In the exhibition The Sound of the Tuba, Hila presents around twenty paintings from different series he has worked on in recent years as well as a small selection from his output of the late 1990s. The presentation traces a historical arc, connecting today's global migrant and refugee flows to the major wave of emigration after the fall of the Albanian regime and politically motivated deportations in the early years of Albanian communism. Juxtaposing historic and contemporary realities, Hila's pictures render the singular features of each as well as surprisingly rich parallels between them, inviting the viewer to reflect on the present situation.
"The pursuit of artistic truth is fundamental to my painting practice. The truth, understood as presenting a reality of my surroundings as they exist, is far more important for me than any notion of beauty." -Edi Hila
Edi Hila has taken part in numerous international exhibitions including documenta 14 (2017), the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2014), the Liverpool Biennale (2010), the Venice Biennale (1999), and has exhibited in numerous international institutions, such as the Ludwig Museum in Budapest (2016), Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (2013), Kunsthalle Fridiricianum, Kassel and in Blood and Honey? The Future's Balkan curated by Harald Szeeman at the Essl Museum in Vienna (both 2003), After the Wall at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, Ludwig Museum, Budapest (2000) and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm (1999). In 2018, the National Gallery of Arts Tirana and the Museum of Modern Art Warsaw presented Hila’s work in the retrospective exhibition PAINTER OF TRANSFORMATION. His works have recently been acquired by the collections of the Musée d'art moderne Centre Pompidou, Paris, FRAC Pays de la Loire and the Fonds Municipal de la Ville de Paris. Other public collections include Kontakt – the Art Collection of Erste Group and Erste Foundation; Museum of Modern Art Warsaw; National Gallery Tirana; FRAC Auvergne, France; Kindl Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst Berlin.
Edi Hila
THE SOUND OF THE TUBA
18 SEPTEMBER 2020 - 7 FEBRUARY 2021