Page 198 - ART GIANTS issue of World of Art (WOA) Contemporary Art Magazine

WORLD-CLASS ART LEE MINGWEI:

BEST REGARDS, LEE MINGWEI

Moderna Museet Malmö presents Best Regards, Lee Mingwei,
a transformative exhibition that invites visitors into a world
of intimate exchanges, everyday rituals, and participatory
experiences. Known for his interactive approach to art, Mingwei
crafts installations that evolve through personal encounters,
emphasizing the power of human connection.
Displayed in the Turbine Hall, the exhibition features objects
collected from private individuals, letters yet to be written,
Edi Hila, Under the Hot Sun, 2005 Brian McCarthy and Daniel Sager personal belongings, and acts of shared ritual. Mingwei
Collection, New York. Courtesy Moderna Museet
reimagines conventional museum spaces, engaging visitors
by mending clothes, sharing tea, and fostering quiet moments
of reflection. His practice, rooted in performativity and
EDI HILA: participation, is also deeply influenced by aesthetic and
A LANDMARK EXHIBITION IN philosophical traditions across cultures.
SCANDINAVIA Curated by Elisabeth Millqvist, Best Regards, Lee Mingwei
showcases works that continuously transform throughout the
exhibition period. Documentation of these evolving processes
provides further insight into his artistic methods.
Moderna Museet Malmö presents Edi Hila, a major solo
exhibition celebrating Albania’s most esteemed painter.
Born in 1944 in Shkodër and residing in Tirana, Hila has
profoundly shaped contemporary Albanian art. This
landmark showcase, his largest in Scandinavia, spans
decades of his career, offering insight into his most
significant works.
Often called “the painter of the Albanian transition,”
Hila captures the societal shifts following communism’s
collapse, reflecting tensions between past and present
as Albania navigates capitalism. His evocative, dreamlike
compositions merge uncertainty, resilience, subtle humor,
and grand aspirations.
Curated by Joa Ljungberg and Corinne Diserens, the
exhibition unfolds in the Floor 2 galleries, immersing Lee Mingwei, Fabric of Memory. Installation view of the exhibition Lee
Mingwei: Li, Gifts and Rituals, Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany. 2020, 2006 –
audiences in Hila’s striking visual language. His career, pågående/present Photo: Laura Fiorio. Courtesy of Gropius Bau
deeply shaped by Albania’s history, was stifled under Enver
Hoxha’s regime, even forcing him into factory labor. Born in Taiwan and residing in Paris, New York, and Taipei,
After communism’s fall, he refined a distinctive style Mingwei established his distinctive approach after earning his
blending realism and abstraction, creating layered MFA from Yale University in 1997. Over the past decade, he
compositions that act as “pictorial palimpsests.” has held major solo exhibitions worldwide, including at Mori Art
Hila’s work explores themes of transformation and Museum (Tokyo), Gropius Bau (Berlin, 2020), and the Fine Arts
nostalgia, undergoing meticulous reworking to capture life’s Museums of San Francisco (2024). At Moderna Museet Malmö,
complexities. His contributions have earned him recognition, Mingwei’s work aligns with the museum’s ongoing exploration
including the Onufri Prize and a DAAD Artists-in-Berlin of participatory art, expanding the dialogue around interaction,
Program fellowship. memory, and the ephemeral nature of artistic experience.

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