Lisson Gallery

Shirazeh Houshiary

Since rising to prominence as a sculptor in the 1980s, Shirazeh Houshiary’s practice has swelled to encompass painting, installation, architectural projects and film. “I set out to capture my breath,” she said in 2000, to “find the essence of my own existence, transcending name, nationality, cultures.” Veils, membranes and mists are leitmotifs in work that tries to visualise modes of perception, spanning the scientific and the cosmic while drawing on sources as wide-ranging as Sufism, Renaissance painting, contemporary physics and poetry. Houshiary finds succour in the transformation of material: Arabic words, one an affirmation the other a denial, are pencil-stroked onto canvas so lightly, and clouded over by finely wrought skeins of pigment, that they morph in front of the naked eye and defy reproduction. So too, aluminium armatures and elliptical brick towers, charged with dynamic tension, appear different from every angle, as if negating their own presence; her commission for the East window of St Martin in the Fields, London, presents a cross, warped and spanning from a circular motif, as if reflected in water. “The universe is in a process of disintegration,” she says, “everything is in a state of erosion, and yet we try to stabilise it. This tension fascinates me and it’s at the core of my work” (2013).

Shirazeh Houshiary was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1955, where she attended university before moving to London, UK in 1974. She has a BA from Chelsea School of Art (1979) and lives and works in London, UK. She has had solo exhibitions at Lisson Gallery, London (2021), Shanghai (2020), and New York (2017); Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore (2016); The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2007); Tate Liverpool, UK (2003); Islamic Gallery, British Museum, London, UK (1997); Magasin-Centre national d’art contemporain, Grenoble, France (1995); University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA (1994); Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (1993); Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland (1988); and in 2013, her exhibition ‘Breath’ was a celebrated Collateral Event of the 55th Venice Biennale in Italy. 

Recent group exhibitions include: ‘Artists and the Rothko Chapel: 50 Years of Inspiration’, Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA (2021); ‘Abstraction and Calligraphy − Towards a Universal Language’, Louvre Abu Dhabi in collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2021); ‘Spirit and Endeavour’, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, UK (2020); Jesus College, Cambridge, UK (2017); Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini, Collezione Burri, Citta di Castello, Perugia, Italy (2016); University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (2014). Her work has been included in major group exhibitions since the 1980s including: Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH, USA (2011); Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA (2007); Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy (2002); Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, Netherlands (1990); Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (1989); Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark (1986). She has also participated in numerous biennials including Cartagena deIndias, Colombia (2014); Kiev Biennale, Ukraine (2012); the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2010); and the 40th Venice Biennale, Italy (1982). She was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1994.

 

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

'Shirazeh Houshiary: Rhizome', The Long Museum, Shanghai, China (5 March – 7 May 2023)

 

Mind and Matter

Shirazeh Houshiary
Mind and Matter

2020
Pigment and pencil on white Aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 120 x 120 x 5.5 cm 47 1/8 x 47 1/8 x 2 1/8 in

Mind and Matter

Shirazeh Houshiary
Mind and Matter

2020
Pigment and pencil on white Aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 120 x 120 x 5.5 cm 47 1/8 x 47 1/8 x 2 1/8 in

Duet

Shirazeh Houshiary
Duet

2020
Cast aluminium and paint 112.8 x 130 x 40 cm 44 3/8 x 51 1/8 x 15 3/4 in

Iris

Shirazeh Houshiary
Iris

2019
Pigment and pencil on black Aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 120 x 120 x 5.5 cm 47 1/8 x 47 1/8 x 2 1/8 in

Alar

Shirazeh Houshiary
Alar

2016
Glass and mirror-polished stainless steel 145 x 118 x 118 cm 57 1/8 x 46 1/2 x 46 1/2 in

Umbra

Shirazeh Houshiary
Umbra

2019
Pencil and pigment on black Aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 120 x 120 cm 47 1/8 x 47 1/8 in

Allegory of Sight

Shirazeh Houshiary
Allegory of Sight

2015
Cast painted stainless steel 43 x 120 x 43 cm 17 x 47 1/4 x 17 in

Veil

Shirazeh Houshiary
Veil

2002
White Aquacryl with pigment and pencil on canvas 190 x 190 cm 74 3/4 x 74 3/4 in

Flux

Shirazeh Houshiary
Flux

2015
Glass bricks and stainless steel rings 135 cm height x 89 cm diameter 53 1/8 in

Deep

Shirazeh Houshiary
Deep

2010
Blue, pink and lilac pencil and pigments on black Aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 190 x 270 cm 74 3/4 x 106 1/4 in

String Quintet

Shirazeh Houshiary
String Quintet

2011
Cast stainless steel Height 500 cm Height 196 7/8 in

Flood

Shirazeh Houshiary
Flood

2010
Blue pencil with black and white aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 270 x 190 cm 106 1/4 x 74 3/4 in

Swift

Shirazeh Houshiary
Swift

2016
Cast aluminium 132 x 84.5 x 35.2 cm 52 x 33 1/4 x 13 7/8 in

Flit

Shirazeh Houshiary
Flit

2017
Pigment and pencil on white Aquacryl on canvas on aluminium (triptych) 190 cm x 270 x 5 cm (each panel) 74 3/4 x 106 1/4 x 2 in (each panel) 190 x 810 x 5 cm (overall) 74 3/4 x 318 7/8 x 2 in (overall)

Christmas Tree

Shirazeh Houshiary
Christmas Tree

2016/1993
Tree and gold leaf Photograph courtesy Joe Humphreys, Tate Photography.

Right of Spring

Shirazeh Houshiary
Right of Spring

2012
Pencil, pigment and black Aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 190 x 190 cm 74 7/8 x 74 7/8 in

Exuviae

Shirazeh Houshiary
Exuviae

2016-2017
Glass and mirror-polished stainless steel 291.8 x 37.5 x 28 cm 114 7/8 x 14 3/4 x 11 in Installation image: Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, New Orleans Museum of Art. Photography: Richard Sexton. Courtesy Shirazeh Houshiary.

Between

Shirazeh Houshiary
Between

2010/2011
White pencil, red and white pigment with white Aquacryl on black Aquacryl ground on canvas and aluminium panel 190 x 540 cm (diptych) 74.8 x 212.6 in (diptych)

Commission for St Martin-in-the- Fields, London

Shirazeh Houshiary
Commission for St Martin-in-the- Fields, London

2008
Shirazeh Houshiary and Pip Horne
Etched mouth blown clear glass and shot peened stainless steel frame

Bloom

Shirazeh Houshiary
Bloom

2006
Aluminium and steel 98.6 x 70.8 x 611.3 cm 38 7/8 x 28 x 240 5/8 in Photo: Hirofumi Tani

Deluge

Shirazeh Houshiary
Deluge

2012
Pencil, pigment and white Aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 120 x 120 cm 47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in

Chrysalis

Shirazeh Houshiary
Chrysalis

2016-2017
Glass and mirror-polished stainless steel 120 x 81 x 44 cm 47 1/4 x 31 7/8 x 17 3/8 in (detail).

Mirage, 2017

Shirazeh Houshiary
Mirage, 2017

Pigment and pencil on white Aquacryl on canvas on aluminium 190 x 270 x 5 cm 74 3/4 x 106 1/4 x 2 in

Only a Flicker

Shirazeh Houshiary
Only a Flicker

(2016)

Only a Flicker

Shirazeh Houshiary
Only a Flicker

(2016)

Only a Flicker

Shirazeh Houshiary
Only a Flicker

(2016)

Only a Flicker

Shirazeh Houshiary
Only a Flicker

(2016)

Only a Flicker

Shirazeh Houshiary
Only a Flicker

(2016)

Only a Flicker

Shirazeh Houshiary
Only a Flicker

(2016)

Exhibitions

  1. Shirazeh Houshiary

    Shirazeh Houshiary

    18 August – 28 August 2022

  2. Portals

    Portals

    10 February – 9 April 2022

  3. Shirazeh Houshiary: Pneuma

    Shirazeh Houshiary: Pneuma

    22 June – 31 July 2021

  4. Selected works in London

    Selected works in London

    8 December 2020 – 12 January 2021

  5. Shirazeh Houshiary: As Time Stood Still

    Shirazeh Houshiary: As Time Stood Still

    11 September – 24 October 2020

  6. Shirazeh Houshiary

    Shirazeh Houshiary

    10 September – 20 September 2020

  7. Shirazeh Houshiary: Nothing is deeper than the skin

    Shirazeh Houshiary: Nothing is deeper than...

    3 November – 22 December 2017

  8. Shirazeh Houshiary: Smell of First Snow

    Shirazeh Houshiary: Smell of First Snow

    22 May – 4 July 2015

  9. Shirazeh Houshiary: Breath

    Shirazeh Houshiary: Breath

    1 June – 24 November 2013

  10. Shirazeh Houshiary

    Shirazeh Houshiary

    6 June – 27 July 2012

  11. Shirazeh Houshiary: No Boundary Condition

    Shirazeh Houshiary: No Boundary Condition

    12 October – 12 November 2011

  12. Shirazeh Houshiary: Self Portraits

    Shirazeh Houshiary: Self Portraits

    20 September – 21 October 2000

  13. Shirazeh Housiary: The Sense of Unity

    Shirazeh Housiary: The Sense of Unity

    16 September – 15 October 1994

  14. Shirazeh Houshiary: Isthmus

    Shirazeh Houshiary: Isthmus

    8 May – 20 June 1992

  15. Shirazeh Houshiary: Breath: Recent Sculpture

    Shirazeh Houshiary: Breath: Recent Sculpture

    28 September – 31 October 1987

  16. Shirazeh Houshiary

    Shirazeh Houshiary

    11 October – 3 November 1984

Shop

  1. Nothing is deeper than the skin

    Nothing is deeper than the skin

  2. Smell of First Snow

    Smell of First Snow

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