Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano
Petrit Halilaj (b. 1986, Kostërrc, Skenderaj-Kosovo) and Álvaro Urbano (b. 1983, Madrid, Spain) are two visual artists based in Berlin. Mostly working individually, their common practice combines specific aspects of each artist’s interests and complements each other’s research. Their joint production reflects on the dichotomy between built environments and nature, and on the possibilities of negotiation between these two realities: in that regard, the inhabitants that occupy these liminal spaces suscitate a particular interest for the two artists.
Halilaj and Urbano jointly attended the artist residencies at MAK Residency, Los Angeles (2016-2017) and at Villa Romana, Florence (2014).
They are currently professors at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris, France.
Their collaborations have been exhibited in venues such as: Opéra Comique, Paris; Arken Museum, Copenhagen; Autostrada Biennale, Pristina; 17th Rome Quadriennale, Rome; Palacio de Cristal, Reina Sofia, Madrid; Brücke-Museum, Berlin; MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Mackey Apartments, Los Angeles; PAC-Pavilion of Contemporary Art, Milan; S.A.T.L.S., Basel; Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn; Villa Romana, Florence.
Collection: Colección Jumex, Mexico City
Exhibitions / Projects
2023
Thus waves come in pairs, curated by Barbara Casavecchia, Ocean Space, Venice
2022
Wie geht es jetzt weiter? Zwölf Erzählungen aktueller Kunst aus Spanien / Y ahora ¿hacia dónde vamos? Doce historias del arte contemporáneo español / Where will we go from here? Twelve stories told by contemporary artists from Spain, curated by Ana Ara and Rosa Ferré, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
Blümen von Berlin, with Annette Frick, ChertLüdde, Berlin
K60, Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin
2021
Flowers in Art, Arken Museum, Copenhagen
Autostrada Biennale, curated by Övül Ö, Durmosoglu and Joanna Warsza, National Library, Phrishtina
Opéra Comique, one night installation, Paris
2020
17th Rome Quadriennal, curated by Sarah Cosulich and Stefano Collicelli Cagol, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome
Biennale Gherdëina 7, curated by Adam Budak, Dolomites, Ortisei, South Tyrol, Italy
Studio Berlin, A cooperation between Boros and Berghain, Berghain, Berlin
2019
The Garden Bridge, curated by Kinderhook & Caracas, Brücke-Museum, Berlin
2018
what is going to happen is not “the future”, but what we are going to do, ARCO, Madrid
2017
An ear, severed, listens, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Final Projects: Group XLIII, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Mackey Apartments, Los Angeles
2015
SUPER SUPERSTUDIO, PAC-Pavilion of Contemporary Art, Co-curated by Andreas Angelidakis, Vittorio Pizzigoni and Valter Scelsi, Milan
WLGTDWI (What’s Love Gotta Do With It), S.A.T.L.S., Basel
Ärger im Paradise (Trouble in Paradise), curated by Rein Wolfs, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
2014
Open Studios, Villa Romana, Florence
Bibliography – Selected Articles
2022
“Petrit Halilaj and Alvaro Urbano with Annette Frick: Die Blüten von Berlin”, ArtReview, vol 74, no 5, Summer 2022
“Als wir Blüten sahen” by Brigitte Werneburg, Taz, 25 April 2022, online
“Confetti am Boden” by Nicola Kuhn, 19 March 2022, Tagesspiegel, online
“Der Gespräch der Blüten” by Ulrike Borowczyk, Berliner Morgenpost, 18 March 2022
“Die Galerie ChertLüdde ist bei Deko Behrendt gezogen” by Dirk Krampit, B.Z., 18 March 2022, online
2021
“Flowers in Art” by Christian Gether, Gry Hedin, Naja Rasmussen, ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2021. ISBN 978-87-78751-447
“Rome’s Quadriennale: An Act of Love for a Mutant World” by Mariacarla Molè on ArtReview, 16 February 2021, online.
2020
“Esta es la Historia de las Flores Gigantes del Palacio de Cristal” by Tom C.Avendaño on Icon Design, ElPais, November 2020, online and Print.
“Studio Berlin Berghain” by Juliet Kothe, Dr. Klaus Lederer, Ed.: BOROS Foundation, gemeinnützig GmbH, DISTANZ Verlag, Berlin, 2020. ISBN 978-3-95476-369-6
Petrit at night Alvaro at night, “-a breath? a name?- the ways of worldmaking”, Biennale Gherdëina 7, by Franco Berardi et.Al., Institut Ladin Micurá de Rü, Italy, 2020, pp. 114-119. ISBN 978-88-8171-138-3
Publishing projects
“Kushtetuta”, #1 & 2, self-published fanzine edited by Alvaro Urbano and Petrit Halilaj