About
Adel Abidin is a visual artist. His multimedia practice explores the complex relationships between culture, politics, and identity. Using a sharp palette of irony and humor, Abidin gravitates towards social situations dealing with elusive experiences and cultural alienation. Abidin uses his cross-cultural background to create a distinct visual language often laced with sarcasm and paradox, while maintaining his ultimately humanistic approach.
Abidin was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1973 and currently lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. He has exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions, including shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki; DA2 Domus Artium, Center of Contemporary Art, Salamanca, Spain; the 10th Sharjah Biennial, UAE; the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Australia; and the 52nd and 54th Venice Biennale, Italy. In 2010, he exhibited his well-known video installation Three Love Songs (2010) at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar.
In 2011, he presented his critically acclaimed video installation Consumption of War. Abidin’s exhibitions in 2012 included: L’institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France; a major solo exhibition at ARTER in Istanbul, Turkey; and at Kunsthalle Winterthur, Switzerland. He has also been selected to participate in a group show in Tokyo, Japan, at the Mori Art Museum. In 2013, his 2006 video installation 52 Guaranteed Affections was selected to be part of the big celebrated anniversary group exhibition at the Mori Art Museum. Abidin’s work has been part of a group exhibition at the Mead Gallery in the United Kingdom. He has also exhibited at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in London, UK. The New York Times selected his work Al-Warqaa (2013) as the main piece of Middle Eastern art during Art Dubai, UAE.