When Home is a foreign country

 

Alexander Moissi, Gazmend Freitag

MONIKA GRILL

In his growing collection of portraits featuring prominent Albanian figures—which include, among others, Mother Teresa—the Linz-based artist Gazmend Freitag has reserved a place of honor for the actor Alexander Moissi. As an Albanian in exile, who fled the repressive measures of the Serbian regime in Kosovo in 1990, the painter—who defines himself as Austrian—still feels a deep connection to his lost homeland. And sees reflections of his own experience in those individuals whose life paths led them to foreign lands and ultimately brought them recognition and success.

Alexander Moissi (born 1879 in Trieste, Austria-Hungary; died March 22^nd 1935, in Vienna) was the son of an Italian mother and an Albanian businessman. Between 1910 and 1930 he was considered the most famous actor in the German-speaking world. Thanks to his extensive tours, he was also regarded as an international star.

Franz Kafka wrote in his diary: “Round cheeks, yet an angular face. Soft hair, stroked repeatedly with gentle movements of his hands. Although many melodies could be heard—with the voice steered like a light boat upon the water—the melody of the verses themselves was not truly audible. Some words were dissolved by the voice; they had been touched so delicately that they burst, losing all connection to the human voice…” (Prague, February 28^th 1912).

Though a century separates Alexander Moissi and Gazmend Freitag, they are united by a profound devotion to the life of an artist and by the fact that the linguistic patterns of their childhood never relinquished their hold. In Moissi’s case, it was his Italian accent—inherited from his mother—that shaped his speech and his singing; a source of delight for some, and of mockery for others.

After fleeing the Kosovo, Gazmend Freitag lived for a time in Germany and moved 2004 to Austria, where he successfully established himself in the city of Linz. To this day he speaks with the kind of halting German characteristic of the inner turmoil experienced by the Kosovo Diaspora. His visual language, too, is shaped by the homeland he left behind. His paintings express the rich, vibrant colors and sensual details of a childhood spent in an Eastern European village, followed by youth in a small regional town. His illustrations are informed by a centuries-old history of oppression and resistance.

Yet, along with this sense of estrangement, comes the opportunity to view the familiar with fresh eyes and to expand one’s artistic vocabulary. The visual language of this largely self-taught artist has evolved—moving from human portraits with strong impressionistic influences, through a phase of vibrant, lush color, toward a more restrained, modern aesthetic. This development is evident in Gazmend Freitag’s latest nature portraits, in which color and texture complement one another as equals and put the focus on a variety of trees and blossoms, which are rendered with enchanting lightness.