Adrian Paci

Perspectives 147: Adrian Paci is the first U.S. solo exhibition of the work of this Albanian artist and features video installations, drawings, and photographs that explore cultural traditions from the artist’s native country and their place in the culture of present-day Europe. Paci immigrated to Italy in 1997 following the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, and his work evokes the psychological tension inherent in the immigrant experience. The exhibition includes the premiere of the video PilgrIMAGE, which tells the story of the Virgin Mary of Shkodra, an icon that disappeared from Paci’s native village in the 15th century. It resurfaced in a church outside Rome shortly after its disappearance and has become known in Italy as Madonna del Buonconsiglio. Albanians, however, have long believed that the painting will miraculously return home to Shkodra. The exhibition also includes new monochromatic, multi-tonal watercolor drawings based on scenes from two films by writer and director Pier Paolo Pasolini, a significant influence on Paci’s work. In a style that reveals Pasolini’s realistic and expressive visual language, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew(1964) and Mamma Roma (1962) capture the universal yet ordinary physical features and gestures of people on the margins of common heroic narratives.

Perspectives 147: Adrian Paci is organized by Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Curator Paola Morsiani and will be accompanied by a Perspectives-format catalogue with an essay by Morsiani, reproductions of exhibited work, and documentation on the artist’s career.

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Adrian Paci
Perspectives 147
In the Nina and Michael Zilkha Gallery