FAB Gallery presented A woman passed by, an exhibition by artist Gazmend Leka, curated by Ermir Hoxha. This exhibition consisted of 15 paintings and 13 drawings which were displayed from October 22 to November 12, 2021.
A woman passed by consisted of interior images reflected in large-sized paintings without detaching from the classic format of the artist. In his creativity he has been almost always alone, there, in his studio, “talking” to the snake, the forbidden fruit, the eclipses and geometric objects. This time, in that same environment, the image of a woman appears in his paintings through brushstrokes and paint.
The exhibited paintings are divided into two interiors according to the curator: Her Room and his Room.
Her room
Most of the paintings hanging on the walls of the gallery show the image of a woman wandering around in the space of an interior. There, surrounded by her belongings, sometimes she appears sitting in armchairs, sometimes lying on the bed and somewhere further haunted in search of many things. Her figure is illuminated by natural light and sometimes by a lamp that becomes part of the composition. In another version she stands next to a naked male figure in the middle of an ordinary room, surrounded by a bottle of wine, a laptop, the fruits of “sin”.
His room
In three of the paintings exhibited in the central hall of the gallery, the image of the woman this time is found in the artist’s studio. In two of them she appears at the edges of the frame, backlit at the entrance to the room, and in the other painting she is sitting thoughtfully in the middle of it. The artist becomes part of these compositions as well, standing apart from her in front of the canvas, focused on his creation. The artist then leaves the studio to make room for the model, as she jumps on the rope in an empty space.
The Missing red
The artist’s paintings in this cycle are covered by browns, ocher and dark grays, moving away from the classic red that is considered the color of passion, danger, eros. It is also noted that in its creation he has focused on large, massive patterns, bringing them by treating them in a real way, just like primitive venuses.
Gazmend Leka was born on October 11th, 1953 in Tirana. He is an artist with long experience as a painter, graphic artist, illustrator, animated film director and painter and museum hall designer. In 1978 he completed his studies at the Academy of Arts and a year later began working as a collaborator on the design and realization of the interior of the museum “Gjergj Kastrioti – Skanderbeg” in Kruja, which he completed in 1982. For a period of 10 years (1981-1991) he becomes the artistic director of cartoon films at the “New Albania” (“Shqiperia e Re”) film studio working as their director. In 1991 he started working as a professor at the Academy of Arts, today the University of Arts (Professor of “Painting” and “Theory of Color”). Gazmend Leka has participated in 170 group exhibitions and has opened 20 solo exhibitions. The National Gallery of Art preserves 37 of his paintings and graphics. Over 400 other works have been distributed in private collections in: Albania, America, France, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada and Japan.
