Anri Sala
Anri Sala is an Albanian contemporary artist whose primary medium is video.
Life and career
Sala studied art at the Albanian Academy of Arts from 1992 to 1996. He also studied video at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and film direction in Le Fresnoy-Studio National des Arts Contemporains, Tourcoing. He lives and works in Paris.Sala's video installation Dammi i colori was on display at Tate Modern in London. The installation reflects on the transformation of Tirana in 2003 by means of colors. The installation includes a conversation with Tirana's mayor, Edi Rama, a personal friend of the artist's and the force behind this transformation. Sala will participate in ROUNDTABLE: The 9th Gwangju Biennale.
Answer Me was filmed in a Buckminster Fuller-inspired geodesic dome in Berlin, a former NSA surveillance tower, which was constructed on the Teufelsberg.
He represented France at the Venice Biennale in 2013.
Sala presented Le Clash, Tlatelolco Clash and Doldrum as a mixed installation in Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, and in November 2014 he the Vincent Award.
He is in a relationship with Rosario, Princess of Preslav.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2016- Anri Sala: Answer Me, New Museum, New York
- Ravel-Ravel-unRavel, French Pavilion, Biennale di Venezia
- No Formula One No Cry, The Promenade Gallery, Vlora
- Anri Sala, Serpentine Galleries, London
- Dammi i Colori, DAAD-Galerie, Berlin
- Videos, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
- Long Sorrow, Nicola Trussardi Foundation, Milan
- Alfonso Artiaco, Neapel
- Anri Sala - Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
- Blindfold, Galerie Johnen and Schöttle, Köln
- Kunsthalle Wien, Wien
- Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italien
- Programa, Mexico City
- OPA, Guadalajara, Mexico
- De Appel Foundation, Amsterdam
- Galerie Johnen and Schöttle, Cologne
- Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich
- Galerie Chantal Croussel, Paris
- Hauser & Wirth, Zürich
Group exhibitions
- "Closer", Beirut Art Center
- Situated Self, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade
- Delay, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
- Situations construites, attitudes espace d'arts contemporains, Geneva
- utopia station: auf dem weg nach porto alegre, Haus der Kunst, Munich
- Time Zones: Recent Film and Video, Tate Modern, London
- Point of View - An Anthology of the Moving Image, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
- Point of View: An Anthology of the Moving Image, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
- Terminal 5 In 2004, the dormant Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport briefly hosted an art exhibition called Terminal 5 curated by Rachel K. Ward and featuring the work of 18 artists including Anri Sala. The show featured work, lectures and temporary installations drawing inspiration from the idea of travel — and the terminal's architecture. The show was to run from October 1, 2004 to January 31, 2005 — though it closed abruptly after the building itself was vandalized during the opening party.
- Fast Forward, ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe
- In den Schluchten des Balkan - Eine Reportage, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Cassel
- Dreams and Conflicts: the Dictatorship of the Viewer, Venice Biennale
- Die Erfindung der Vergangenheit, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
- Hardcore - vers un nouvel activisme/towards a new activism, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
- Witness, The Curve, Barbican Centre, London
- el aire es azul – the air is blue, Casa Museo Luis Barragán
- Missing Landscape, Galerie Johnen and Schöttle, Cologne
- In Search of Balcania, Graz
- The mind is a horse, Bloomberg Space, London
- Geschichte, Salzburger Kunstverein
- Haunted by Details, DeAppel, Amsterdam
- Cardinales, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, Vigo
- Berlin Biennale
- Yokohama Biennale, Japan
- Believe, Westfälischer Kunstverein Münster
- Tirana Biennale, Albania
- Media City Seoul 2000, Seoul Metropolitan Museum, Seoul
- Geographies: Darren Almond – Graham Gussin – Anri Sala, Galerie Chantal Croussel, Paris
- voilà- le monde dans la tête, Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris
- Manifesta 3, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- The world in mind, ARC, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- Wie Weg - Disappeared, Association for Contemporary Art, Graz
- Wider Bild Gegen Wart- Positions to a political discours, Raum Aktueller Kunst, Vienna
- Man muss ganz schön viel lernen, um hier zu funktionieren, Frankfurter Kunstverein
- After the wall, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
- Albanischer Pavillon, 47. Venice Biennale
- Ostrenanije-97, Video Festival, Bauhaus, Dessau
- Tunnel 95, National Gallery, Tirana
- Spring 95, First Prize, National Gallery, Tirana
- Symposium Kultur Kontakt, Kunsthaus Horn, Austria
Short films
- Quelle histoire?, Paris
- Nocturnes, Tourcoing. Selected at the Rencontres cinématographiques, Tourcoing ; selected at the Short Film Festival, Clermont Ferrand
- Intervista - finding the words, Paris. Best Film Award, Estavar Video Festival, Estavar. Best Documentary Film Award, Entrevues Festival, Belfort. Best Short Film Award, Amascultura Festival, Portugal. Best Documentary Film Award, International Documentary Film Festival, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Best Documentary Film Award, Filmfest 2000, Tirana
Recognition and awards
- Vincent Award
- Absolut Art Award
- Young Artist Prize at the 49th Venice Biennale
- Prix Gilles Dusein, Paris
- Best Documentary Film Award from the Filmfest in Tirana
- International Film Festival in Santiago de Compostela.
- Hugo Boss Prize
Essential bibliography
- Mark Godfrey, "1000 words: Anri Sala", Artforum, New York, April
- Christine Macel, "Anri Sala - Ravel Ravel Unravel", Venice Biennale
- Christopher Mooney, "Anri Sala", Art Review, London, Summer
- Michael Fried, Joshua Simon, "Anri Sala", Serpentine Gallery, London
- Hans Ulrich Obrist, Mark Godfrey, Liam Gillick, "Anri Sala", Phaidon, London
- Lynne Cooke, Mark Godfrey, Jan Verwoert, "Anri Sala", Parkett, Zurich
- Massimiliano Gioni, Michele Robecchi, "Anri Sala: Unfinished Histories", Flash Art, Milan, no. 219, July–September
- Laurence Bosse, Hans Ulrich Obrist, "Anri Sala: When the Night Calls", Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris