Nairy Baghramian
Born1971 (age 5253)
EducationBerlin University of the Arts
MovementModernism, Abstract art, Post-minimalism, Minimalism

Nairy Baghramian (born 1971) is an Armenian-Iranian born German visual artist.[1] Since 1984, she has lived and worked in Berlin.[1][2]

When the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum selected Baghramian as a finalist for the 2020 Hugo Boss Prize, they described Baghramian’s statues as: "...[Exploring] the workings of the body, gender, and public and private space."[3]

Early life and education

Baghramian was born in 1971, in Isfahan, Iran,[1] the youngest child in an Armenian Iranian family.[4] She and her mother flew to East Berlin in 1984, when she was 13,[5] and later reunited in West Berlin with their family.[1][6] She attended Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin).[6][7]

In addition to her artistic practice, Baghramian worked at the women’s shelter that her sister Louise co-founded.[8]

Work

Baghramian captures fleeting human poses in traditional materials such as marble and steel.[9] Inspired by dance classes she took as a child, Baghramian recalls her teacher speaking of the need to break down human movement into discrete elements.[3][9] Her work depicts abstract forms of bodies or body parts, often contemplating the brokenness or "prosthetic" relationship between the body and its environment.[10][11] In the Guggenheim video, Baghramian explains that sometimes she builds on the idea of "looking at something and feeling pity for it."[3] In addition, her work creates an interplay between the work itself and the spaces in which it exists.

For the Berlin Biennial she collaborated with ninety-eight-year-old designer Janette Laverrière to create a set for her furniture design.[12][13]

In 2017, Baghramian's exhibition, Déformation Professionnelle was on display in the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst.[14] This exhibition is the culmination of the artist's 18 sets of works from 1999 to 2016.[14] Déformation Professionnelle exhibits the artist's oeuvre while alluding to existing works in her field. By using sculpture elements and photography in a site-responsive practice, she questions the traditional views towards the relationship between the human body's gestures and their functions.[15]

Recognition

In 2021, Baghramian received the 2022 Nasher Prize presented by the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.[16] She was later a member of the juries that selected Senga Nengudi (2023)[17] and Otobong Nkanga (2024)[18] for the Nasher Prize.

Exhibitions

Awards

  • 2022 - Nasher Prize, Dallas Texas;[16]
  • 2020 - Hugo Boss Prize;[21]
  • 2016 – Zurich Art Prize, Zurich, Switzerland;[22]
  • 2014 – Arnold-Bode Prize, Kassel, Germany;
  • 2012 – Hector Prize, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany;
  • 2007 – Ernst Schering Foundation Award

Personal life

Baghramian has been in a relationship with art dealer Michel Ziegler.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sherwin, Skye (9 December 2009). "Artist of the week 67: Nairy Baghramian". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  2. Hermes, Manfred (May 2007). "Nairy Baghramian". Frieze. No. 107. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Guggenheim Museum (5 October 2020). "Nairy Baghramian: Hugo Boss Prize 2020 Nominee". YouTube. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  4. Siddhartha Mitter (6 September 2023), A Sculptor Breaks Through, Taking the Walls Down With Her New York Times.
  5. Siddhartha Mitter (6 September 2023), A Sculptor Breaks Through, Taking the Walls Down With Her New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Kulturspiegel: das Programm-Magazin (in German). Spiegel-Verlag. 2007. p. 28.
  7. Mitter, Siddhartha (6 September 2023). "A Sculptor Breaks Through, Taking the Walls Down With Her". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  8. Siddhartha Mitter (6 September 2023), A Sculptor Breaks Through, Taking the Walls Down With Her New York Times.
  9. 1 2 "Hugo Boss Prize 2020 Nominee Nairy Baghramian on Her Creative Process". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  10. Stakemeier, Kerstin (April 2017). "Kerstin Stakemeier on Nairy Baghramian". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  11. "Nairy Baghramian: Ambivalent Abstraction". ocula.com. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  12. Allsop, Laura (2009). "Butcher, Baker... Artist?". Art Review. 37.
  13. Heiser, Jorg (May 2010). "Room to Live". Frieze. No. 131.
  14. 1 2 "Nairy Baghramian .Déformation Professionnelle". smak. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  15. "S.M.K.A." e-flux.
  16. 1 2 "Nairy Baghramian Awarded 2022 Nasher Prize for Sculpture". Art Forum. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  17. Maximilíano Durón (21 September 2022), Groundbreaking Artist Senga Nengudi Wins $100,000 Nasher Prize ARTnews.
  18. Maximilíano Durón (5 October 2023), Otobong Nkanga Wins $100,000 Nasher Prize for Sculpture ARTnews.
  19. "SFMOMA Announces SOFT POWER — International Contemporary Exhibition Featuring New Commissions and Recent Work by 20 Artists". www.sfmoma.org. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  20. "Nairy Baghramian". www.documenta14.de. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  21. Williams, Maxwell (19 November 2019). "Meet the 6 Rising-Star Artists Competing for the Coveted $100,000 Hugo Boss Prize". artnetnews. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  22. "Nairy Baghramian. Misfits". Fondazione Furla. 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  23. Siddhartha Mitter (6 September 2023), A Sculptor Breaks Through, Taking the Walls Down With Her New York Times.

Further reading

  • Kostas Prapoglu (20 September 2016). "Nairy Baghramian". The Seen.
  • Kevin McGarry (28 January 2013). "Nairy Baghramian at Sculpture Center". T Magazine.
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