Culver City,
California
x
Maker: Velo, Maks
Two Inmates (Two Prisoners)
Date Made: May 7, 1993
Country: Albania
Measurements: 49.5 cm x 35 cm; 19 1/2 in x 13 3/4 in
Two standing figures, manacled together. Part of a series of works by Albanian painter, Maks Velo, that reflects on his personal experiences as a political prisoner in communist Albania. In 1978, Velo was sentenced to ten years in a prison camp for "agitation and propoganda" under communist leader Enver Hoxha. Amonog other things, Velo was accused of contravening the state-sanctioned style of socialist realism by producing artworks inspired by modern artists like Amedeo Modigliani, Georges Braque, and Pablo Picasso. As a result, almost all of Velo's paintings were destroyed, and his art collections were either stolen or burned. In this unique series, created after his release in 1991, Velo shared, in his own words, "the violence of investigation, and teh violence of life in prison." Tens of thousands of Albanians were inprisoned in forced labor camps during the Cold War period. Examined together, Velo's drawings offer a harrowing portrayal of persecution and the struggle for justice.
Accession Number: 2016.007.003
Item Name: Drawing