Emir Šehanović
- pagan tradition, superstition and the occult -
If one would wish to imagine how a specific visual art aesthetic from the Balkans would look like, beamed through the prism of contemporary visual culture, then you might find yourself trying to visualize the works of Emir Šehanović aka Esh, in which the author is projecting a personal sensibility while also adding the most authentic and relevant influences from the local environment.
In the late 90s he was already an active participant of the local street art scene under the pseudonym Aorta
He was born in 1981 in Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina. His biography is filled with multifaced engagements – from street art projects, over solo and collective exhibitions all the way to foundation of the artistic group Manufaktura in Tuzla, as well as regional initiative Art of Asfalt. From fragments of local traditions, magic rituals, superstitions and beliefs, Emir manages to build a meta-mythological world of his own.
Pagan tradition, superstition and the occult are some of the constant themes present in his work, while collages and assemblages are his favorite instruments. The final result may be a collage, print or spatial intervention, based in the digital domain but intruded by specific materials which have a deep cultural value for the author. The space receives a special treatment in his works, whether it is an intervention in public space or a classic format of a painting.
Figures and forms that seem as they were washed out by time and set in an ambivalent timeframe somewhere between past and future
Šehanović’s artistic statement matures in a natural and free-flowing way, with attention and care given to each new project. His depictions often carry anthropomorphic outlines, but in their true nature are entirely aesthetically and metaphorically abstract. The burnt and blurred edges of his imagery seem to be transcending traces of geometrical ornaments and lively color schemes which have marked his childhood and everyday.
Esh sublimely transposes his personal experience related to a specific, local cultural context into an expression whose associations are universal. In the process, he manages to create, develop and realize a visual aesthetic that is at the same time firmly rounded up, but also open enough to be successfully applied and transformed across formats and mediums. His impressive collages compositions achieve a specific depth due to the crafty but uneven cuts made on photographs found in the dustbins of collective memory.
Aisha, Naima, Dalal, Ziba and Leila - the five patterns developed for Folkk shine bright amongst Emir's recent work that is catching international attention
He has so far exhibited in New York, Tokyo, Athens, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Vienna, Sofia, Belgrade, Stuttgart, Heilbronn and Herceg Novi, as well as during repeated visits to the festivals MUU and Škver in Croatia. Given the recently increasing interest in his work, it seems that the international art audience is also ready to dwell deep into his world, in which the divine pattern designs he developed for Folkk will hopefully shine bright in homes and interiors around the world.
