The wear and tear of life passes over the work of Jakup Ferri without consuming it. Space and time remain as lively as in a contemporary myth of the good savage in which man in his original context is released from the evils of society and progress. Gatherings, parties, games, and empathic friendships between imaginative and non-imaginative beings form the iconographies developed in canvases and tapestries by the native Kosovo artist. The images are by the peculiarity of the place, in tandem with the artist’s self-imposed isolation from the influence of the West, which he uses as an ideological and stylistic pivot. The canvas crafted for the Biennale that depicts a game of football, which remains simply a game and nothing else, is narrated through a naive feeling, characteristic of Ferri and of folklore. Thin black lines embroider the otherwise colored canvas, with dots and glazes giving a decò touch to the rarefied atmosphere. However, the artist’s work includes more than just the traditional technique, with video also forming a prominent medium for his work. In the beginning of Muscle Memory Ferri, moving between a roadway with works in progress and fast-moving machines, runs the perimeter of a round road sign with his fingers, with the video ending in a meal consumed in peace. The narration continues thanks to the help of some workers who, inside industrial structures, tell Ferri where to find the shape, around the reflection of the circle, the well-known symbol of creation. And through play, the artist’s eyes succeed in modifying the gaze of the collaborators who become amused, if not fascinated. Sought after, discovered and completed with focus, the form links the artistic idea and reality in the simplicity of the gesture. The circle is complete.

Francesca Guidi