nairy baghramian
1971, Isfahan, Iran
Nairy Baghramian explores forms and concepts inherited from the history of art to address issues of functionality, decoration, abstraction, and feminism. Her work offers a reflection on the incessant cycle of aesthetic object production, cultivating an interest in marginalized art forms and spaces that are often considered territory of the “feminine”. Her sculptures —made from a wide range of materials including steel, silicon, resin, and leather— bring art historical references into the realm of the subjective: the human body is dismantled and recombined through the politics of interior design. The result offers a re-reading of the legacy of Minimalism and Surrealism in the shape of protuberances and cavities, lumps and spills, organs and body parts. Instability, also a recurrent theme in Baghramian’s work, becomes evident in the use of tenuous and flimsy supports to hold and display her sculptures: dangling or leaning, always on the brink of collapse. The strength of her practice lies precisely in revisiting the oft-overlooked and the delicate, using these tropes as a point of departure for sculptures that are aware of their own fragility while comfortably holding sway over the exhibition space.
Nairy Baghramian lives and works in Berlin.
halfway house, 1999
2 color prints, 3 black and white prints (one film stil, cleo 5-7 by agnes varda)
23.62 x 15.75 in.; 35.43 x 23.62 in.
installation view of how is your work going?, galerie nagel, cologne, germany, 1999
the iron table, 2002
painted wood, painted metal, sand, wire cable, synthetic cable, mast, 2 spotlights
90.55 x 212.6 x 208.66 in.
installation view of here and now, büro friedrich, berlin, 2002
teestube, 2005
installation view of the 5th berlin biennale for contemporary art, germany, 2008
klappen mit goldenen zähnen (trapdoor with golden teeth), 2005
painted metal and wood, brass stick
variable dimensions
installation view of looking is political, museum sztuki, lodz, poland 2009
vierte wand / zwei protagonistinnen / (fourth wall / two famale progatonists), 2005
painted metal, bleached fabric
variable dimensions
das hübsche eck (the pretty corner), 2006
painted metal, mirror
149.61 x 92.52 x 255.91 in.
entr’acte, 2007
concrete, plastic awning, metal frames, mirror
263.78 x 82.68 x 33.46 in.
installation view of skulptur projekte münster '07, münster, germany, 2007
eule, 2007
wood and painted wood, epoxy resin
13.78 x 39.37 x 16.54 in.
portrait (der kopf des konzeptkünstlers raucht), portrait (the concept-artist smoking head), 2008
black and white print, metal frame, glass
49.21 x 48.43 x 1.18 in.
migraine, 2007
colored glass, painted metal and wood
68.9 x 90.55 x 35.43 in.
la lampe dans l’horloge, 2008
concept and collaboration: nairy baghramiann / janette laverrière
installation view at the 5th berlin biennale, germany, 2008
klassentreffen (class reunion), 2008
colored cast rubber, painted metal, colored epoxy resin
variable dimensions
klassentreffen (class reunion), 2008
colored cast rubber, painted metal, colored epoxy resin
variable dimensions
entrechambrage verticale, 2008
brass, aluminum, silicon, painted mdf board
94.5 x 92.52 x 1.57 in.
entrechambrage horizontale, 2008
brass, aluminum, silicon, painted mdf board
94.5 x 1.97 x 86.6 in.
la colonne cassée, 1871, 2008
painted steel
74.8 x 96.5 x .4 in. each
spanner (stretcher-loiterer), 2008
chromed brass pipe, stretcher, rubber wire rope, painted metal rings
variable dimensions
spanner (stretcher-loiterer), 2008
chromed brass pipe, stretcher, rubber wire rope, painted metal rings
variable dimensions
damenrad / side saddle, 2009
colored epoxy resin, basket, plastic sheath
90.6 x 15.7 x 11.8 in.
butcher, barber & angler, 2009
painted metal, fibreglass, rubber, real and decorative sausages and ham
90.55 x 92.52 x 70.87 in.
aufbauhelfer (construction helper), 2009
painted steel, concrete, rubber
installation view of monument and utopie, steirischer herbst, graz, austria, 2009
aufbauhelfer (construction helper), 2009
painted steel, concrete, rubber
installation view of monument and utopie, steirischer herbst, graz, austria, 2009
beliebte stellen hot spots, 2010
solid rod, epoxible resin
variable dimensions
londoner türsteher (london bouncer), 2010
polished aluminium, rubber
86.61 x 43.41 x 25.59 in.
fluffing the pillows c (gurney, silo), 2012
fabric, rubber, pleather, hemp rope, chromed pole
variable dimensions
fluffing the pillows I (moorings, gurneys, silos), 2012
casted painted aluminium, fabric, rubber, pleather, hemp rope, chromed pole
variable dimensions
mooring I (standing), 2012
casted painted aluminium
42.91 x 23.23 x 9.65 in.
fugue, 2012
rubber, mdf with melamine coating, paint, metal, concrete block
13.8 x 114.2 x 9.4 in.; 25.6 x 102.4 x 9.8 in.
installation view of olinka, or where movement is created at museo tamayo, mexico city, 2012
retainer, 2013
casted aluminium, silicon, polycarbonate, chromed metal, print, painted metal, rubber
variable dimensions
installation view, sculpture center, new york, 2013
retainer, 2013
casted aluminium, silicon, polycarbonate, chromed metal, print, painted metal, rubber
variable dimensions
installation view, sculpture center, new york, 2013
beliebte stellen / privileged points, 2014
metal rods, laquer
installation view off the rack. neuer berliner kunstverein, berlin, 2014
beliebte stellen / privileged points
metal rods, laquer
installation view of off the rack, neuer berliner kunstverein, berlin, 2014
cold shoulder, 2014
metal, fabric, epoxy resin
122 x 43.3 x .8 in. each approximately
installation view, serralves museum, porto, portugal, 2014
cold shoulder, 2014
metal, fabric, epoxy resin
122 x 43.3 x .8 in. each approx.
installation view, serralves museum, porto, portugal, 2014
french curve, 2014
cast aluminium, epoxy resin, lacquer
433 x 23.6 x 2.8 in. approx.
installation view, museum of the art institute of chicago, 2014
french curve, 2014
cast aluminium, epoxy resin, lacquer
433 x 23.6 x 2.8 in. approx.
installation view, museum of the art institute of chicago, 2014
slip of the tongue, 2014
rubber, epoxy resin, concrete, styrofoam
58.76 x 76.77 x 37.01 in.
installation view, museum of the art institute of chicago, 2014
Recent major solo exhibitions include: The Facade Commission: Nairy Baghramian, Scratching the back, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (2023); Nairy Baghramian: Jupon de Corps, Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2023); Nairy Baghramian: Modèle vivant, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2023); Nairy Baghramian: Modèle vivant, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX (2022); Misfits, Fondazione Furla, Galleria d’Arte Moderna (GAM), Milan; Breath Holding Spell, Vienna Secession, Austria (2021); Nairy Baghramian, Carré d’Art-Musée d’art contemporain, Nimes, France (2020); Privileged points, Musée d'Art Contemporain du Luxembourg (2019); Nairy Baghramian, Palacio de Cristal, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2018); Déformation Professionnelle, S.M.A.K.- Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium; Walker Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Germany (2016–2017); Scruff of the Neck (Supplements), Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland (2016); Hand Me Down, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2015); Nairy Baghramian: Fluffing the Pillows (Moorings, Gurneys, Silos, Mops News Rack, Railing), MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA (2013); Retainer, SculptureCenter, New York, NY (2013); Fluffing the Pillows, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany (2012); Butcher, Barber, Angler & Others, Studio Voltaire, London (2009); Affairen. Ein semiotisches Haus, das nie gebaut wurde Zu Gast: Janette Laverrière und Henrik Olesen, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany (2008); The Walker’s Day Off, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany (2008); “Everlasting layers of ideas, images, feelings, have fallen upon your brain softly as light. Each succession has seemed to bury all that went before. And yet, in reality, not one has been extinguished.”, Kunstvereins Nürnberg - Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft, Nuremberg, Germany (2007); It Is Not at Home, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2006).
Baghramian has been curated into group exhibitions such as: Julie Mehretu. Ensemble, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy (2024); YOU ARE HERE*, Sculpture Garden, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2023); TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York, NY (2022); Shifting in Silence, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), CA (2022); Future Bodies from a Recent Past—Sculpture, Technology, and the Body since the 1950s, Museum Brandhorst, Münich, Germany (2022); Smashing into My Heart, The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, IL (2021); Transparent things, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA Goldsmith), London (2020); Ground/work, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA (2020); Wir blumen: The Lightness of the Fragile, Kunstverein Hannover, Germany (2020); Blumensprengung: Künstlerinnen der Sammlung Ludwig, Ludwigforum, Aachen, Germany (2020); Dependent Objects, Cohen and Stone Family Galleries, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL (2020); Untitled, 2020. Three perspectives on the art of the present, Punta della Dogana, Venice (2020); Forever Young, Museum Brandhorst, Münich, Germany (2019); Negativer Raum, Zentrum für Kunst und Medien (ZKM), Karlsruhe, Germany (2019); Highlights for a Future, Stedelijke Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium (2019); Soft Power, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), CA (2019); A New MoMA; The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2019); Odradek, Malmö Konsthall, Sweden (2018); Travelers: Stepping into the Unknown, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (2018); Class Reunion. Works from the Gaby and Wilhelm Schürman Collection, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (MUMOK), Vienna, Austria (2018); Pompei@Madre Materia Archeologica, Madre·museo d’arte contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, Italy (2017); Painting 2.0: Expression in the information age, Museum Brandhorst, Münich, Germany, in collaboration with mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria (2016); Fade In, Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art, New York (2016); Slip of the Tongue, Punta della Dogana, Venice (2015); Olinka, or Where Movement is Created, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2012); Sculptural Matter, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia (2012); Various Stages–Bedingte Bühnen, Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany (2012); 30 Künstler/30 Räume, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nüremberg, Germany (2012); Temporary Stedelijk 2, Stedelijk Museum, Ámsterdam, Países Bajos (2011); Gesehen & geliebt # 4, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (2010); Yesterday’s Tomorrows, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Canada (2010); Kunstpreis der Böttcherstiftung, Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany (2009); Looking is Political, Bergen Kunsthall, Norway (2009); Draw a straight line and follow it, Tate Modern, London (2008); among others.
The artist has also participated in the following biennials and festivals: Performa 19 Biennial, NY (2019); 14e Biennale de Lyon, France (2017); documenta 14, Kassel, Germany (2017); Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017, Germany; Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture, Japan (2015); 8 Berlin Biennale (2014); Glasgow International, Scotland (2012); 45th Venice Biennial (2011); 5 Berlin Biennale (2008).
Read full article of nairy baghramian’s misfit sculptures
Nasher Sculpture Center presents 2022 Nasher Prize Laureate Nairy Baghramian.
Vienna Secession presents Nairy Baghramian's Breath Holding Spell.
Fondazione Furla and Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM), Milan, announce "Misfits", a Nairy Baghramian exhibition curated by Bruna Roccasalva.
Read the full review on Nairy Baghramian's upcoming show in Marian Goodman, Paris at Martin Cid Magazine.
kurimanzutto is proud to participate in Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach 2020 featuring a selection of works by: Gabriel Orozco, Nairy Baghramian, Haegue Yang, Jimmie Durham, Damián Ortega, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Carlos Amorales, Roberto Gil de Montes, Wilfredo Prieto, Miguel Calderón.
Haegue Yang and Nairy Baghramian take part in The Clark Institute's first outdoor exhibition of site-specific comissioned works.
This exhibition is the first such large monographic presentation of the artist’s work in Poland. It features the older works selected from her comprehensive output as well as more recent works focusing around new themes and inspirations.
Nairy Baghramian participates in Performa 19, taking place over a period of three weeks at locations throughout New York City, which once again celebrates the extraordinary vitality, inventiveness and significance of New York as a leading global performance capital of the world.
Beliete stellen / Privieged Points is a series of works by the artist Nairy Baghramian, who approaches her institutional environment with different colors and volumes.
Nairy Baghramian is the guest of the Autumn Festival 2018 in Paris.
The sculptures and installations of Nairy Baghramian update inherited forms and concepts to deal with notions such as functionality, abstraction or feminism. With clear references to the History of Art and modern architecture, specifically to minimalism and surrealism, the artist questions the tensions between function and ornament, industry and crafts, among others.
