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Hayv Kahraman

Hayv Kahraman (born 1981) is an Iraqi-American-Swedish artist of Kurdish descent,[1][2] who was born in Baghdad and fled to Sweden with family during the Gulf War, studied in Florence, and is currently based in Los Angeles.[1][2][3][4] She is primarily a painter.[5]

Hayv Kahraman
Born
Hayv Kahraman

1981
Baghdad, Iraq
NationalityIraqi American
EducationUmeå University
Known forPainting, Drawing, Sculpture
Websitehayvkahraman.com

Life and career

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Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1981 to Kurdish parents, a Kurdish mother from Slemani.[5][6] Her family fled to Sweden in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991).[3][7][8] During the Iran–Iraq War, Hayv spent a lot of her time in the basement of her uncle's house. Her relatives would all huddle around candles and play card games.[9] While living in Iraq, she attended the Music and Ballet School in central Baghdad. One night, her family packed their car and hired a smuggler to take them to Sweden, and this is when she became a refugee. She enrolled in music and ballet classes, but decided to leave due to the teacher's racism. She studied at the Academy of Art and Design in Florence, Italy. She lives and works in California, United States.[2][10] Her life is impacted by these global events and greatly informs her artwork. Due to her origin and gender she has been well suited around the world in exhibitions in women in Arab world or "contemporary approaches to Islamic artistic traditions"[11]

Works

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Themes

The theme of violence in her work maybe due to her experiences with war and being a refugee. Most importantly, the idea of fractured identities is evident in her work because of war and population displacement. She focuses on border and boundaries persistently being broken down. She believes you develop who you are based on your location. Therefore when there are boundaries and borders that are broken, your identity becomes broken as well.[12] Her works have a global perspective. For example, "Marionettes" addresses the submissive role of women doing chores such as cleaning.[13] Her works additionally covers themes of gender and body politics, migration, and the diaspora.[14] In her 2024 exhibition Look Me in the Eyes at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, she explored questions of surveillance, nationalism, classification, and mobility through the motif of eyes across a series of paintings and sculptures.[15]

Techniques

She is also recognized for the techniques she uses in her work including science and geometry specifically the use of pattern. For example, she uses decorative textile patterns. She also has used science (3D scanning and processing) to take images of her body to deconstruct and reconstruct it. The goal was to be able to view her body from different perspectives.[12] Other techniques she uses includes Chinese ink painting, Japanese woodblocks and Russian nestling dolls.

Examples of her pieces:

War-aq, the Arabic word for playing cards, is a very personal group of her works. She combined the idea of a scattered deck of cards with the experiences of five million displaced Iraqis. Migrant 11 is a series of a contorted dancer that refers to the deformation of the self due to migration. This work relates to her personal experience of attending the music and ballet school in central Baghdad. Migrant 3 is a self portrait of herself cutting off her tongue to represent the loss of language and communication through her life experiences. Re-Weaving Migrant Inscriptions (2017) is a series of paintings that recalls the traditional Iraqi woven fan, or mahaffa, by cutting and weaving sections of her oil-painted self portraits, constructing a narrative of forced exile, displacement and cultural assimilation.[16]

Not Quite Human (2019) was exhibited at the Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea. Several oil on linen paintings. Female figures are depicted bending their bodies into a collection of extreme positions. Kahraman’s paintings transmit strength, distress, submission and erotism all at the same time.[17]

Body Screen is an installation work from 3D scans of Kahraman's body. A laser scanner went a long the outside of her nude body creating more than 80 scans. The body was sectioned and placed into two rooms using a lattice screen. As an observer you only have access to the other room by looking through this screen. There is a shanshool or mashrabiyya from the Arab region. The lattice screen is ecofriendly, and creates a means to "observe" from the privacy of one's own home. This places women in a position of power where they can see without being seen especially when it comes to men/the male gaze.[18] This work is very direct, it breaks the mastering gaze and challenges the passive, domesticated and traditional place of women.

Exhibitions (selection)

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Kahraman’s recent solo exhibitions include Gut Feelings, The Mosaic Rooms, London (2022);[19][20][21] Touch of Otherness, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah (2022);[22][23] Not Quite Human: Second Iteration, Pilar Corrias, London (2020);[24][25] To the Land of the Waqwaq, Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture, and Design, Honolulu, HI (2019);[26][27] Displaced Choreographies, De La Warr Pavilion, Sussex, UK (2019);[28] Pomona College Museum of Art, Claremont, California (2018);[29][30] and Hayv Kahraman: Acts of Reparation, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri (2017).[31][32][33] Other recent group exhibitions include Reflections: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa, British Museum, London (2021);[34] Blurred Bodies, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose (2021); New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley (2021);[35] In Plain Sight, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2019);[36][37] Institute of Contemporary Arts/Boston (2019); and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts (MASS MoCA), North Adams (2019).

Collections

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Kahraman’s work is in several important international collections including the British Museum, London, UK; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California, US; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), California, US; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, US; The Rubell Family Collection, Florida, US; The Barjeel Art Foundation Sharjah, UAE; MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art Doha, Qatar; Pizzuti Collection of Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, US; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, US; Pérez Art Museum Miami,[38] Miami, US.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Memarian, Omid (2 December 2017). "Weaving Objects of Loss and Memory With Hayv Kahraman". Global Voices. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c del Barco, Mandalit (27 November 2019). "Iraqi American Artist Hayv Kahraman Is 'Building An Army Of Fierce Women'". NPR. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b Sherwin, Skye (21 February 2022). "Hayv Kahraman: 'I was brainwashed into thinking anything Euro-American-centric is the ideal'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  4. ^ "About | Hayv Kahraman". Hayv Kahraman. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Artist: Hayv Kahraman". Saatchi Gallery. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  6. ^ Roberts, Cleo (2019). "Hayv Kahraman". In Morrill, Rebecca; Wright, Karen; Elderton, Louisa (eds.). Great Women Artists. Phaidon Press. p. 208. ISBN 9780714878775. OCLC 1099690505.
  7. ^ Almino, Elisa Wouk (14 September 2020). "Meet LA's Art Community: Hayv Kahraman Is Examining What It Means to Be "Immune"". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Hayv Kahraman: Superfluous Bodies". Honolulu Museum of Art. 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. ^ Kahraman, Hayv (March 2015). "Collective Performance: Gendering Memories of Iraq". Journal of Middle East Women's Studies. 11:1: 117–123. doi:10.1215/15525864-2832412. S2CID 144377702.
  10. ^ "Hayv Kahraman. Minor Heroisms". Universes in Universe. 2015. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  11. ^ Bryant, Eric (March 2014). "Defying Definition". Art + Auction: 1 – via Astor.
  12. ^ a b Mohseni, Yasmine (April 2012). "Of Violence and beauty Hayv Kahraman's women". Modern Painters: 52 – via JSTOR.
  13. ^ Mohseni, Yasmine (April 2012). "Of Violence and Beauty Hayv Kahraman's". Modern Painters: 50 – via Jstor.
  14. ^ Suleman, Fahmida; Royal Ontario Museum, eds. (2023). Being and belonging: contemporary women artists from the Islamic world and beyond. Toronto: ROM. ISBN 978-0-300-27509-4.
  15. ^ Fenstermaker, Will. "Hayv Kahraman by Will Fenstermaker". bombmagazine.org. BOMB. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  16. ^ Ray, Sharmistha (26 November 2017). "An Iraqi Artist Bears Witness to the Trauma of Displacement". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  17. ^ Collier, Lizzy Vartanian (9 September 2019). "Challenging Stereotypes by Contorting the Female Form". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  18. ^ Kahraman, Hayv (March 2015). "Collective Performance: Gendering memories of Iraq". Journal of Middle East Women's Studies. 11 (1): 119. doi:10.1215/15525864-2832412. S2CID 144377702 – via Jstor.
  19. ^ Khong, En Liang (12 March 2022). "The pain of forced migration made physical in Hayv Kahraman's paintings". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  20. ^ "Hayv Kahraman | Gut Feelings". The Mosaic Rooms. 2022. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  21. ^ "Hayv Kahraman at The Mosaic Rooms". Art Breath. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  22. ^ "SCAD Museum of Art - The Touch of Otherness". Artforum. 2022. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  23. ^ "Hayv Kahraman - 'The Touch of Otherness'". SCAD Museum of Art. 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  24. ^ "Hayv Kahraman "Not Quite Human: Second Iteration" at Pilar Corrias, London". Mousse Magazine and Publishing. 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  25. ^ "Hayv Kahraman". Pilar Corrias. 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  26. ^ Fowler, Susanne (23 October 2019). "A Hawaii Home for Islamic Art Widens Its Scope". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Exhibition - To the Land of the Waqwaq". Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture, and Design. 2019. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Hayv Kahraman: Displaced Choreographies". De La Warr Pavilion. 2019. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  29. ^ Bemiller, Quinton (February 2019). "Hayv Kahraman: Project Series 52 & Silence is Gold". Fabrik Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  30. ^ "Project Series 52: Hayv Kahraman". Benton Museum of Art Pomona College. 2018. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  31. ^ Meinzer, Melissa (27 November 2017). "Artist Hayv Kahraman brings a companion performance to her show at CAM". St. Louis Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Hayv Kahraman: Acts of Reparation". Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. 2017. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  33. ^ Wilson, Calvin (30 October 2017). "Mickalene Thomas, Kader Attia take different approaches to conceptual art". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  34. ^ Porter, Venetia (11 February 2021). "Reflections: contemporary art of the Middle East and North Africa". British Museum. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  35. ^ "New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century". Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive. University of California. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  36. ^ Keimig, Jas (26 November 2019). "Currently Hanging: Hayv Kahraman's 'The Audience' at Henry Art Gallery". The Stranger. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  37. ^ "In Plain Sight at Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA". EverOut Seattle. 2019. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  38. ^ "6 Bends • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
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