Idlir Koka (b. 1979, Tirana, Albania) is an Albanian artist whose work explores the intersection of memory, material, and identity through the language of surfaces. Working in soft tones and diffused brushwork, he treats the painted image as a living skin, a site where personal and collective histories become imprinted, eroded or transformed. His imagery often draws from post-socialist urban fragments, human gestures, and the faint marks of use and time. Each painting acts as a slow observation of how bodies, objects, and spaces absorb emotional and historical pressure. Koka’s practice connects intimacy and distance, vulnerability and endurance, creating a visual field where memory becomes tactile and empathy turns material.

Selected Exhibitions

Caementum
Tirana Art Weekend (TAWE) 27>30.11.2025

Borrowed Skins
Solo Show / 21.10>10.11.2025 / Art House

SWAB Barcelona Art Fair
03.10.2023>08.10.2023

Rear-view mirror
Solo Show / 30.05.2023>4.06.2023 / NAAN Gallery

Pleasures / Kënaqësitë
Group show / 12.10.2022>4.12.2022 / Bazament Art Space

Open Archive
Group show / 15.12.2020>28.02.2021 / Zeta Gallery

Appearances / Shfaqjet
Solo Show / 15>28.11.2018 / Zeta Gallery

Artist in Residence
Kunstlerhaus / Salzburg / 2017

Imago Mundi / Albanian Knots - Luciano Benetton Collection / 2015

Cosi vicina cosi lontana / Albania prima e dopo 1990
Museo d’arte contemporanea di villa Croce / Genova / 2009

Do you know a place where the paradoxes blossom?
Onufri prize / National Gallery of Arts of Tirana / 2008

Art & Architecture / Cities, realities & visions
National Gallery of Arts of Tirana / 2008