Provenance:

Robin Rosenberg Fine Art, Montreal, QC

Note:

EDWARD HILLEL (1953 - )

“The challenge to every artist using the tragedies of history and memory in their work is to locate his place vis-à-vis the facts; for in addition to our desire to create lasting, autonomous works of art that instruct and inspire, we have a responsibility to the dead, to all those victims of genocide. Our activity, our work, is a kind of incantation, a Kaddish or a prayer of remembrance.”

- Edward Hillel -

Canadian Edward Hillel, is a world-renowned multidisciplinary artist, whose production includes photography, video, prints and installations. His works explore urgent contemporary themes rooted in human stories.

Edward Hillel was born in 1953 in Baghdad, Iraq. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec, and graduated from McGill University in 1975, having studied political science and philosophy. He spent several years as a community organizer before devoting himself wholly to his art since 1990. A self-taught artist, his works are a form of gesammtkunstwerk, a total engagement with the world he inhabits. A recurring theme for his work has been the stories of Holocaust survivors and the members of the resistance. These works saw an evolution over time that went from standard portraits with audio recordings to multimedia displays built into portable installations, as in “The Birds are Back” (1999). In 2006, Hillel opened his art space in Harlem, New York and, in 2008, founded the Harlem Bienniale, an international arts & culture event that takes place in Harlem, New York.

Hillel’s photographs have appeared in publications such as Le Monde, Esquire, Fortune, Newsweek and Paris Match. His films have been screened at international festivals, in museums, and broadcast on ARTE, CBC, FUJI TV, PBS and CHANNEL FOUR. He has published several books, including Not Quite Mainstream: Canadian Jewish Short Stories (2001). He has received the German Critics Visual Arts Prize (Berlin), The Golden Sheaf Film Award (Canada), the Prix Alain de Rothschild (France), and the Spiro Institute Award (UK). Hillel divides his time between Paris, Montreal and New York.

Selected Corporate, Private and Public Collections

Alcan Aluminum Inc
Public Archives of Canada
Ashdale Steel Corporation
Banque Rothschild
Royal Bank of Canada
Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Canadian Center for Architecture
Claridge Collection, Montreal, QC
Dukeminster Properties PLC
Firsurban Development Corporation
Manchester Art Gallery
Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaism Paris
Museum of Modern Art New York
Museum of Civilization, Ottawa
National Archives Canada
National Gallery of Prague
Hongkong Hilton
Inter-Continental Hotels
Museum of Modern Art Weimar
Manchester Art Gallery, UK
Mitsui Corporation
Musée d'art contemporain Montréal
Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaisme Paris
Museum of Modern Art, Montreal
Mueum of Modern Art, New York
Museum of Photography Charleroi
Republic National Bank
Saatchi & Saatchi UK
Winnipeg Art Gallery

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2010 The Revenge of the Photographic Archive, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
2007 Figurations, present! Up’Art - Galerie du Quai, Brussels
2006 Fleurs, Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montreal
2005 Visages , Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaisme, Paris
  Waltuch Gallery, New York
2004 Topos,  Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montreal
2003 Hybrids,  Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montreal
  Missing,  Cleveland Public Theater, Ohio
2002 Coming Soon,  Manchester Art Gallery, UK
2001 2 Hours That Shook The World,  St. Mark’s Church, New York
2000 True Stories,  National Gallery of Prague, Czech Republic
1999 Positions Attitudes Actions,  Foto Biennale, Rotterdam
  After Hours,  Museum of Modern Art, Weimar
  Atelier,  Gedenskstätte Deutscher Widerstand, Berlin
  Reimann’s Café,  Institut Français, Berlin
Journées Valenciennoises,  Galerie l'H du Siège,Valenciennes
  Morphologies,  Musée municipal de Denain, Lille
1997 Contes mnemoniques,  Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris
  Visages,  Espace Saint-Cyprien, Toulouse
  Visages,  Galerie Léopold Sédar Senghor, Grenoble
1996 Façades & Steles,  Goethe Institut, Paris
1994 Visages,  Mémorial du Martyr Juif Inconnu, Paris
1993 Les Pierres Qui Parlent,  Galerie Strathearn, Montreal
Paris On My Mind,  Gallery 2 1/4 x 4 1/2, Amsterdam
1992 Les Pierres Qui Parlent,  Galerie Saidye Bronfman, Montreal
1991 Europas,  Galerie du Parc, Geneva
1990 Europas,  Galerie Barbara Silverberg, Montréal
  The Main,  Mois de la Photo, Paris

Selected Group Exhibitions

2011 Remembering 911, International Center of Photography, New York
2010 Le MAHJ collectionne la photographie, Mois de la Photo, Paris;
Reimann’s Café, Sao Paolo Bienal, Brazil
2008 Du geste à la Voix, Espace Carte Blanche, Paris
2007 Here is New York: Remembering 9/11, New York Historical Society, New York
Du geste à la Voix, Espace Carte Blanche, Paris
L’Evenement: les images comme acteurs de l’histoire, Jeu de Paume, Paris
2006 After 9/11, Brooklyn Arts Council, New York                      
HOAST, Art Harlem, New York
Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montreal
2005 About Lenny, Islip Art Museum, New York
Toronto International Art Fair, Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Toronto
2004 Engineering Sculpture Into Books, Bignell Gallery, Connecticut
2003 Hybrids, Lopez-Mata Gallery, New York
Topos, Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto
2 Hours That Shook The World, Cleveland Musuem of Art, Ohio
Life of the City, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Here is New York: Martin Gropuis-Bau, Berlin; Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Washington; International Center of Photography, New York; Museum of Art, Zurich, Switzerland
2001 Edward Hilllel: Dispositions, National Gallery of Prague, CZ
Here is New York, Soho Gallery, New York 
Artcité, Musée d'art contemporain, Montreal
  Intimités poétiques, Musée d'art de Joliette, Quebec
  Interiors, Stokholm Art Fair, Sweden
2000 FF, Galerie Carousel, Paris
  Façades, ARTissima, Palazio de Lavoro, Turin, Italy
  Interiors, ARCO, International Art Fair, Madrid
  Lullabies, l'Atrium, Bruxelles, Belgium
1999 Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea, Florence
1998 Denkbilder/Images Pensées, Galerie Carousel, Paris
1993 Le Portrait, Musée de la Civilization, Quebec

Selected Video & Audio: Broadcast/Performance/Projections/Web

2009 Harlem Celebrates The King of Pop (independent)
2008 Harlem, USA, Will It Be Hillary or Barack? (Good Magazine)
2007 Gustave’s Follies (independent); The Music Never Dies (Jazz Foundation of America, NYC)
2006 The Falling Man (Darlow Smithson Productions & Channel 4, UK)
2005 The Scream (independent); Picasso’s Tail (Point Ephèmere, Paris);
The After Laugh Katrina Web-a-thon (DZMC Productions, USA)
2003 2 Hours That Shook The World (Cortez Ballet Contemporain, USA); M.- (Manchester Art Gallery)
911intransit.org (independent); Ovation (National Gallery of Prague, Institut Français, Czech Republic)
2000 The List, Neighbors, (National Gallery of Prague, Czech Republic)
1999 After Hours, (Museum of Modern Art Weimar); Lullabies, (Kunstamt Steglitz, Berlin);
Das Hammerman, (independent); The Birds Are Back, (Museum of Modern Art Weimar)
1998 Kiosk (Musée-Memorial des Enfants d’Izieu, France)
1996 Speaking Tongues (independent)
1994 Le Bataille du Riz (ARTE, France); France’s Double Identity (Channel 4 Television, UK);
1993 Unholy Trinity: Paul Touvier, The Ultra-Right & the Catholic Church (Granada Television, UK)
1992 Who Was Columbus? (ViaVideo Productions, Barcelona)
1990 Miki’s Harlem (Fuji Television, Japan)
1988 Andalucia: The Earth Sings (WNET, Public Broadcasting Corp. USA)
1987 Neighborhood Notebook (Videographe, Radio-Canada)

Selected Prizes and Grants

2010 Canada Council for the Arts Travel Grant
2009 JP Morgan Chase Foundation; Puffin Foundation
2008 Harlem Arts Alliance; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
2006 Sklaw Foundation USA
2003 Quebec studio New York, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
2002 Canada Council for the Arts
  Taylor Woodrow Foundation Great Britain
  Sklaw Foundation USA
2001 German-Czech Future Fund, Berlin
  Minister of External Affairs Canada
  Association Française d'Action Artistique Paris
  Goethe Institut Prague
  Institut Français Prague
2000 Verband der Deutschen Kritikerpreis fur Bildende Kunst Berlin
  Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec,
1999 Minister of External Affairs Canada
  City of Berlin Cultural Affairs
  Institut Français Berlin
  Artist residence, Galerie H du Siège, Valenciennes
  Canadian Cultural Center Paris
1997 Fondation du Judaïsme Français, Paris
1996 Institut Alain de Rothschild, Paris
1995 Goethe Institut, Paris
1992 Spiro Institute, London
1991 Japan-Canada Prize, Canada
1990 Canada Council for the Arts
  Ministère des affaires culturelles, Québec
1989 Secretary of State for Multiculturalism, Canada
1987 Nomination, Grand Prize, International Book Fair, Montreal
  Golden Sheaf Award, Yorkton, Saskatchewan
 
Selected Links

Edward Hillel
Edward Hillel: An Artist’s Dialogue with the Holocaust