Cris Contini Contemporary and Contemporary&Co present
AGRON HOTI
MANI MANI MANI
10-24 March 2023
Il Salotto di Milano - Corso Venezia, 7 - Milan
organised by Cris Contini Contemporary
24-30 March 2023
Contemporary&Co - Galleria Croce Bianca, 7 - Cortina d'Ampezzo BL
Organised by Contemporary&Co
Two cities, 30 works and a single common thread: the homage of the artist Agron Hoti to the great critic Philippe Daverio.
Cris Contini Contemporary brings back to Milan the Albanian painter who with his canvases had conquered the famous art critic, who in 2018 had dedicated an exhibition to him in his prestigious library.
Contemporary&Co. proposes in Cortina d'Ampezzo - immediately after Milan - other works belonging to the same project, simultaneously with Cortinametraggio, the first and most important short film festival in Italy scheduled from 21 to 26 March.
To unite the review, now in its 18th edition, and Hoti a special event in the gallery during which the personalities of the world of cinema and entertainment, guests of Cortinametraggio, will interact with the artist in a unique live performance of its kind.
‘The exhibition at Il Salotto in Milan is a return to Milan and a memory of the meeting with Philippe Daverio. - declares Agron Hoti - A meeting that still arouses emotion and commotion in me. I chose to keep the title of the 2018 exhibition, conceived by the critic himself, because I want to give continuity to an artistic project that he really liked. His passion prompted me to dedicate myself with even more enthusiasm to characters who have had an authoritative role in history.
Thanks to Contemporary&Co. I have the opportunity to bring my works to the splendid setting of Cortina d'Ampezzo, in a region that welcomed me in 2001'.
The artist elaborates a photographic image printed on aluminum by adding an abstract part in acrylic. This is how diptychs of well-known personalities from the world of cinema, literature, art, science and history are born.
The portraits, including that of Samuel Beckett and Winston Churchill, are enriched by colored details: the hand and a lateral band, which become the prevailing expression of the work. A contemporary Pantheon that celebrates women and men who have made a positive contribution to their activities with 'their hands'. The colored abstract sign, of the same color as the hand, is a symbol of freedom, of new life, an invitation to keep their memory alive in memory.
‘In parallel with the magmatic impulses of his instinctive jets of color and matter, Hoti places a series of portraits in order, of symbols of human memory. - declared Philippe Daverio - And from these symbols, which are nothing more than the photographic reproductions of the protagonists of collective life, he extracts a particular and specific element that becomes the real point of attention: the hand. Each portrait becomes psychological and it is the hand of the subject, placed as the only element of relief, that reveals the identity, the soul, the secret meaning from time to time. Thus the dialogues between abstraction and reality, between the cosmos and specific memory, form a theater where the characters narrate not only their individual personality but, far beyond that, the world to which they belonged. Is he therefore an abstract or figurative painter? The question is totally uninteresting because Agron Hoti places the subject in a very different dimension and he is in truth the director of a renewed edition of the Comedie Humaine.'
The Milan and Cortina exhibitions are an opportunity to offer a selection of unpublished and historical works. In Milan, attention is paid to personalities from the most important Italian cities who were born or achieved their successes in these cities. Carla Fracci, Gino Bramieri, Margherita Hack, Alberto Sordi and Totò are just some of the protagonists of the artist's new works. Philippe Daverio, a citizen of Milan, former Councilor for Culture of the Lombard city and admirer of the painter, and Gina Lollobrigida, who recently passed away, could not be missing. In Cortina the protagonist is the world of entertainment with its colors and many facets, with Audrey Hepburn flanked by Jackie Kennedy, queen of the international jet set.
MILAN
Agron Hoti Mani Mani Mani
09 - 24 March 2023 at Il Salotto di Milano
Vernissage 9 March 7.00-9.00PM by invitation only
Corso Venezia, 7 - 20121 Milan
CORTINA
Agron Hoti Mani Mani Mani
24 - 30 March 2023 at Contemporary&Co gallery
Vernissage 24 March at 5:00PM
Live performance at 5:30PM
Galleria Croce Bianca, 7 - 32043 Cortina d'Ampezzo BL
AGRON HOTI
Agron Hoti began his artistic career while studying at the classical high school. At the age of 14 he already participated in his first exhibition, receiving two awards (sculpture and oil on canvas). Despite having won the competition to enter the Tirana art school, he was then disqualified for political reasons due to the communist period that his native country was going through.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, like so many of his compatriots, Agron Hoti, in five days and amidst numerous difficulties, crossed the Greek border and arrived in Athens in January 1992. in the Hellenic capital, the artist opened his first studio and for ten years he worked on byzantine sculptures and icons.
In 2001 he crossed the Otranto canal with a clandestine motorboat and arrived in Italy, settling in Verona, where he can still boast an art studio and a gallery in one of the most beautiful areas of the city.
Over the years Agron Hoti has exhibited his works in Turin, Milan and Venice, also establishing himself internationally with a series of exhibitions in New York, Paris, Shanghai, Casablanca and Tel Aviv. He worked with Philippe Daverio in Milan before the art critic’s death and received the homage in his homeland from the national gallery in Tirana, as well as being the only foreign artist who exhibits a work in the German parliament.
There are three colossal installations that have confirmed Agron Hoti's success nationally and internationally: Eclissi (Verona, 2020), Exxtra (Rome, 2019) and Velocità (Dubai, 2021).
In 2019 the central court of the Foro Italico in Rome became a gigantic canvas for the first time thanks to the "EXXTRA" project on the occasion of the "Night of the Kings" match. Agron Hoti created a work of art of 800 square meters and, immediately after the game, the canvas was divided into individual paintings which were sold during a special VIP event organized by Christie's, and the proceeds were donated to charity.
In June 2020, in the splendid setting of the Verona arena, the 'Eclissi' artistic event took place. in this metaphorical lockdown represented precisely by the eclipse, cinema, painting and music were combined with a live performance by the Albanian artist who was the backdrop to Benny Benassi's djset. Agron Hoti spread a huge white square canvas on the sand of the arena, which was then covered in black to obtain a sphere in the centre that acted as a contrast, a clear reference to the eclipse. The artist then intervened with the energy of his gestures and the power of colour, creating an artistic work of a total size of about 400 square meters, from which about 140 individual pieces were subsequently obtained.
The latest effort is Velocità, a work that made its debut in March 2021 during Art Dubai, in collaboration with Skydive Dubai and XDubai. The gigantic skydiving-inspired work of around 14 pieces was on display inside The Lodge, a new lifestyle-focused café in the heart of Dubai and designed to be a home for art and collectibles lovers niche. Hoti himself tried the experience of skydiving and wanted to represent the adrenaline rush, the emotions and the perception of speed in the eyes of an artist in Velocità.
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