Adrian Paci: Secondo Pasolini

Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Limmatstrsasse, Zurich

In the main space of the gallery will be installed a shack of about 2,5 x 5 x 3 meters made out of found wood. The inside of this hut recalls rather that of a chapel. The inside walls are painted white with around 40 paintings hanging (each gouache on wood – see four motifs on the invitation card). This installation is entitled Secondo Pasolini (After Pasolini). The artist’s interest in this installation derives from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s (1933 – 1975) movies Gospel according to St. Matthew (1964) and Mamma Roma (1962). Gospel according to St. Matthew was the first film on Jesus’ life in an realistic attempt. It was filmed in poor South Italy with peasent actors. This film was higly controversal. In Mamma Roma, Pasolini tells us the story of an elderly prostitute who wanted to move into a more decent neighbourhood with her son and lead a regular life. This realistic movie was full of allusions for Christian motifs, so at the end, when her son was tied up at his bed like a crucified Christ and died.

 

Adrian Paci’s interest lies in the painterly scenes of the movies which he freely translated into paintings but also in the social realistic way of filming. The life of Jesus Christ was shown in a profane way and in Mamma Roma were a lot allusions of religious scenes.

 

In the second space of the gallery will be on show a single screen projection of Adrian Paci’s Turn on, 2004. The performers in this short film might have been from a Pasolini movie. They confront us with the reality of an economically deprived place of today, in this case the city of Shkoder, the birth place of the artist. We see about one dozen of men turning on a light bulp, each with the help of a generator whilst it is getting night around them. These men are job less and the city of Shkoder suffers regularly under shortage of electricity.