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Nairy Baghramian

German artist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Nairy Baghramian (born 1971) is an Iranian-born German visual artist of Armenian ethnicity.[1] Since 1984, she has lived and worked in Berlin.[1][2] Using an extensive repertoire of techniques, materials, and forms, Baghramian’s site-responsive sculptures and installations explore the relationship between architecture, objects, and the human figure.

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

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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,[4] and later reunited in West Berlin with their family.[1][5] She attended Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin).[5][6]

In addition to her artistic practice, Baghramian worked at the women’s shelter that her sister Louise co-founded.[4]

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Work

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Baghramian creates sculptural installations that reimagine the workings of the body and its connection to the spaces it inhabits. [7] 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][8] Her work depicts abstract forms of bodies or body parts, often contemplating the brokenness or "prosthetic" relationship between the body and its environment.[9][10] Through a wide range of materials and techniques, Baghramian challenges traditional sculptural conventions, creating works that defy definitions and reveal new perspectives. [11] A process of listening to and questioning materials is critical to her practice. “I have a very classical way of working, a traditional way of thinking of materials,” she says. “To get the sense of the politics of the material and the shapes, I have to understand it.” [12]

For the Berlin Biennial, she collaborated with ninety-eight-year-old designer Janette Laverrière to create a set for her furniture design.[13][14]

In 2017, Baghramian's exhibition, Déformation Professionnelle, was on display in the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst.[15] This exhibition is the culmination of the artist's 18 sets of works from 1999 to 2016.[15] Déformation Professionnelle exhibits the artist's oeuvre while alluding to existing works in her field. Through a site-responsive approach that incorporates sculptural elements and photography, she challenges conventional perspectives on the connection between human body gestures and their functions.[16]

In 2019, Baghramian took part in Performa 19 , collaborating with the artist Maria Hassabi. Inspired by the portraits taken by Carlo Mollino in the 1960s, they created Entre Deux Actes (Ménage à Quatre).[17]

Between 2020 and 2021, Baghramian’s work was displayed in Ground/work at the Clark Art Institute. Creating Knee and Elbow, Baghramian was inspired by movement in the body. [18]

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Recognition

In 2021, Baghramian received the 2022 Nasher Prize presented by the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.[19] She was later a member of the jury that selected Senga Nengudi (2023)[20] and Otobong Nkanga (2024)[21] for the Nasher Prize.

Exhibitions

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Awards

  • 2025 – Art Basel Award, Basel, Switzerland
  • 2023 – Nivola Award for Sculpture, Museo Nivola, Orani, Italy
  • 2023 – Aspen Award for Art, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado
  • 2022 – Nasher Prize, Dallas Texas;[19]
  • 2020 – Hugo Boss Prize (finalist);[28]
  • 2019 – Malcolm McLaren Award, Performa 19, New York, NY[29]
  • 2016 – Zurich Art Prize, Zurich, Switzerland;[30]
  • 2014 – Arnold-Bode Prize, Kassel, Germany;
  • 2012 – Hector Prize, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany;
  • 2007 – Ernst Schering Foundation Award
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Personal life

Baghramian has been in a relationship with art dealer Michel Ziegler.[4]

References

Further reading

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