came for the opening of Gredi Assa's exhibition on Monday. Friends and admirers of the work of the popular Bulgarian artist flocked to see the latest collages on display at 75 Krum Popov Street (near the Hemus Hotel) in Sofia.

The 56 collages, united under the name Stove Pipes, were created over a period of several months this summer. The artist spent the summer in the village of Lesidren in Stara Planina where he drew inspiration for the works.

"The title of the exhibit Stove Pipes came from the meaning of the word - a pipe is something you look through to see a particular part of the whole," Assa explained. With his collages he wanted to show the beautiful place in the mountain he loved. "I am a town person and it was a great experience for me to stay and work in that village," he confessed, adding that it was also up there that he replenished his energy.

Assa, who spent part of last year in New York City, said that even though the U.S. was one thing and Lesidren was another, the difference was really only in scale. "Things in America are global, and in Lesidren they are local."

The themes of the collages are taken from the everyday life of the village. Houses, doors, a donkey and clocks are only a small part of the images which the artist created out of wood, metal and plastics, and painted in bright and dark colours. "Neighbours" consists of a wooden board on which two door locks were put, each of them pointing in a different direction and painted in different colours. The artist's vision of "Seasons" is four rectangular pieces painted in red, green, black and brown and decorated with pieces of iron.

The working title of the exhibit was Summer in the Village but according to Assa the works reveal more in that they have their own deeper meanings and messages. "My `Donkey' is not only a donkey," the artist pointed out. "It means labour. The image of the turkey is connected with beauty, the cat - with cunning."

The collage named "Week" is made of seven rectangular wooden pieces arranged in a vertical line. Each piece is painted in different colours and conveys the artist's attitude towards a given day of the week. Monday is black with yellow and green spots. Tuesday is gray with a delicate feather in the middle. Colours gradually get brighter as you move through the week. Wednesday is dark green with elements of light green. Thursday is even brighter - yellow with a silhouette of fire in the middle. Friday comes as a surprise - its rectangle is painted in screaming red. On Saturday, colours get darker again and Sunday is just a black rectangle.

"Sunday is black because the next day is Monday and the start of the new working week," Assa said. "Friday, however, is bright red because it is the magic day when the weekend comes."

Assa said that with his collages he wanted to deliver an important message that "àfter all, life is beautiful in one small place on Earth and we should not give up and should have less fear of what is around us because, after all, human life is the most precious thing."

The collages will be on view at the Cyclop Gallery until October 15.