
Gaka Mira
Over Gaka Mira
G.Aka Mira (°1970) grew op in a small town near the medieval town of Bruges in Belgium. From childhood on he had a passion for drawing and painting on large format papers he found in the printshop of his father. The art books rolling from the press formed his inspiration. While pursuing a career as a psychotherapist, music teacher, coach and expedition leader in Arctic regions and mountains, he never stopped studying and creating art. In his early years he was inspired by the old masters like Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Eyck and influenced by his favorite contemporary artists like Picasso, Miro, Duchamp, Broodthaers, Andy Warhol, Leon Spilliaert and many others. For the last thirty years he was a vast visitor of the Venice Biënnale and numerous exhibitions, meanwhile developing his artistic and unique voice. In 2022 he decided to entirely devote his professional life to his passion for creating art.
G.Aka Mira unifies abstract and figurative in stunning, almost 3-dimensional images created with acrylic paint, pure pigments and resin. He reframes reality by placing the subjects he photographs while wondering through cities with his 50 year old analogue point and shoot Minolta, in an abstract universe. We are all born in an abstract world without meaning, which due to geography, culture, language, believe systems is given sense. By removing the context and reframing the subject in a meaningless universe, he invites the viewer to question his believes, to simply feel and respect life in it’s mysterious way. The search for sense is a quality exclusive for humans and what unifies all of us.
‘For me art is a way of dealing with the madness of our world. It is a space of total freedom to reflect on reality.’ G.Aka Mira
Reframing the human condition is the overal theme in his work. He is liberating people from the identity given by their social context. Poor or rich, homeless, refugees, businessmen,… isolated from the original context they regain humanity in it’s purest form, immersed in a cosmic world.
This social constructionism, which he studied with Kenneth Gergen (professor in psychology at Swarthmore college), is something he plans working on in experimental documentary-art movies in the future, alongside the breathtaking paintings he creates.
Categorieën
Curriculum vitae
Ervaring
Biënnale de Venezia 2024 - Visions - Palazzo Albrizzi-Cappello
Palazzo Albrizzi-Cappello, Venice, Italy
The 'Visions' exhibition is curated by Luca Curci and Amaride Ferrante, director and curator at Itsliquid group. It offers artists from around the world the occasion to showcase their work during the Venice Biennale in a wonderful Palazzo which also hosts the Grenada Pavilion. The opening was a great succes with many performances. Gaka Mira presents three works. 'Japanology' is a tryptic, picturing three different faces of Japanese culture. The work 'Persephone in Tartarus' walks that fine line between life and death. 'Exploration' concludes the series presented with an open invitation to let go of all we know and dive into the unknown.
Lecce (Italy) - Time Machine
Palmieri Foundation, Lecce
Curated by Dores Saquegna, who has a long record of curating some of the worlds greatest artists (Christo & Jeanne Claude, Herman Nitsch, Louise Bourgeois,...) Gaka Mira exhibited 6 paintings on the central wall of the Palmieri Foundation. The international and multidisciplinary exhibition was build up by 19 artists from around the world. A three page review and oversight of the artists' work is presented in a beautiful catalogue and was widely discussed in international art press.
Belgium - ÔÔKunst route
Kortemark, Belgium
The ÔÔKunst route has a long history, presenting each year more than 60 international artists at different locations in and around the town of Kortemark, West-Flanders, Belgium. For the 2024 edition, Gaka Mira who is living and working in the region, participated with eleven paintings.
Artemida Art Week - Milan (IT)
CMC Cultural Centre Milano
'Primary Needs' & 'Viola, on the banks of the Styx I' were exhibited in the Cultural Centre of Milan from 7 - 18 May in collaboration with Artemida Experience Milan. The exhibition could count on numerous visitors. Gaka Mira and his work are described in a beautiful catalogue. During the opening a certificate of artistic merit was handed over to the artist by curator Vera Agosti.
Artist of Europe Award, Top Selection Paris
Gallerie Thuillier - Paris
Three works: 'One Breath', 'I'm good, thank you' and 'Inward heel' by Gaka Mira made it to the last 100 finalists, selected out of more than 2000 applications. They were presented in a video exhibition at Gallery Thuillier from 26th of April - 9th of May 2024
Run, Life or death? Solo Exhibition
Cultural centre De Valkaart, Oostkamp, Belgium
Photography and drawing
Solo Exhibition
Library Oostkamp, Belgium
Paintings, Oil on canvas
Artist of Oostkamp, group exhibition
De Wieke, Oostkamp, Belgium
Paintings, Oil on canvas
Nudes, Solo Exhibition
The Coupure, Oostkamp, Belgium
Paintings, Oil on canvas
Andy Warhol Memoriam
City Palace d'Hanins de Moerkerke, Bruges, Belgium
Light sculptures
Solo Exhibition
Theatre PC Sint-Amandus, Beernem, Belgium
Paintings, drawings and video art