Jérôme Sans . Sislej Xhafa - Love You Without Knowing

Sislej Xhafa - Love You Without Knowing
National Gallery of Kosovo

Exhibitions Curator

GAK, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, Kosovo
05.07.18 — 25.08.18

Sislej Xhafa’s first exhibition in Kosovo, Love You Without Knowing, is a declaration of love from the artist to his homeland, to its fragility, strength, vitality and violence. It comprises about 15 works, spanning his itinerary from the 1990s through the present, which are flexible enough to lend themselves to the possibilities of a reenactment. The process of revivification of the works is a way for the artist to reconsider his native country not from the outside by importing objects and works already produced and finished, but on the contrary, to rethink the artistic experience from the inside by producing the works of the exhibition on site with local people.

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Born in 1970 in Peja, Sislej Xhafa has lived a nomadic existence since leaving Kosovo in the early 1990s that took him to London, Italy and then to New York where he lives and works. The condition of a tireless traveler allows Sislej Xhafa to be constantly in contact with the social, economic and aesthetic transformations of our globalized world. With a socio-political and conceptual practice that draws on multiple mediums from painting and drawing to sculpture and installation, Xhafa challenges cultural stereotypes, social norms and institutional structures. His installations are made of poor materials, but they are rich in meanings. During the creative process, fragments of reality emit complex codes of nostalgia and revolt, inculcated by a profound emotion of the artist who absorbs each phenomenon with an unusual sensitivity. The apparent simplicity and immediacy of his works often seems to hide polysemous interpretations.

His irreverent journey investigates social, economic and political realities to ultimately critique consumerism and its mechanisms. Forced illegality, the deconstruction of mythologies or the denial of the right to vote are at the earth of his political engagement which his always indirect and implied, while his works challenge the viewers to recognize the symptoms and cracks of contemporary society. His works also engage with the political debate of immigration, oscillating between an intimate connection with Kosovar culture and history and a strong propensity to discover the other. Step by step, he underlines the invisible and often unjust systems that structure our lives and encourages us to reflect, both in personal and collective terms, on the social, economic and political phenomena. In his body of works, the deviations towards the unexpected can put into question values already acquired and destabilize our certainties to raise our awareness to new forms of openness.

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Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Piazza della Signoria_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Piazza della Signoria, 1998. Lambda print, 100 x 70 cm. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018. © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, lost and found_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, lost and found, 2017. Wooden pallets, plastic, phone. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018 © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Barka_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Barka, 2011. Shoes, glue, 430 x 140 x 60 cm. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018 © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Again and again, Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Again and Again, 2000-2018. Performance in collaboration with the Ensemble of the City of Gjakova. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018 © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Sunshade_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Sunshade, 2011. Umbrella, clothes, dimensions variable. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018 © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Woven soil_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Woven soil, 2018. Eight Kosova cows. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018 © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Woven soil 2_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Landscape L_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Landscape L, 2013. Stripped spring mattress, 260 x 300 x 15 cm. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018 © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Rocket Ship and Concetto in Exile_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Rocket Ship, 2011-2018. Wheelbarrow, red light strings, 50 x 135 x 57 cm. Concetto in Exile, 2018. PVC advertising truck boards on stretcher, 230 x 365 cm. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018. © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi

Jérôme Sans - Sislej Xhafa, Merely_Love you without knowing_National Gallery of Kosovo_2018

Sislej Xhafa, Merely, 2005 Plaster, 53 x 106 cm. Courtesy of GALLERIA CONTINUA San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. Sislej Xhafa, Love you without knowing, National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, 2018. © Photo: Enver Bylykbashi