page_title: Helidon Xhixha
section_title: 2010s
hierarchical_section_title: Helidon Xhixha / Works / 2010s
caption_attribution_description: English: Helidon Xhixha - Venice Biennale 2015 - Iceberg
context_page_description: Helidon Xhixha is a contemporary artist born in Durrës, Albania, in December 1970. Xhixha is known for his stainless steel sculptures, which is often fused with other mediums such as marble or brass.
context_section_description: In the early 2010s, Xhixha began producing sculpture works inspired by Dubai and the UAE. He initially visited Dubai in 2001, but delivered his first public monument to the city in 2012, entitled Elliptical Energy. He then exhibited at the festival "Design Days Dubai". In 2014 Xhixha collaborated with PMG, located on Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. The building was designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott, and Xhixha was commissioned to make a sculpture for each of the 68 residential units, stating to the New York Times that he envisioned the project as "my very own private museum."
  In addition to this, Xhixha's five meter tall sculpture entitled Vela was unveiled in June 2014 at the New Yacht Club of Monaco. The monument, sculpted in 316 marine grade, mirror polished stainless steel, resembles a sail and stands tall next to the entrance of the club house at Quay level. The piece is inspired by the call of the sea, the contrast between life on land and at sea, between home and the unknown, and the passion for adventure. In London, Xhixha started a collaboration with the ContiniArtUK gallery, exhibiting his artworks in their space located in Mayfair.
  In 2015 Xhixha created the work Iceberg for the 56th Venice Biennale, a monumental mirrored polished stainless steel sculpture that was left floating in the Venice lagoon until it moored to San Servolo Island. It reflected the city of Venice and its endangered water environment, while at the same time, emphasising the growing threat of global warming and its effect on the sea level rise. Xhixha also installed another two monument sculptures on San Servolo Island, Pillars of Light and The Four Elements.
  Later in 2015 Helidon Xhixha installed Everlasting at the Milan Malpensa Airport, Milan, Italy. Twelve pillars, made of polished stainless steel, stood before twelve panels depicting Leonardo DaVinci’s The Last Supper painting. Each stainless steel column represented one of the twelve apostles. In contrast, Xhixha also created a column made of Corten steel to depict Judas Iscariot, the traitor.
  In 2016, Xhizha's sculptures were the subject of a solo outdoor exhibition in Pietrasanta, Italy entitled Shining Rock, in collaboration with Contini Art UK and the Bozzetti Museum. The works fused white marble, bronze, and stainless steel, and according to Daen Huse, "Keeping in mind his signature of distortion ... Helidon’s inspiration for fusioning marble and steel ... originates from the mythological protagonists whose mysterious legends still inspire many artists. Coping with reality and fantasy, the earth and the beyond, the exhibition of Helidon Xhixha is an alchemy of philosophical and scientific transformations." In addition, his work Bliss appeared at the first annual London Design Biennale, as a part of the Albanian pavilion. The piece combines polished stainless steel and benches, so that viewers can see themselves in the work. Xhixha's work won the festivals medal for public artwork. That year an additional public work entitled Endless Melody was placed in the Melody Tower Plaza Garden in downtown Miami, Florida with collaborating gallery, Rosenbaum Contemporary.
  Between June and October 2017 Helidon Xhixha hosts a solo exhibition in the Boboli Garden’s, Florence, Italy. In Ordine Sparso (In Random Order), where Xhixha explores the ideas of chaos and order through a series of thirteen monumental sculptures and installations.
caption: Iceberg by Helidon Xhixha
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