It had set him on his lifelong journey to find his own unique style and language, to create stupendous paintings pulsating with the light and energy that he sees all around him. The years of practice and his 8-year solid art education had prepared the young artist well to pursue his life's quest of living and breathing art. In 1988 Kote graduated with a diploma in painting and scenography. While still in school Kote also worked at a movie studio, and made a small but well-received animation film "Lisi". Yet even as a student he wanted to break loose of the limitations, he wanted to experiment and grow, sometimes leave paintings seemingly unfinished, shatter the boundaries of classic realism. In 1984 Kote followed this amazing feat by being accepted into the "Academy of Fine Arts" of Tirana, where J.K was educated in the traditional approach of the old masters. Ultimately, after competing locally and nationally, he was awarded a coveted spot at "National Lyceum of Arts" in Tirana. He focused on getting accepted into the finest art high school of his native Albania. By the age of 13, he had made up his mind to become an artist and devote his life to the arts. Influenced by many places where he lived, Albanian-born artist Josef Kote began his journey towards artistic self-discovery in his youth and never looked back.įrom very young age he was endlessly drawing and had the innate urge to create. The results are paintings that tremble in stillness with energy and light. Kote's trademarks are his bold brushwork and sweeping strokes of vibrant colors applied - more often than not - with a pallet knife, while other areas of the canvas are left monochromatic and devoid of detail creating a negative space that lets the eye drift to infinity. With the lightness of a true master's hand, he combines classic academic and abstract elements, fusing these, literally letting them run into each other with dripping rivulets of riveting colors and light. Kote achieves this delicate balance of seemingly contradictory qualities through his complete mastery of technique, and through years of experimenting to find his own unique style. They are lyrically stunning and romantic, edgy and current. The paintings of Josef Kote (b.1964) are symphonies of light and color.