Piktori

Piktori

25th TiDF: Greek Premiere

As part of a solo show at Claudio Poleschi Arte Contemporanea, the artist presented two brand new works, both entitled Piktori. In the huge space of the church, the Albanian artist remembers a person he met in his hometown – a painter that earns his living by painting portraits and landscapes, and also false documents, diplomas, and certificates. Paci shows a video where the painter turns his back to the video camera while telling his story and posing a few critical questions: How can a doctor with a fake degree claim to be a real doctor? Can you call an artist someone who sells his manual ability to others? And who decides what is art and what is not? Adrian Paci tries to identify himself with the painter by setting up his own shop and massing there his artworks. The same questions possibly come to mind: who will decide if this is art or not? Who will decide if he is for real or not? And how? An official certification of his death – manufactured in the original shop – will question nothing less than the artist's existence.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.


Direction: Adrian Paci
Producers: Adrian Paci
Format: HD
Color: B/W
Production Country: Albania
Production Year: 2002
Duration: 4'
Contact: Adrian Paci

Adrian Paci

Adrian Paci (b, 1969) in Shkoder, is an Albanian artist who currently lives and works in Milano. From 1987 to 1991 he attended the Akademia e Arteve in Tirana, Albania. He lectured in art history and aesthetics in Shkodër from 1995 until 1997, at which time he left his home country for Milan, escaping the violence of the armed uprising that roiled Albania that year. Paci’s position as an exile holds a central place in his oeuvre. His work frequently addresses themes of geographical separation, nostalgia, and memory, and conveys a keen sense of the mutability of life and art. Characterized by a fluid interplay between performance and body art, his videos frequently focus on quotidian existence and feature members of his own family. In 1999, Paci was among the first Albanian artists to represent their country at the Venice Biennale. His first major solo exhibition took place the following year at MoMA PS1 in New York. Since 2003 he has been a lecturer in visual arts at the Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti in Bergamo and the Università IUAV in Venice. He is the founder of ART HOUSE in Shkodra, Albania.

Filmography

1997 Albanian Stories (short)
2000 Believe me I am an artist (short)
2002 Piktori (short)
2002 Vajtojca (short)
2004 Turn on (short)
2006 Per Speculum (short)
2007 Centro di Permanenza temporanea (short)
2010 Electric Blue (short)
2011 The Encounter (short)
2013 The Column (short)
2015 The Guardians (short)
2015 Sue proprie mani (short)
2017 Rasha (short)
2017 Interregnum (short)
2017 Di queste luci si servirà la note (short)
2019 Broken Words (short)
2019 Prova (short)
2020 Vedo rosso (short)
2021 U’ncuontru (short)
2021 The Wanderers (short)