The singer Dua Lipa is portrayed in this tastefully refined artwork by the talented Albanian painter Gazmend Freitag.
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| Gazmend Freitag and the portrait of Dua Lipa |
And who else but a diaspora artist could have made another diaspora artist, our world-renowned singer Dua Lipa, the focus of his work and depicted her with such mastery?
Gazmend Freitag was born on May 25, 1968, in Lower Pataçan, Kosovo. From a young age, Gazmend showed talent in drawing and devoted himself to literature.
In 1989, Gazmend was forced to emigrate from Kosovo. In Germany, he pursued the life of an artist. There, he married and became the father of three daughters. In 2004, he left Germany and settled in Linz, Austria.
From 1990 to 2013, Gazmend attended painting courses at various academies. In 2013, he began studying figure drawing at the University of Linz under Professor Anneliese Oberdanner, a renowned expert in her field.
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| The portrait of Dua Lipa, Gazmend Freitag |
His work is traditional in nature and focuses on autobiographical elements, landscapes from his homeland, childhood memories, nude and figure drawings, portraits, and still lifes.
On canvas—especially through portraits—he conveys emotions drawn from observing his surroundings and presents new stylistic dimensions. Additionally, Freitag offers a reconstruction of reality and places strong emphasis on the facial features in his portraits. His compositional syntax follows the Rules of Art and is enriched with romantic considerations.
Gazmend Freitag’s art is deeply connected to the experience of the Kosovar Albanian diaspora and the exile from his homeland—a fate he shares with countless refugees of our time. His biography stands as an example of the successful integration of a sensitive artist with a positive outlook on life. Art as a means of communication is a central point of his work.
Since 2004, he has lived in Linz, Austria. His work has been featured in Austrian and international exhibitions and art fairs.