TIRANA, Jan. 12 – “Playgirl”, a Heldi Pema solo exhibition brought by Gallery On the Move is the newest event in the Promenade Gallery of the southern coastal city of Vlora opening on Jan. 14. “Playgirl” consists of a series of drawings and paintings (2009/2011), which Pema has realized using old and new pages from fashion magazines like a personal story in a theatrical context. The exhibition will remain open until Jan. 24.
Heldi Pema, 34, lives and works in Tirana. After graduate studies at Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana, he was part of the International Summer Academy Salzburg, Real Presence Beograd and Kultur Kontakt Vienna, and also has worked for Manifesta 2 in Luxemburg.
HILARITY WORKSHOP
The current exhibition on display at the Promenade Gallery in Vlora is American artist Steve Piccolo’s “Hilarity Workshop.” The exhibition which will remain open until Jan. 15 consists of a sound presentation of Steve Piccolo’s album “Hilarity Workshop” realized in 1997, selected for the special projects program of Gallery On The Move. From the opening until the finish of the exhibition, the public will enjoy the full album played on the stereo, enjoying the old atmosphere. For this presentation Steve Piccolo has written a specific tale, telling the real story about “Hilarity Workshop” album.
Steve Piccolo was born in 1954 in USA, and lives and works in Milan. After studying at Bard College, New York University, he began his career in the 1970s playing bass in jazz groups and doing sound/performance in New York art spaces. In 1979 he started the Lounge Lizards with the Lurie brothers, a project which continued for about five years. Since then Steve’s activities have become too numerous, frequent and varied to summarize. Piccolo was sound curator at ArtVerona in 2008 and for the exhibition “Club 21” during Frieze 2010 in London. He has exhibited/performed at Tirana Art Center, Swiss Cultural Center Milan, Documenta 8 Kassel, Palazzo delle Papesse Siena, Berlin Jazz Festival, Technical Breakdown Copenhagen, Venice Biennial 2005, Turchin Center for the Arts Boone, Casino Luxembourg, Triennale di Milano and Loop Festival Barcelona.
