Albanian cartoonist in solo Oxford exhibit

TIRANA, Jan. 31 – Albania’s renowned Italy-based cartoonist Agim Sulaj has opened a personal exhibition at the North Wall Gallery in Oxford UK.
“This is a rare opportunity for Oxford art-lovers to examine Agim’s unique blend of hyper-realism and political satire, as he does not often exhibit in the UK,” organizers say.
In his landscapes, the painter expresses his nostalgia for the beauty of nature as captured during his childhood, whilst his cartoons depict major social and political problems of the 21st century, such as world poverty, environmental pollution and immigration.
Agim Sulaj’s love of painting and art in general developed from an early age, inspired by the paths and narrow streets of the historic coastal city of Vlora, where he spent his childhood. In 1985, after completing his studies at the Academy of Arts in Tirana, Agim began collaborating with Hosteni, a satirical political magazine, which exposed the young artist to the world of humour and satire, which became an important element in the formation of his work. Around the same time, he developed a hyper-realistic style that is more dominant in his later work.
Agim Sulaj’s work has won prestigious awards around the globe and has been exhibited alongside well known artists, such as De Chirico, Balthus, Nerdrum, Sandorfi, and David Hockney. He currently lives in Rimini, Italy, with his wife and two children, and works as an artist, illustrator and cartoonist.
The exhibition at North Wall Gallery will be open from February 5 to March 1 2012.