Houshiary was born in Shiraz, Iran 1955. She moved to London in 1974. She studied at Chelsea School of Art, London 1976-1979, was Junior Fellow, Cardiff College of Art, 1979-1980, and her first solo exhibition was subsequently at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff in 1980.
She quickly became established at the forefront of the younger generation of sculptors working in Britain in the 1980s and her work was included in important group exhibitions such as Aperto ’82, XL Venice Biennale in 1982, and ‘Les Magiciensde la Terre’ at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris in 1989. Houshiary’s first solo show at the Lisson Gallery, London was in 1984, and she has continued to show there on a regular basis ever since. She had her first solo exhibition in New York at Lehmann Maupin Gallery in 1999. The Centre d’Art Contemporian, Geneve organised a solo museum show for the Musée Rath, Geneve in 1988, which then toured to the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford in 1989. Her solo exhibition, ‘Ishmus’, was first shown at Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, before touring to the Museum Villa Stuck, München, the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, and Hochschule für Angewandete Kunst, Vienna in 1995-1996. Her work was included in the XXIII Bienal de São Paulo in 1996. ‘10 Intensita In Europa’ at Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato 1998. Skulptur Biennial Münsterland in 2003. ‘Art and Happiness’ Mori Art Museum Tokyo 2003. ‘Turning Points 20th Century British Sculpture’ at Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in 2004. ‘Without Boundary’ Museum of Modern Art New York 2006. Deloitte Ignite, Royal Opera House London 2008. ‘Between Metaphor and Object’ IMMA Dublin 2009 and Sydney Biennale 2010. ‘Arsenale’, Kiev Biennale, Kiev 2012. ‘Breath’Collateral Event of the 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, Venice 2013. The International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Cartagena de Indias, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia 2014. ‘Genius Loci’ – Spirit of Place, on the occasion of the 14th International Architecture Biennale, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice. ‘Phantom Bodies: The Human Aura in Art’ Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, 2015. ‘The River is Within Us’ Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore 2016. ‘The Grains Whirl and the Ripples Shift’ Espace Muraille Geneva Switzerland, 2016. ‘Glasstress 2017’ 57th Biennale di Venezia, Venice. ‘Sculpture in the Close’, Jesus College, University of Cambridge, 2017. ‘Breath’, Everything At Once Vinyl Factory, London 2017.
She was short-listed for the Turner Prize at the Tate Gallery in 1994, and was awarded the title Professor at the London Institute in 1997. Houshiary lives and works in London.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
| 2023 | Rhizome, Long Museum, Shanghai, China |
|---|---|
| 2021 | A Thousand Folds, Lehmann Maupin, NY, USA Pneuma, Lisson Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 2020 | As Time Stood Still, Lisson Gallery, Shanghai, China |
| 2017 | Nothing is deeper than the skin, Lisson Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 2016 | Shirazeh Houshiary, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore Les grains tourbillonnent et les ondulations se déplacent, Espace Muraille, Geneva, Switzerland |
| 2015 | Smell of First Snow, Lisson Gallery, London, UK Shirazeh Houshiary, Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong |
| 2013 | Breath, Torre di Porta Nuova, collateral event of the 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy Breath, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai, India The Eye Fell in Love with the Ear Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY, USA |
| 2012 | String Quintet, LA Louver Gallery, Venice, CA, USA Shirazeh Houshiary, Lisson Gallery, Milan, Italy |
| 2011 | No Boundary Condition, Lisson Gallery, London, UK Altar, Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, London, UK |
| 2010 | Light Darkness, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 2008 | Shirazeh Houshiary: New Work Lisson Gallery, London, UK Saint Martin-in-the-Field Church, London, UK |
| 2007 | The Paradise (28), The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland |
| 2006 | Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 2004 | Lehmann Maupin, New York Playground, Gloucester Primary School, London, UK Breath, Lisson Gallery, London, UK Breath, Battery Park, NY, USA |
| 2003 | Recent Works, Lehman Maupin, New York, NY, USA Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK Lisson Gallery, London, UK |
| 2002 | Museum SITE, Santa Fe, NM, USA |
| 2000 | Self-Portraits, Lisson Gallery, London, UK |
| 1999 | Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 1997 | Islamic Gallery, British Museum, London, UK |
| 1995 | Isthmus, Le Magasin, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, Natherlands Hochschule für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria (British Council touring exhibition) |
| 1994 | The Sense of Unity, Lisson Gallery, London, UK |
| 1993 | Turning Around the Centre, Amherst Fine Art Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA York University Art Gallery, Ontario, Canada Harn Museum, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL, USA Dancing Around My Ghost, Camden Arts Centre, London, UK |
| 1992 | Galleria Valentina Moncada, Rome, Italy Isthmus, Lisson Gallery, London, UK |
| 1988 | Centre d’Art Contemporain, Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK |
| 1987 | Breath, Lisson Gallery, London, UK |
| 1986 | Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| 1984 | Lisson Gallery, London, UK |
| 1983 | Centro d’Arte Contemporanea, Syracuse, Italy Galleria Massimo Minini, Milan Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna |
| 1982 | Kettle’s Yard Gallery, Cambridge, UK |
| 1980 | Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, UK |
| Selected Group Exhibitions | |
| 2017 | Everything At Once, Vinyl Factory, London Sculpture in the Close Jesus College, Cambridge, UK Glasstress 2017, 57th Biennal di Venezia, Venice |
| 2016 | Mass Individualism: A Form of Multitude, Ab-Anbar, Tehran, Iran 5 50 500, Lisson Gallery, Milan, Italy |
| 2015 | Phantom Bodies: The Human Aura in Art, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, USA Au rendez-vous des amis, Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini, Collezione Burri, Citta di Castello, Perugia, Italy Lisson Gallery & STPI Present: Collaborations, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore |
| 2014 | International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Cartagena de Indias, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia Genius Loci – Spirit of Place, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice, Italy Reductive Minimalism: Women Artists in Dialogue, 1960–2014, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, USA |
| 2013 | Sculpture in the City, City of London, London, UK Pattern: Follow the Rules, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, MI, USA Writings Without Borders, Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong, China Glasstress: White Light/White Heat, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, collateral event of the 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy |
| 2012 | Arsenale 2012, Kiev Biennale, Kiev, Ukraine 13th Architecture Biennale, Venice, Italy |
| 2011 | Creating the New Century: Contemporary Art from the Dicke Collection, Dayton Art Insitute, Dayton, OH, USA |
| 2010 | 17th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Drawing to Form: Art from the Weltkunst Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland |
| 2009 | Lisson Presents 5, Lisson Gallery, London |
| 2008 | Tropismi, Valentina Moncada Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy More Than Words, Von Lintel Gallery, New York City, NY, USA 13th Biennale Internazionale di Scultura di Carrara, Carrara, Italy Fatto Bene!, Centro per l´Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy |
| 2007 | What Is Painting? Contemporary Art from the Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA Reverence, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY, USA PURE, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 2006 | Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA A New East Window for St Martin-in-the-Fields, St-Martin-in-the-Fields, London, UK Motion on Paper, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK |
| 2005 | Effervescence, Musée des Beaux Arts, Angers, France |
| 2004 | The Search for Identity, New Visions, Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, Doncaster, UK 20 Years, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria |
| 2003 | Sculpture Biennial Münsterland, Warendorf, Germany Back in Shape, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, UK From Dust to Dusk, International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark Happiness, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2002 | A Century of Innocence, Rooseum, Malmö, Sweden Skultur, Basel, Switzerland Tenable, Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance, UK As Fontes!, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY, USA Thinking Big: Concepts for 21st-Century British Sculpture, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy |
| 2001 | Sculpture Contemporaine: Œuvres de la Collection Frac Rhône-Alpes de l’Institut d’art contemporain, Substances, Lyon, France New Works, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 1999 | Art Worlds in Dialogue, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany 10 Intensita in Europa, Museo Pecci Prato, Italy British Sculpture, Skulptur im Schloßpark Ambras, Germany |
| 1997 | Shadow of Life, London Contemporary Art Fair, London, UK Meditation, Madrasa Ibn Youssef, Marrakesh, Morocco Sculpture at Goodwood, Goodwood Sculpture Park, Chichester, UK Follow Me. Britische Kunst an der Unterelbe, Schloß Agathenburg, Agathenburg, Germany |
| 1996 | Negotiating Rapture, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, USA Sculpture from the Arts Council Collection, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK 23rd Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil |
| 1995 | Contemporary British Art in Print, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, USA British Art of the 1980s and 1990s: Works from the Weltkunst Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland Dialogues of Peace, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland A Changing World: Fifty Years of Sculpture from the British Council Collection, Castle Riding Hall, Prague, Czech Republic Arte Inglese: A New Generation, Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy |
| 1994 | Skulptur statt Denkmal, Galerie Marion und Roswitha Fricke, Dusseldorf, Germany Sculptors’ Drawings Presented by the Weltkunst Foundation, Tate Gallery, London, UK Turner Prize, Tate Gallery, London, UK Sculpture at Goodwood, Hat Hill Sculpture Foundation, Chichester, UK |
| 1993 | Second Tyne International, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK Machines for Peace, 45th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy State of Siege, Bienal Internacional de Óbidos, Portugal Tresors de Voyage, Monastero dei Padri Mechitaristi dell’ Isola di San Lazzaro degli Armeni, Venice, Italy |
| 1990 | Dujourie, Fortuny/O’Brien, Kapoor, Houshiary, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, Netherlands |
| 1989 | Les Magiciens de la Terre, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France |
| 1987 | Skulptur Projekte 87, Westfalisches Landesmuseum fur Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster, Germany Vessels, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK |
| 1986 | Sonsbeek 86. International Sculpture Exhibition, Arnhem, Netherlands Skulptur – 9 Kunstnere fra Storbrittanien, Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark |
| 1985 | The British Show, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia; The Exhibition Hall, Melbourne, Australia; National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand Seconds Ateliers Internationaux des Pays de la Loire, FRAC Pays de la Loire, Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, Fontevraud, France The Poetic Object: Richard Deacon, Shirazeh Houshiary, Anish Kapoor, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland; Arts Council Gallery, Belfast, UK |
| 1984 | British Art Show: Old Allegiances and New Directions 1979–84, City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK; Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, UK; Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton, UK (Arts Council touring exhibition) |
| 1983 | Beelden/Sculpture 1983, Rotterdam Arts Council, Rotterdam, Netherlands New Art, Tate Gallery, London, UK |
| 1982 | Aperto ’82, 40th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy Objects and Figures: New Sculpture in Britain, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK |
| Commissions & Public Artworks | |
| 2016 | Christmas Tree, Tate Britain, London, UK |
| 2015 | Chrysalis, Jimmy Choo, Bond Street, London, UK |
| 2011 | Altar, St Martin-in-the-fields, London, UK |
| 2010 | Undoing the Knot, San Diego, USA |
| 2008 | East Window, St Martin-in-the-fields, London, UK |
| 2006 | Bloom, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2004 | Playground Peckham, London, UK |
| Breath II, Battery Park, New York City, NY, USA | |
| 2003 | Breath, Freckenhorst, Munsterland Germany |
| 2001 | Hum, UBS City of London, London, UK |
| 2000 | Basel Switzerland |
| 1996 | Bright Shadow, Bristol Life Assurance Company Bristol, UK |
| 1995 | Dancing Around my Ghost, Dusseldorf Zitadellviertel, Germany |
| 1993 | Christmas Tree, Tate Britain, London, UK |
| Museum and Public Collections | |
Berardo Collection, Lisbon, Portugal British Council Collection, London, UK British Museum, London, United Kingdom Cass Sculpture Foundation, Chichester, UK Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, FRAC Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France, Institute d’art contemporain Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, Villeurbanne, France, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, Museum of Contemporary Art, Prato, Italy, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA, Qatar Museum Authority, Qatar, RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island, Solomon R. Guggenheim Musuem, New York, NY, USA Tate Collection, London, UK, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, UK, Arthur M. Sackler and Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands