Shahryar Nashat (b. 1975, Geneva) makes sculptures, videos, and other works in which the human body and its representations play a central role. However, this is not merely a matter of visual analysis. Rather, Nashat gets at the very experience of what it means to be a body at a moment when the technologies that filter experience encourage fragmentation and distance. Desire, mortality, fragility, and resilience are among the thematic concerns his work addresses. Nashat pays special attention to framing and pedestals, treating them as integral parts of his work. He also often alters a gallery’s architecture and lighting, allowing his exhibitions to function as fully embodied meditations on art’s ability to reflect the current state of human life. Their prescience and mystery also make them function as windows into an uncertain future.
Shahryar Nashat has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2020); SMK—Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2019); Swiss Institute (2019); Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2017); Portikus, Frankfurt (2016); Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2016); Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2015); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2014); Kunstverein Nürnberg, Germany (2010); and Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Switzerland (2009). He was included in Made in L.A. 2016: a, the, though, only, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016); Le Grand Balcon, La Biennale de Montréal (2016); 8th Berlin Biennale (2014); and ILLUMInations, 54th Venice Biennale (2011), among many other institutional group exhibitions. Nashat’s work features in the permanent collections of a number of museums worldwide, including Centre Pompidou, Paris; Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo (GAMeC), Turin, Italy; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland; Kunsthaus Zürich; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Shahryar Nashat
Mother on Wheels (Verde Antique), 2018
marble, powder-coated steel, and castor wheels
34 3/4 x 22 3/4 x 19 inches
(88.3 x 57.8 x 48.3 cm)
unique
Shahryar Nashat
Image Is an Orphan, 2017
high-definition video, color, and sound
18:22 minutes
Edition of 5, with 2 AP
Shahryar Nashat
Cold Horizontal (HUSTLER), 2017
synthetic polymer, fiberglass, pigment, and powder-coated steel
31 1/2 x 69 1/2 x 18 inches
(80 x 176.5 x 45.7 cm)
unique
Shahryar Nashat
Psych Twombly (Luiggi), 2017
HD video on monitor with retrofitted cover
4:42 minutes
45 x 38 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches
(114.3 x 97.8 x 8.9 cm)
silent loop
unique from a series of 5
Shahryar Nashat
Hard Up for Support, 2016
HD video, silent loop on digital LED monitor, and marble
overall monitor mounted on stand: 76 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 41 inches
monitor: 62 x 36 x 1 3/4 inches
stand: 55 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 41 inches
marble element: 87 x 56 x 52 1/2 inches
9:04 minutes
unique variant from an Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Shahryar Nashat
Yea High (for Hunter's Right Shoulder), 2016
plaster, enamel paint, and steel
26 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches
(67.3 x 47 x 4.4 cm)
unique
Shahryar Nashat
Poser (Low-Angle), 2016
silkscreen and inkjet print on paper, artist's frame
36 x 48 x 1 1/2 inches
(91.4 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm)
unique
Shahryar Nashat
Present Sore, 2016
HD video with color and sound
8:21 minutes
Edition of 5, with 2 AP
Shahryar Nashat
Parade, 2014
HD video with color and sound
38:00 minutes
Edition of 5, with 2 AP
Shahryar Nashat
Nashat's New Fit for the Old Guard Nr. 4, 2013
Inkjet print on baryt paper
framed:
29 1/4 x 22 inches
(74 x 56 cm)
Edition of 3, with 2 AP
Shahryar Nashat
Chopped Atop, 2012
marble
26 x 53 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches
(66 x 135 x 35 cm)
Shahryar Nashat
Photoscaled 3 (Yellow), 2011
c-print on paper
19.69 x 17.32 inches
(50 x 44 cm)
framed:
20 3/4 x 18 1/4 inches
(52.6 x 46.6 cm)
unique