DREN MALIQI
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
DREN MALIQI
Face to Face Dren Maliqi explores images displaying the tensions of a world triumphantly taken over by liberalism and individualism, but also a world still strongly influenced by the legacy of collectivist ideologies and institutions. He affirms the creative powers of the individual and his ego (in his work titled As he courageously portrays Christ, Mohammed, Albanian national hero Skenderbeu, etc, all bearing his own face!), while at the same time recording the oppressive conditions threatening the individual by eliminating and annihilating his freedom. Maliqi uses the experience of Pop Art as a starting point for his topics, respectively he uses the images of the individual’s diminution and pallor in a society characterized by mass consumption. In a subtle way, he de-taboos cult ideals and modern day symbols from his homeland. In his work titled Face to face he simulates an eclectic span of the postmodern mausoleum, by placing in front of each other the cult images of Elvis Presley - the way Andy Warhol had stylized him - and the image of Adem Jashari, the greatest hero and victim in the Kosova liberation war. By confronting these two „icons“, he seems to put in place a referential communication between two worlds on different levels of development, with difficulties in understanding each other. The essential gesture of heroes emphasized in this artwork is related to the weapons held on alert, as a paradoxically violent gesture that ensures the safety and the dignity of the individuals and societies constantly facing violent threats. As for the heroic liberator Adem Jashari, the irony here consists of the transformation from an outstanding and tragic figure into a serialized and ordinary icon for mass consumption, same as a show business star. Shkëlzen Maliqi |