 Home to go, 2002 Adrian Paci Peter Kilchmann is pleased to announce first solo show of Adrian Paci in Switzerland. The artist was born in 1969 in Shkoder, Albania. In 1997 he immigrated to Italy, after having finished his studies at the Tirana Art Academy. Today he lives and works in Milan. Albania is most probably the least known of all the Eastern European countries. Under the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, the Albanians lived under complete isolation until the fall of the iron curtain. Strong censorship made it also in the art world impossible to experience and follow the contemporary art scenes. Artists were put into prison for their search of new expressions until the late Seventies. The strength of catching up with the international art world after the fall of the wall was enormous. By now, there is a small number of internationally established artists. The ones who choose to live outside of Albania base the theme of their artwork not only on geographical distances and rupture, but also the social, cultural and mental changes within Albania. Adrian Paci expresses himself within a variety of media including painting, photography, video and sculpture. On show at the Gallery Peter Kilchmann are the following new works: "Home to go", 2002, is a life size sculpture, copied of the artist's body and made out of resin. On his back, he carries an upside down roof, made with red tiles, as if it was a pair of wings; so it is no longer a roof for protection, for resting and staying, but it becomes an excellent metaphor for migration. His series, entitled "The Wedding", 2002 (acrylic on paper on canvas, each 50 x 40 cm) depicts moments of an Albanian wedding ceremony such as, the groom with friends, smiling and happy people, tables covered with food and bottles of wine, and men making music. In this series, Paci is interested in notions of personal and collective identities and in reconstructing them. There are bits of our personal stories and that is how the artist implies the (western) viewer's perception towards "the Other" through subconscious reflection. Another piece on show will be the video work "A Real Game", 2000. The viewer can see moments of the artist's daughter Jola (now eight years old) dealing with her family's past, mainly with their immigration and assimilation in a foreign culture. This video culminates in a big scale photograph (180 x 180 cm), entitled "My Princess", 2002 where you see Jola, dressed as a princess in an Italian Palazzo of the 17th century. Ausstellungsdauer: 25.1. - 8.3.2003 Oeffnungszeiten: Di-Fr 12 -18 Uhr, Sa 12 -16 Uhr Galerie Peter Kilchmann Limmatstrasse 270 CH-8005 Zürich Telefon +41 1 440 39 31 Fax +41 1 440 39 32 E-Mail info@kilchmanngalerie.com www.kilchmanngalerie.com |
 |