The gallery's artists challenge pre-conceived notions of nationality and cultural identity, creating an environment in which established norms become blurred and characterizations from seemingly contrasting cultures occupy the same visual space. This juxtaposition leads to a simultaneous renunciation and acceptance of the traditional and the contemporary, creating an environment that is in constant flux. Religion, politics, nationality and culture are treated as the foundation of identity, depicted and disseminated to varying degrees. Through painting, collage, sculpture, photography and installation work the artists convey the contestations of the contemporary political landscape.
Kashya Hildebrand is relocating her gallery from Zurich, Switzerland to London, UK, where it will join the thriving group of galleries in the area of Fitzrovia. The gallery’s curatorial programme unites an ethnically diverse group of artists spanning from Asia through Iran and the Arab world to Europe. This diversity reflects Hildebrand's own experience as a global citizen: she has lived and worked on three continents, and the range of art she has encountered has inspired her. The gallery has sought out young emerging artists dedicating time and energy to give them an international platform.
Before embarking on her career as a gallery owner, Hildebrand worked for a prestigious hedge fund for 14 years. During her financial career, she lived in New York, Paris and London – and she discovered art. After so many wonder-filled encounters in galleries and museums around the world, she found the art world irresistible. She opened her first gallery in Geneva in 2001 and later had galleries in both New York and Zurich. The inspiration of working in the global financial markets and covering markets in three time zones inspired her to seek out an eclectic stable of artists for her gallery that reflects the globalised world we live in. Born in Pakistan to a Pakistani father and an American mother and marrying a Swiss husband has also influenced her gallery program. She is deeply affected by her Pakistani heritage and the cultural divide between Pakistan and the West. In addition, her participation in the first Dubai art fair 7 years ago broadened her vision dramatically: she recognized the burgeoning talent of emerging artists from the Middle East and Iran. She found art could become a conduit and bridge for cultural exchange.
In 2002, Hildebrand’s gallery was the first outside of Iran to exhibit Farhad Moshiri’s now-famous jars painted with lyrics from pop songs. In 2004, Moshiri curated an exhibition titled Welcome for Hildebrand’s New York gallery, introducing pop-infused critiques from like-minded Iranian artists to the New York scene. Well-known artist Andrei Molodkin, who represented Russia at the 2009 Venice Biennale, first showed his Russian crude oil sculptures with Hildebrand. This exhibition was a timely comment on how oil had became a substitute for his cultural heritage and the exhibition was awarded a prize from Mayor Bloomberg for adding Cultural Life to the City. Lisa Ross’s exhibition, who currently has a solo exhibition at the Rubin Museum in New York, is a well known for her photographs of Uyghur shines in China and has received critical acclaim. The gallery also exhibits the 2007 National Young Artist of the Year HC Berg, 2010 Abraaj Prize Winner Marwan Sahmarani’s, Jameel Prize Candidate Hadieh Shafie, and others.
Through participation in art fairs around the world (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Singapore, Seoul, India, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Istanbul, Cologne, Basel, Madrid, Miami, and New York) and as a result of its tenacious efforts to discover talent internationally, the gallery will showcase well-known masters alongside emerging artists in order to create a continuum of interaction between the artists and their works of art within a larger global context. Hildebrand looks forward to welcoming the international and cosmopolitan diversity of the London art community and is excited to have a platform here.