Edi Rama born in Tirana (Albania) in 1964. He lives and work in Tirana.

A former art professor who did not fully abandon his initial art career once he entered in the public life of his country, first as a Minister of Culture, then as the mayor of Tirana for 11 years and finally from 2014 as the Primer Minister of Albania. Edi Rama’s art practice has developed in close parallel with his career as politician. Drawing and sculpture are the two main and preferred techniques used by the artist to develop his practice. His drawing are colorful, tightly wound abstractions, with tendrils of color spiraling out from densely packed cores. While sitting in telephone conferences or meetings, he makes countless automatic drawings on printouts of his daily agenda, office notes, protocols, faxes, and other official correspondence on a daily basis.

The drawings have matured over time, from idle scribbles into more substantial, all-over compositions. Looking at these drawings as if they are purely improvisations would be limiting, for the artist they represent his best way to get focus on what is happening around him, to listen and to process decisions that must be taken. In fact his drawing is the opposite of absentmindedness – it is the embodiment of present-mindedness. The drawings, with their seething colors and winding curves, don’t illustrate, or even abstract, the rough and tumble of politics. Instead, they reassert the individuality of a man whose job is to represent others. Alongside with the drawing, sculpture has strongly entered in Edi Rama’s art practice. Created outside of working hours on the weekend in his studio, Rama’s undulating sculptural works translate these explosive drawings into three dimensions. Presented on custom plinths that follow the outline of the sculpture, Rama’s abstract automatic reflections take on an architectural dimension.