Anri Sala

Anri Sala is a contemporary Albanian artist known for his innovative and thought-provoking works that often combine various media, including video, sound, and installation. Sala's artistic practice is characterized by his exploration of themes related to time, memory, cultural identity, and the intersection of music and visual art.

Biography of Anri Sala

Anri Sala was born in 1974 in Tirana, Albania. He pursued his artistic education at the Albanian Academy of Arts (1992-1996). Additionally, he furthered his studies in video at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and honed his skills in film direction at Le Fresnoy-Studio National des Arts Contemporains in Tourcoing.

In 2001, Sala was honored with the Young Artist Prize at the Venice Biennale. In 2013, he served as the representative of France at the Venice Biennale. 

Sala's video installation titled "Give me the colors" (Dammi i colori) was exhibited at London's Tate Modern. This installation contemplates Tirana's metamorphosis in 2003 through the use of colors. Notably, the piece includes a dialogue with Edi Rama, the mayor of Tirana, who is a close associate of the artist and the driving force behind the city's remarkable transformation.

Anri Sala's solo exhibitions include: "Anri Sala: Answer Me," New Museum, New York (2016); "Ravel-Ravel-unRavel," French Pavilion, Biennale di Venezia (2013); "No Formula One No Cry," The Promenade Gallery, Vlora, "Anri Sala," Serpentine Galleries, London (2011); "Dammi i Colori," DAAD-Galerie, Berlin, "Videos," Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, "Long Sorrow," Nicola Trussardi Foundation, Milan (2005); "Alfonso Artiaco," Naples, "Anri Sala - Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen," Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2004); "Blindfold," Galerie Johnen and Schöttle, Cologne, "Kunsthalle Wien," Vienna, "Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea," Turin, Italy (2003); "Programa," Mexico City, "OPA (artist-run space)," Guadalajara, Mexico (2002), etc.

Anri Sala's Art Style

Anri Sala's creations blend elements from documentary, narrative, and autobiographical styles, weaving together recurring motifs of cultural shifts and collective memory. Informed by his own life experiences, the artist reflects on the societal and political changes occurring in his native country.

Through his initial and widely praised avant-garde documentary "Intervista" (Finding the Words) in 1998, the artist established his fascination with the interpretation of reality, authenticity, and historical change.

The foundational essence of Sala's endeavors, exemplified by works like "Intervista" (Discovering Words) or "Ravel Ravel Unravel," involves a deeply personal exploration of interconnected narratives that echo the themes of a changing society and the individual's role within it.

In the exhibition titled "All of a Tremble," Sala mechanizes the synesthetic process, a perceptual phenomenon where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway (in this case, imagery) triggers an involuntary experience in a different sensory or cognitive pathway (sound). By materializing the shared boundary between sight and sound, Sala finds meaning within this juncture. The installation pits audibility against visuality, revealing a novel sensory dimension at their point of convergence. The designs in these installations are manually impressed onto wallpaper strips using a pencil against a roller, referencing the aesthetics of domestic wallpaper.

A wallpaper-printing cylinder, continuously rotating on its axis, interacts with the metallic comb's reeds, producing musical notes and phrases. This process physically translates the sound of neighboring patterns. Across both walls, Sala unveils the exact moment when an image transforms into sound, and sound into an image.