Nairy Baghramian’s work traverses the realms of sculpture, installation, photography and drawing with fearless experimentation, historical acuity and conceptual rigor. Particularly in her prime medium of sculpture, the artist employs an extensive repertoire of techniques, materials and forms to address the spatial, architectural, social, political and contextual conditions of contemporary art. Using an abstract vocabulary that often combines geometric shapes and organic matter, industrial process and gestural procedure, Baghramian’s abstract yet eminently allusive works subtly explore the ligatures between art and other fields of object production (most notably interior design, dance and theater) in order to evoke and address bodies of all variants in both their vulnerability and obstinacy. Through her innovative use of materials and manipulation of familiar forms, Baghramian’s work invites viewers to reconsider their sense of self, space, object and site.
Born in Isfahan, Baghramian had to flee post-revolutionary Iran as a teenager and has been living and working in Berlin since 1984.
Recent solo shows include those at the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen CO (2023); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas TX (2022); Carré d’Art, Nimes, France (2022); Secession, Vienna, Austria (2021); Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM), Milan, Italy (2021); MUDAM Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2019); Palacio de Cristal, Madrid, Spain (2018); the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN (2017); Statens Museum for Kunst, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark (2017); Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent, Belgium (2016); Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich, Switzerland (2016); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico (2015); The Art Institute of Chicago IL (2014); Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal (2014); MIT Visual Arts Center, Cambridge MA (2013); Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany (2012); the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (2012); and Serpentine Gallery, London, UK (2010); Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2006).
Baghramian has also participated at Venice Biennale, Italy (2019 and 2011); Yorkshire Sculpture International, Wakefield, UK (2019); Documenta 14 in Kassel, Germany and Athens, Greece (2017); Skulptur Projekte Muenster, Germany (2017 and 2007); Lyon Biennale, France (2017); Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, UK (2012); and the Berlin Biennale, Germany (2014 and 2008).
Baghramian has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Aspen Art Award (2023); the Nivola Award (2022); Nasher Prize Laureate (2022); the Malcolm-McLaren-Award with Maria Hassabi (2019); the Zürich Art Prize (2016); the Arnold-Bode Prize, Kassel (2014); the Hector Prize, Kunsthalle Mannheim (2012); and the Ernst Schering Foundation Award (2007).
Her works are held in institutional collections, including Museum of Modern Art, New York NY; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles CA; Salomon Guggenheim Collection, New York NY; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN; Tate Modern, London, UK; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; MUDAM Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Tamayo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico; Jumex Museum, Mexico City, Mexico; Nasher Art Center, Dallas TX; Art Institute Chicago, Chicago IL; MOCA, Los Angeles CA.
Current presentations of her work include ‘YOU ARE HERE* Contemporary Art in the Garden’, MoMA, New York NY, ‘Scratching the Back’, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY and ‘Julie Mehretu, Ensemble’, Palazzo Grassi Venice, Italy.
