Rusty nails, gnarled wires, and weathered wood. A decrepit tin,  paint-smeared brushes, rooms in a state of decay falling into the  depths, and impenetrable walls that appear to crumble…

Ymer Shaqiri’s works are testimonial to his life. Breaks and vague uncertainties mark his path over and over again.

Born in Kosovo under extremely poor conditions, Ymer Shaqiri still  managed to graduate from the Academies of Arts in Pristina as well as in  Belgrade and finished his studies as a graphic artist. However, his  artistic pursuit became increasingly difficult due to the political  situation in Kosovo at the time. In 1996 he came to Germany to start  anew and carved out his place through numerous exhibitions. He gained  notoriety and was represented at various biennials, garnering awards and  international recognition.

In 2021, Shaqiri died unexpectedly while working near Pristina. This  year, the artist is being honored by his home country with a stamp  series showcasing his works. Villa Haiss is also paying tribute to  Shaqiri with an extensive retrospective. With gallery owner Walter  Bischoff, they were not only connected by a working relationship but  also by a long-standing friendship.

Ymer Shaqiri was sensitive, delicate and extremely disciplined and this  is reflected in his works, primarily small-scaled, but expressive. The  exhibition “Perspectives of the Everyday” gathers works from all corners  and thematic spaces of his œuvre.

His paintings are charged with tension, combining the technique of in  and pen design with colorful brushed elements. The hues and shadows  create such plastic impressions that one is summoned to reach out and  grab the brush from the paint-stained writing paper or pull the rusty  nail from its cracked wood. In his abstract works, elements keep  shifting forward or backward. Shaqiri arranges lines and planes to  create a balanced field of tension.

A special feature in this exhibition are the flowering branches that  seem to blossom from delicate dabs of color, as well as a study of the  chili pepper, which was painted from every perspective and shines out toward the viewer from every which direction.