Sketches of flowers, two conversing birds, an eye, a huge drawing of a house and other line drawings are realized as free-standing steel sculpture in Met Museum’s current Roof Commission by Kosovan artist Petrit Halilaj. Titled ‘Abetare,’ after a textbook the artist used in school to learn the alphabet, the installation’s monumental size is belied by its delicate and casually rendered forms, all based on drawings the artist found on school desks in Kosovo and other Balkan countries. Prompted by the planned demolition of his old school, one of the few buildings that remained from the artist’s war-torn hometown, Halilaj preserved the markings of kids from years past, creating a language of drawings that expresses the thoughts and experience of young people. (On view through Oct 27th).
