TIRANA, Oct. 6 – In constant search reflecting the way the artist sees and interprets culture and the identity of human beings, Albanian contemporary artist Oltsen Gripshi has opened his first personal exhibition at the National Arts Gallery.
Works at the “Anthro – Phenomenology” exhibition, which come in a variety of techniques using the physical and substantial aspect of the medium, are introduced as a combination of oil paintings, installation and video art.
Through a semiotic approach in his paintings, the artist takes a look at the chiaroscuro of contemporary man, probing deep into his sensitivities, emotions, fears, anxieties, Eros, timidity, age or virginity as a phenomenon in the Albanian society. Gripshi’s approach is a genuine radiography of the human being, in a frontal relation with reality and its phenomenology.
As curator Andi Tepelena puts it, the theme of waiting, present in Gripshi’s work, creates a suspended situation between the geographical and intellectual boundary, and symbolically conveys the fragility between memory and oblivion, concept and imagination.
“Whenever we switch on the TV, we only watch about murders and crime and this is let’s say the emblem or the face of our society,” says Gripshi.
“These 34 works cover sensitive topics between the Albanian anthropology and phenomena that can be encountered everywhere. Intended to communicate with the public, this exhibition showcases topics from Albanian everyday life,” adds the artist.
In addition to symbolic means, Gripshi’s exhibition is complemented by the exploration of such issues that bear corrosive institutional criticism, recalling at the center of attention the contemporary artist’s concern about environment, the politics’ demagogy, and social and cultural developments in Albania.
Albania-born, Italy-based artist Oltsen Gripshi, 31, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, in Verona, Italy. His exhibition at the National Art Gallery will be open until October 20.
