TIRANA, Oct. 27 – Compositions, nudes and landscapes as well artworks dedicated to Ismail Kadare, Albania’s internationally renowned writer, will be on display at the National Art Gallery in Tirana for one month in a personal exhibition by veteran U.S.-based Albanian painter Bashkim Ahmeti Izano.
National Art gallery director Artan Shabani and curator Ylli Drishti have selected more than 90 oil paintings, showcasing the artist’s creative journey in the past nine years. The first series of works has been inspired by Albanian themes, including compositions, nudes and landscapes from his hometown of Gjirokastra, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Albania, while the second series is dedicated to Ismail Kadare, whose 80th birthday is being marked throughout Albania as the Kadare Year with a series of events.
“These new works come at a consolidated stage of the artist’s career, where through artistic maturity he realizes his works with perfect mastery and an explosive ornamental coloring,” says the curator.
A former professor at the Art Academy, Bashkim Ahmeti Izano, 67, has been living and working as a freelance artist in the U.S. since 1995.
