by Adrian Paci, Italia 2000, 7'
| COURTESY: the artist, kaufmann repetto, Milan / New York, Peter Kilchmann, Zurich. | ||
The video reconstructs an interrogation actually endured by the Albanian artist in an Italian police station. Because of a misunderstanding, Paci risked losing his residence visa.
"One day I was called in the Police Station of Milan because of some photos that I made. On these photos my daughters were represented with a stamp on their back that is the stamp of exit that the Albanian police put on the passport when you leave. It was a work that I called "Exit". The video "Believe me, I am an artist" shows the dialogue I had with the policeman who suspected that I am a person who abuses with minors. I try to explain him that I am an artist and I use this word like a protection, but at the same time you can see all the fragility of an artist. The dramaticity of the story, the reflection of the status of artist today and a kind of auto-irony are mixed in this video." Adrian Paci
"One day I was called in the Police Station of Milan because of some photos that I made. On these photos my daughters were represented with a stamp on their back that is the stamp of exit that the Albanian police put on the passport when you leave. It was a work that I called "Exit". The video "Believe me, I am an artist" shows the dialogue I had with the policeman who suspected that I am a person who abuses with minors. I try to explain him that I am an artist and I use this word like a protection, but at the same time you can see all the fragility of an artist. The dramaticity of the story, the reflection of the status of artist today and a kind of auto-irony are mixed in this video." Adrian Paci
Adrian Paci
Born in Scutari in 1969, he lives and works in Milan. The first artist to represent Albania at the Venice Biennale in 1999, he won the Pino Pascali Prize in 2007, and a prize at the Rome Quadriennale in 2008. Paci has had solo exhibition in the most important international institutions, including: Museo Novecento in Florence (2017), Chiostri di Sant’Eustorgio in Milan (2017), MAXXI in Rome (2015), MAC Montréal (2014), Trondheim Kunstmuseum (2014), MAC Milan (2013), Jeu de Paume in Paris (2013). His works are in the collections of major international museums, including MoMA, the Guggenheim, the Pompidou Center, Kunsthaus Zurich, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, MAXXI. In 2015 he founded Art House in his hometown of Scutari where exhibitions, workshops, conversation and residences for artists, curators and intellectuals are held.