The exhibition “Prologue/Epilogue” by Kristo Krisiko, opened at the FAB gallery from 19th of December 2018 to 9th of January 2019 in Tirana, has been curated by Ardian Isufi and Sadik Spahija. The art work presented in this exhibition covers the decades before and after the 90s, thus, the restriction from the regime and the socialist art first and foremost and the migration to the neighbouring country, Greece. However, there is a common subject throughout his artistic activity and this is the human manifestation, highlighting the feminine graces, the greediness for her curves, the attraction and the strength at the same time.
Although the artist has tried to escape the “trap” of reflecting the “brand new socialist man” by focusing more on the human world rather than on the social movement, you can feel the lack of artistic freedom in comparison to the art work of the post-90s. Despite the change in the choice of “expressive language”, it is not difficult to feel the same sensitivity throughout both time creations. In the post-90s, the expressive form is indirectly understood, but at the same time the sensuality with which the female figure appears is much more sensitive and visible.
Another distinctive feature of his two-time creativity is stability and motion. His creations within the socialist realism are pure, with no obligatory symbols of that time, yet they mainly tend to meditate, while latter creations lean around the abstract and are generally transformations of continuity thus these creations sail into permanent motion.
The feminine figure is not only present in the disorderly space of the gallery, which resembles the artist’s atelier, but also in the corner named “The Alphabet of Love”, to continue with the huge objects in the interior of FAB gallery, as well as the external one of the University of Arts. The interactive harmony between the sexes occurs especially in the central part of the gallery through the predestined sculptural relief of the Bank of Albania (1988-1990), which contains youthful, lively figures on the move. (Project planned for the Bank of Albania, but not institutionalized, due to the change of political systems.)
* Kristo Krisiko was born in Libohova, Gjirokastra, in 1938. He is an Albanian sculptor and worked as a painter at the Porcelain Factory in Tirana (1958-68), before studying at the Department of Applied Arts at the Higher Institute of Arts of Tirana (1969-73). After graduating, he focused on pottery including sculpture thus expanding his creative field. His work is known for the remarkable styling of the figures as well as for the complexity of geometric patterns.
