Hayv Kahraman
Hayv Kahraman is a Los Angeles-based Iraqi-american artist. She primarily paints, but also sculpts and sketches. Her works reflect the controversial issues of gender, specifically concerning female identity in relation to her experiences as a refugee, and all issues that plague her home country of Iraq. She explores the victimization of women within their own culture, and the effects of their subjugation which causes them the most suffering in the midst of war. She paints on linen panels and depicts dark haired, pale skinned women and decorates her work with Islamic geometric patterns. Her influences range from Persian, Japanese and Italian Renaissance paintings. Her works juxtapose traditional Eastern and Western beauty standards.
She was born in Iraq in 1981. Her family fled to Sweden in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War. Hayv lives and works in California, United States.
Life and career
Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1981. During the Iran 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. 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 where it was safe. They had reached the Stockholm Arlanda, the airport in Sweden, and this is when she became a refugee. She then moved to Sweden at the age of 11. She enrolled in music and ballet classes, but decided to leave due to the teacher's racism. She began oil painting at the age of 12 and later had several successful exhibitions in Sweden.She studied at the Academy of Art and Design in Florence, Italy. She lives and works in California.
Kahraman's artwork depict the effects of war, and how they affect women. Her wide stylistic references range from Japanese and Arabic calligraphy art nouveau, Persian miniature and Greek iconography.
Works
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 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.Not Quite Human (2019)
Not Quite Human 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.Exhibitions
Kahraman has participated in group shows extensively since 2003. Her solo exhibitions include shows at the Third Line Gallery in Dubai, the Frey Norris Gallery in San Francisco, the Thierry Goldberg Projects in New York. the Hälsingland Museum in Hudiksvall, Sweden, the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and the Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.Solo exhibitions
Honolulu Museum: Superfluous Bodies
Her works in this exhibition juxtapose traditional Eastern and Western beauty standards
Abu Dhabi Art 2017
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai
In 2017 her work was shown at a solo presentation. It was associated with the exhibit Focus: Beyond Territory. The works included are a part of Kahraman’s series Mnemonic Object where she explored the subjective quality of past memories.
1: Audible Inaudible
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai
Hayv Kahraman’s fourth solo show in Dubai. Kahraman uses linen, wood and paper and tells a story of her personal trauma after the Persian Gulf War as an Iraqi immigrant.
Present Future PF4
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai
A solo presentation of Kahraman’s work that explores her identity as an Iraqi.
Art Subai 2014
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai
Two solo presentations exhibiting her works alongside Farhad Moshiri.
Extimacy
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai This exhibit explored gender and gender identity. It explored self perception contrasted with society’s expectations.
Pins and Needles 2010
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai, Frey Norris Gallery: San Francisco Seven Gates, Green Cardamom: London
Her debut solo exhibit in the UAE. Kahraman explored the struggle of feminist anthropology and the contrast between how humans act and how they identify.
Marionettes 2009
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai, DOHA
This show examined female oppression in regards to domesticity.
Celebrating Women in the Arts
Diyabakair, Turkey
Thoughts on Canvas
Hudiksvall’s Museum: Hudiksvall, Sweden
Group Exhibitions
I Will See It, When I Believe It
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai
Her work was displayed at the Third Line Gallery in Dubai. Kahraman’s works were exhibited with works by abbas Akhavan, Farhad Moshiri, Laleh Khorramian, Rana Begum, Slavs and Tartars, and Sophia Al Maria. The exhibit explored the psychological concept of making split second decisions and perception. The works explored the disconnect between expectation versus reality.
Frieze London 2017
The Third Line Gallery: Dubai
Her works were a part of a group presentation along with works by Abbas Akhavan, Amir H. Fallah, Laleh Khorramian and Sara Naim. The exhibit looked at the idea of space, and environment, physical or conceptual.
Disquieting Muses 2011
Contemporary Art Centre of Thessaloniki, State Museum of Contemporary Art: Greece
Of Women’s Modesty and Anger 2011
Villa Empain Centre for the Arts: Brussels, I Don’t Need Your Money Honey All I Need Is Love
Traffic: Dubai
The Silk Road 2010
Tri Postal: Lille France, Frieze: London, The Third Line: Dubai, Women Painters from 5 Continents, Osart Gallery: Milano Italy, Taswir, Martin Gropius-Bau: Berlin
Echo 2009
Frey Norris Gallery: San Francisco, Balla Drama: London, Volta Art Fair: Thierry Goldberk Projects NYC, Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East: The Saatchi Gallery London
Local Produce 2008
The Lise Sette Gallery, Arizona
Life Drawing 2007-2009
The Third Line Gallery : Dubai
Kahraman’s works were displayed with those of Neda Hadizadeh, Ghadah Al Kandari, and Lamya Gargash. It examined the depiction of the body.
Daemons 2006
Phoneix Theatre, Arizona
Accademia di Arte e Design 2005
Florence, Italy