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16/9/2009

Fani Zguro

Taller Siete, Medellin

Taller Siete presents in 17 september 2009 “Pushing An Elephant Upwards“, the solo exhibition of albanian artist Fani Zguro. This exhibition consists in these works:

“Mr. Dosti” is a short stories originate in different contexts, such as newspaper columns, reviews, visual arts projects, poetry, and the like; all of them are the author’s exclusive work. This book was born through the composition and reworking of those materials; its flow doesn’t follow a defined narrative outline, with a neatly traced plot, characters, development and ending. For the solo exhibition “Pushing An Elephant Upwards” will be presented a selected text from “Mr .Dosti”, translated in spanish.

In “Selfportrait” the artist seems to be following the late Rembrandt’s track, when the lack of models left him working by himself. The room where it was shot is incredibly dark, and the same lone tiny red light allow the camera to capture the artist’s still nose, forehead and hair. The screen displays nothing but the portrait of the artist lost in the darkness suffused in red. The picture is still, with almost nothing happening. The sound is cut out of the footage. “Selfportrait” seems to be a single frame, albeit being a video-loop lasting several minutes. The strong sense of intimacy it shows is not meant to represent man’s dark side, its solitude or its sense of guilt, but the sublime moments of intimacy and reflection, the silent form of being.

“Pushing an Elephant Upwards” was shot during a night car trip. For the whole film the camera tries to catch the crossing automobiles, in the end focusing nothing but their endlessly dancing flashlights. And what about the elephant? The elephant doesn’t really exist on film. The idea of its pushing – where the title comes from – is associated with all hard and tiresome task, bearing neither beginning not end. “Pushing an Elephant Upwards” is shot on a single rec. The cars constantly appearing can’t be focused, due to the camera’s auto setting, and hence the monitor displays nothing but whirling flashlights, up and down, left to right, the movement due both to their displacement and to the car trip. The film is to be the mirror of what we can’t know, possess or get hold of. As the car’s headlights are beyond the camera’s reach, so is this video’s purpose. Man can’t possibly get out of the cage he’s stuck in with an elephant to lift, even if the elephant doesn’t really exist.

“Broken Threads” is the manipulation of a ‘70s Albanian noir movie so as to transform it into its trailer, by collating footage and using as a soundtrack Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “The Curse of Millhaven”, from album Murder Ballads. This project aims at tackling the phenomenon of crime and revolution starting from the earliest jesuit conspirations, showing revolution is nothing but the infamous motto: my work starts when yours is done. For this reason the movie wasn’t digitalized through usual processes, but was instead filmed with a handicam for the whole of its duration, so as to respect the project’s concept. “Broken Threads” elaborates Cave’s track with Albanian noir movie “Fije qe Priten”, revolving around a bunch of Albanian agents – former nazi collaborators during WWII – operating against the socialist system, suddendly coming back to their homeland to sabotage and destroy some important objectives in the country’s secret industrial plans. The movie stresses the relationship between memory and actuality, old and new enemies, adding up in a noir spy story showing international plots and conspiration finally failing, as usual, in the best of ways.

Fani Zguro born 1977 in Tirana. After Accademia delle belle arti di Brera in Milan (1998/2002), he frequented 2003/04 the program artists in residence in Cite International des Arts in Paris, for working after like independent curator in The National Gallery of Arts in Tirana between 2004/06. From 2007 he is the project director of Tirana Art Center, when till now are presented the projects of Tomas Saraceno and Bert Theis. At the same year works for different projects with Isola Art Center, like the exhibition curated by him “Absolute Beginners,” with the participating of some international artists like Anri Sala. At the same year is the winner of The 15th International Onufri Prize. From 2008 he's making the master of biennio laurea specialistica in Accademia delle belle arti di Brera in Milan. This year he is part of the program artists in residence between Kultur Kontakt in Vienna, La Genèrale en Manufacture in Sèvres Paris and Taller Siete in Medellin. His works are presented in different places like Palazzo delle Papesse Siena, Tirana Biennale, OUT/Isola Art Center/Bert Theis/Biennal of Istanbul, Micro Museum New York, The National Center of Contemporary Art Moscow, The National Library of Buenos Aires, The National Gallery of Arts Tirana, The National Gallery of Arts Prishtina, Neon Campobase Bologna, Taller Siete Medellin, Galerie ArtPoint Vienna, La Genèrale en Manufacture Sèvres Paris, Biennale del Mediterraneo Taviano, Museo de Arte Moderna Medellin, Festival of Video Art in Casablanca, Pursuit of Happiness Glasgow, August Art Gallery London, Valenzuela & Klenner Gallery Bogotà, Promenade Gallery Vlora, Temporary Art Space Halifax etc.

Opening 17 september 2009 h 19

Taller Siete
Address: Carrera 41, 46 – 67, Medellín (Colombia)
free admission

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