robert gligorov
Bobe's Legend, 1998
Digital video displayed as single-channel DVD projection; stereo audio
9 mins; colour
Collection: Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Courtesy: Aeroplastics Contemporary, Belgium, and the artist
contents: essay | artist's bio | artist's statement
In the telling of certain stories, an atmosphere of suspense helps to bind the audience to the characters and events as they unfold. We are easily drawn into a situation when we cannot predict what will happen next, as our need to know overrides our disbelief of fictional constructs. The single, repeated narrative event in Bobe's Legend - a bird deciding whether or not to leave its nest - is a simple one, and yet the intensity of engagement it generates is quite breathtaking.
The artist's profile fills the bottom half of the screen. By looking upwards, he divides the image; becoming the horizon in a landscape of myths and legends common to all cultures. It is a landscape where human beings and animals share a language - and fight, trick or help each other in order to make sense of their world. For the little chicks in the world of Bobe's Legend, there is only the enclosed, safe nest of the man's mouth, or the seemingly limitless space beyond - the space of flight and freedom, with all its attendant dangers. For the man, there is either the role of nurturer, who must sublimate his own needs to those of the young bird, or, should he fail to keep his mouth open, the transformation into a monster who betrays the trust of an innocent.
As man and bird share this moment, the shifting metaphoric elements of the image come into play. If we read the bird literally, the man transforms into a promise of parental care, a delicate image of paternal grace. In an age of genetic engineering and environmental destruction, he also represents interspecies respect and benevolence. If we view the man literally, the bird takes wing as speech embodied, or a vision of the soul - at first hesitant and held within, then set free to communicate with others and fulfill its potential.
This exploration of safety and danger, care and independence, tenderly enacts the drama of emerging identity. It illustrates the questions we ask as we attend to our own life stories: not only 'what will happen?' but also 'who am I becoming?'
1960 - Born in Kriva, Palanka, Macedonia; lives and works in Milan, Italy
Robert Gligorov was born in Macedonia, but lives and works in Milan, Italy. He is primarily known for his photographs, which have been widely exhibited in Europe. Gligorov is attuned to the idea of performance and high-impact commercial images; his photographs are always arresting, sometimes shocking, using unexpected combinations of human, animal and vegetable life to explore sexuality and identity.
Gligorov also works with video and installation. A recent solo show in New York, entitled Inner Space, was an installation consisting of glass containers and tubing through which live fish travelled around the gallery space. Bobe's Legend was featured in the Melbourne Biennale, Signs of Life, in 1999.
Selected solo exhibitions
~ Fetish for Collectors, Galleria Il Ponte, Roma, Italy, 2003
~ Il Volo di Gagarin, Galleria Spazia, Bologna, Italy 2003
~ Ceres, Aeroplastics contemporary, Brussels, 2002
~ Borderline, Symphonia arte contemporanea, Milano, 2002
~ Anaemia, La Corte, Firenze, 2002
~ Atom Heart Mother, Salone Villa Romana, Firenze, 2002
~ Borderline, Pack Galleria d'Arte, Milano, 2001
~ Kiss the Sky, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Trieste, 2001
~ Prime Crime, La Giarina Gallery, Verona, 2001
~ Koi-to, La Corte, Firenze, 2001
~ State of Grace, Daniele Ugolini Gallery, NY 2000
~ Interrato dell'acqua morta, La Giarina, Verona, 1999
~ Anima Animale, La Corte Arte Contemporanea, Firenze, 1999
~ Museum of the City, Skopie, Republic of Macedonia, 1998
~ Fatal Insomnia, Damasquine Art Gallery, Brussels, 1998
~ Clairefontaine Gallery, Luxemburg, 1998
~ La Corte Arte Contemporanea, Firenze, 1998
~ Uccellacci Uccellini, Galleria Reali, Brescia, 1998
~ Mestna Galleria, Lubiana, Slovenia, 1997
~ Overground Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Moderna Galerija, Rijeka, Croatia, 1997
~ Mr. Hulk, Orange Face and Other Stories, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Trieste, 1997
~ XXX Ray, Art Cologne, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Germany, 1996
~ XXX Ray, Arte Fiera Bologna, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Bologna, 1996
Selected group exhibitions
~ De Cuerpos y Almas, Pornografias 03 Galeria Carmen De La Guerra, Madrid, Spain, 2003
~ In the Shadow of Summer Bliss, Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 2003
~ Le Opere e Giorni 2, Certosa di Padula, Padula, Salerno, 2003
~ Enter-Invito al Futuro, Premio Internazionale d'Arte, Serra San Quirico, Ancona, Italy, 2003
~ Stazione Metropolitana Mater Dei, Napoli, opera in permanente a cura di A.B.Oliva, 2003
~ In faccia al mondo, Il ritratto contemporaneo nel medium fotografico, 2003
~ Museo d'arte contemporanea di Villa Croce, Genova, 2003
~ On the Edge, on the Brink, Poeziezomer WATOU, Watou, Flanders, Belgium, 2003
~ Luxurious, Galerie Clairefontaine, Luxemburg, Belgium, 2003
~ Art Chicago, Pack Galleria d'arte, Chicago, 2003
~ MiArt, Pack Galleria d'arte, Milano, 2003
~ MiArt, Galleria Spazia, Milano, 2003
~ XS, Galleria San Salvatore, Modena, Italy, 2003
~ Wulbari, En Plein Air Arte Contemporanea, Pinerolo, Torino, 2003
~ Melting Pop, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy - Castello di Masnago Varese, Italy, 2003
~ STaRT, Centro Arte Contemporanea, Cavalese, Trento, 2003
~ Fuori Uso, Pescara, 2002
~ Artissima, Torino, Pack galleria d'arte, 2002
~ Art Cologne, Cologne, Clairefontaine Gallery, Luxemburg, 2002
~ Venus Birth (Metafore Barocche), Palazzo Forti Verona, 2002
~ Juan Redòn Collection, ARTIUM, Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporaneo, Barcelona, 2002
~ Desire, Galleria d'Arte Modena, Bologna, 2002
~ Shock and Show, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Trieste, 2002
~ Biennale Fotografia Brescia, Museo Kem Damy, Brescia, 2002
~ Una Babele Contemporanea, Palazzo Corsini, Parma, 2002
~ Noise, Pack Galleria d'Arte, Milano, 2002
~ Cuore, La Posteria (Fondazione Mazzotta), Milano, 2002
~ Uovo, Galleria in Arco, Torino, 2002
~ Con tutto l'odio del mondo, Arengario-Palazzo Reale, Milano, 2002
~ MiArt, Galleria Ugolini, Milano, 2002
~ 30yr Anniversary Zoom, Hugo Boss, NY, 2002
~ Clinique, Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv, 2002
~ Generazionale, Verona, 2002
~ La Clonage d'Adam, ISELP, Brussels, 2001
~ La Numerique: Nouveau Medium de l'Art, Galerie Prêt d'ouvres d'art, Brussels, 2001
~ El Cuerpo de l'Arte, 1st Biennale for Contemporary Art, Valencia, 2001
~ Art Cologne, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Cologne, 2001
~ Artissima, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Torino, 2001
~ Area di Transito, Area Industriale Baldassiuni & Tognozzi, Firenze, 2001
~ MiArt, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Milano, 2001
~ ARCO, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Madrid, 2001
~ Arte Fiera, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Bologna, 2001
~ Face Off, Aeroplastic contemporary, Brussels, 2001
~ Totemica -Feticci e Ritual idel Contemporaneo, Casa del Mantegna, Mantova, 2001
~ Corporate Identity/En plein air, Pinerole, France, 2001
~ Ipernatura, Stamperia dell'Arancio, Pescara, 2001
~ Les Corps Mutant, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, 2001
~ Cantico, Museo della Permanente, Milano, 2001
~ Rejouissez-Vous Centre Regional d'art Contemporain LE PARVIS, Tarbes, France, 2001
~ Bereshit 1, La Piccola Porta, Galleria «En plain air», Torino, 2000
~ Innocence: images of kids, Aeroplastic contemporary, Brussels, 2000
~ Still in motion, Palazzo Frisacco, Tolmezzo-Udine, 2000
~ Silver Shining, The Box, Torino, 2000
~ Fuori Uso, Museo Michetti, Pescara, 2000
~ ANP City Projects, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, 2000
~ In de Ban van de Ring, Fashion Museum & Provincial Modern Art Museum, Hasselt, 2000
~ In the Garden of Eros, Palacio de Ramblas, Barcelona, 2000
~ Supermodel, Identity and Transformation, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Trieste, 2000
~ Etica ed Ambiente, Museo della Permanente, Banca Europa, Milano, 2000
~ Art Brussels, Gallerie Damasquine, Brussels, 2000
~ ARCO, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Madrid, 2000
~ Disidentico, Museo Maschio Angioino, Napoli, 2000
~ Stigma della riproducibilità/archeologia e futuro, Installart, Caserta, 2000
~ Biennale of Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia, 1999
~ Figurazione/Defigurazione, Galleria Civica, Stadtgalerie, Bolzano, 1998
~ Contaminazioni, Museo Laboratorio, La Sapienza, Roma, 1998
~ Blue, Porto Antico, Genova, 1998
~ Se son rose fioriranno, Spoleto Festival, Spoleto, 1998
~ Art 29, Basel, Gallery Photology, Switzerland, 1998
~ Artenergie, Palazzo Corsini, Firenze, 1998
~ Cyberealismo, Galleria Photology, Milano-London, 1997
~ Fiction non Fiction, Tossi Arte Contemporanea, Prato, 1997
~ Verso il Futuro, Bianchi Nuovi Art Gallery, Roma, 1997
~ 8 Artisti in mostra, Virgin, Milano, 1997
~ Aperto, Trevi Flash Art Museum, Italy, 1997
~ Ass. Cult. Futuro, Roma, 1997
~ Brussels Contemporary Art Fair, Damasquine Art Gallery, Brussels, 1997
~ Art Cologne, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Koln, 1996
~ MiArt, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Milano, 1996
~ Arte Fiera Bologna, Galleria LipanjePuntin, Bologna, 1996
Bobe was a very important person for Scime (nickname of Gligorov), wasn't his father, wasn't his brother but he was meaning something more.
Bobe met Scime when he was 2 years old in a orphanage. Bobe chose Scime to live with him and his family even if he got other 4 own sons. That was a wonderful period, made of discovery of the nature, fields of sunflowers, sea, and finally a family; a new son for Bobe and for Scime new father.
Bobe was a farmer, and every day Scime used to wait for his return seating on the wall next to the road until the Bobe's appearing at the horizon at the sunset and Scime used to run to hug him and ride for a short way the mule to the stable. After 4 years the destiny wish to separate forever Bobe and Scime.
The birds in the video represents sons who fly away from the mother to live their own life, one of them isn't brave enough to go ahead...
Even if Bobe is now a memory for Gligorov, his personality, generosity, the sense of protection remain still alive...he was a man who taught a lot without talking too much.
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