Navid Nuur
The way in which Navid Nuur (b. 1976) relates to material, the space around him and his observations therein, can almost be regarded as devout. The attention for detail and the careful fine-tuning of the various elements of a work or exhibition make the audience part of an ‘inner’ world. In Nuur’s work - although very conceptual at first sight - a very personal visual problem becomes the central question. What Nuur has in common with the conceptual artists from the sixties is the relation between concept and form. Form for him however, is not necessarily the result of the idea, but materializes through a subjective program of requirements or rules in which intuition has the upper hand. He applies concepts that often relate to a temporary in-between state that places his work between the audience and an often abstract phenomenon, such as light, energy, air, or ‘rest space’. Nuur’s form-language and meaning are therefore principally purely process-oriented.
Image: The Tuners, 2005–2016, prepared linen canvas, mixed media, 140 x 110 cm; 55 1/8 x 43 1/4 in.; 143 x 113 cm; 56 1/4 x 44 1/2 in. (framed). Photo: def image
Artist Talk
Selected Works
Solo Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions
Selected Institutional Exhibitions
Biography
VITA
1976
Born in Teheran, Iran
1999–2001
Hogeschool vor de Kunsten (HKU), Utrecht
2002–2003
Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam
2002–2004
MA Plymouth University
2004
Travel Grant from Prince Bernhard Culture Fund
2005
Presentation Grant and Individual Grant, Stroom
2006–2007
Startstipendium fonds BKVB
2010
Volkskrant Prize
Charlotte Köhlerprijs
2011
Royal Award for Painting, Amsterdam
2013
Discovery Prize, Art Basel Hong Kong (with Adrian Ghenie)
Lives and works in The Hague, Netherlands
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
De Hallen Museum, Haarlem
Koç, Istanbul
Kunsthalle, Zurich
Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague
Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein
S.M.A.K. - Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
THE TENTEXT THEORY
Parliament Gallery, Paris
2022
STEP BY STEP
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Softly Seized
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
2021
When meanings get marbled
Plan B, Berlin
Apart from the secret that it holds
Galerie Max Hetzler, London
2020
Hocus Focus
Marta Herford Museum, Herford (catalogue)
I am because of you
Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague
What is lost in time will be found by time
Jahn und Jahn, Munich
2019
Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp
When doubt turns into destiny
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
THE AFTER GLOW III
NDSM Werf, Amsterdam
2018
RE/FLECT/OR (public sculpture)
Intersection Spui / Grote Markstraat, Den Haag
Entrelacs (duo show with Victor Man)
Centre d'édition contemporaine, Geneva
Paintpusher
Galería Plan-B, Berlin
2017
FUNNELFLUX
Be-Part, Platform for Contemporary Art, Waregem (catalogue)
Sandman's Sand
Martin Van Zomeren, Amsterdam
A&N&D
Galerie Max Hetzler
2016
THE GIFT (permanent installation)
International Criminal Court premises, The Hague
2015
CONTEXT IS THE NEW CONTENT
Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
MINING MEMORY
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue)
Galería Plan B, Berlin
About a Work #3
Galleria Zero, Milan
2014
The Main Remain
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
Renderender
DCA, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee
Color Me Closely
Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Budapest
2013
Treasured Tensions
Club Electroputere - Centre for Contemporary Culture, Bucharest
Lube Love
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht (catalogue)
Unified Not Uniformed
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
TA-DA !
Galerie des Enfants, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Phantom Fuel
Parasol Unit, London (catalogue)
Track&Trace
Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk
Smokebombsmoke
OUI Center of Contemporary Art, Grenoble (catalogue)
2012
Bergamo
Heden, The Hague
Hocus Focus
Matadero, Madrid
2011
Conductorconductor
Plan B, Berlin
It's No Crime To Tickle Time
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
Post Parallelism
Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, St. Gallen (catalogue)
2010
Glow (Re-)discovering Eindhoven
Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven (catalogue)
The Other Another
Galleri Christina Wilson, Copenhagen
Phantom Fuel
Plan B, Cluj
2009
The Value of Void
S.M.A.K ( Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst), Ghent;
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel;
De Hallen Museum, Haarlem (catalogue)
(No) Norms Forgotten
10m2 Project space, Sarajevo
Aass Wwee bbccoommee Oonnee
Klerkx, Milan
Within Your Worlds
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
In Your World
Plan B, Berlin
2008
Where It's At
Fries Museum/ Bureau, Leeuwarden
Lost Licks
1646, The Hague
2007
The Rise of Re
Project Space Stroom, The Hague
Insideout
Moira Gallery, Utrecht
2004
Galerie De5er, Rotterdam
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
...aber wo its was Blatt Papier?
Edition Block, Berlin
Gifted Eye – International contemporary drawings donated by Tanya Rumpff
Teylers Museum, Haarlem
50 seconds
Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, travelled from:
soda, Kyoto (2022)
2022
Into the LIGHT
Museum Krona, Uden
50 Seconds
soda, Kyoto
Zim Zum: The Folding World
Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London
Summer Exhibition Part II
Galerie Jahn and Jahn, Munich
Wire, Line & String
Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich
Terra incognita – Questions for the Earth
Lantz’sche Park, Dusseldorf
Beating Around the Bush #7: False Flat
Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht
ThisPlay
Arter, Istanbul
2021
The House of Losing Control
17th Vienna Art Week, Nordwestbahnstraße 53, Vienna
Écrire, c'est dessiner
Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz
The Flames: The Age of Ceramics
Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (MAM), Paris (catalogue)
Stations
Lustwarande, Tilburg
Hide & Hair. contemporary ceramics acquisitions 2015 – 2021
The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden
Press Eject and Give Me the Tape
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
2020
Read/ing
Quetzal Art Center, Vidigueira
Collector's Item
Centraal Museum, Utrecht
SGABELLO COLLECTION: In Search of the Miraculous
project space on the inside, Amsterdam
CoBrA. The colour of freedom
Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam
From the Collection | Poetic Faith
Museum of Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K.), Ghent
2019
Fragile Frontiers
Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku
Patty Morgan Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Nine Iranian Artists in London: THE SPARK IS YOU
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London
THE SPARK IS YOU: Parasol unit in Venice
Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, Venice (catalogue)
Negativer Raum
ZKM, Karlsruhe
₡ U R R € ₦ ₡ ¥
NOME, Berlin
Freedom - The Fifty Key Dutch Artworks Since 1968
Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle
Looking at the world through rose colored glasses
Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp
2018
Out of Office: Art in Business
Singer Museum, Laren
Painting the Night
Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz
RESISTANCE
CENTRALE, Brussels
True Luxury... Art acquisitions 2012-2018
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
CHARIVARI
Pamelekerk, Oudenaarde
Jahn und Jahn, Munich
Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen
On longing and consolidation. Art festival Watou 2018
Watouplein, Watou
PLAY Kortrijk - City circuit for contemporary art
Various venues, Kortrijk
Uns gehört die Stadt! Kids, Kunst und Krawall in Aachen
Centre Charlemagne - Neues Stadtmuseum, Aachen
Møenlight Sonata – A homage to the starry sky of Møn
Kunsthal 44 Møen, Møn
Untitled (Monochrome), 1958-2018. Curated by Gregory Lang
Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York
Eruption from the Surface. The Origami Principle in Art
Marta Herford, Herford (catalogue)
2017
Eugenia Pop and Navid Nuur
Galeria Plan-B, Berlin
Het Zalig Nietsdoen
Kranenburgh Museum, Bergen
Matière Grise
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
Radicale Sociale Animale Talen
CoBrA Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen
THREE POSITIONS. SIX DIRECTIONS. | CHAPTER I: THE BRUTALIST IDEAL
König Galerie, Berlin
All Paintings Are Uneven
ABN AMRO Art Collection, Amsterdam
Where do we go from here?
6 Galleries in the Jordaan Area, Amsterdam
2016
Back in 5 minutes
Martin can Zomeren, Amsterdam
Lube Love
Bonnefantenmuseum @pinkpop-up museum, Landgraaf
la mia ceramica
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris (catalogue)
Cher(e)s Ami(e)s: Hommage aux Donateurs des Collections Contemporaines
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Hacking Habitat. Art of Control, Utrecht
Illegibility. The Contexts of the Script
Art Stations Foundation, Poznan
2015
A.N.T.H.R.O.P.O.C.E.N.E.
Meessen De Clercq, Brussels
Back To The Future
Billytown, The Hague
Lekker Licht
Centraal Museum, Utrecht
Addition: Schenking Pieter en Marieke Sanders
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Let Us Meet Inside You
Trendbeheer, De Garag Rotterdam
Mountains With A Broken Edge
Bienal de la Habana, Havana
PASS
Hisk - Higher Institute for Fine Arts, Ghent
Eppur si muove
(MUDAM) MUSÉE D'ART MODERNE GRAND-DUC JEAN, Luxembourg
When I Give, I Give Myself
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Playing Future
Kunsthalle Kiel
Fa Fa Fa
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
The Dutch Connection
S.M.A.K., Ghent
Too early, too late. Middle East and Modernity
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna
Enge Gelände
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
Obsession
Maison Particuliere, Brussels
Signs & Symbols
Jessica Bradley, Toronto
2014
Branched. Trees in Contemporary Art
Altana Kulturstiftung, Bad Homburg
Animal Mineral Vegetable
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Allegory of the Cave Painting
Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp
Alchemy
NEST, The Hague
Size Matters
Foundation for Art Fort at Vijfhuizen, Vijfhuizen
Picture This
SALTS, Birsfelden
Halftone: Through the Grid
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue)
Beating around the bush Episode #1
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
Objects in mirror are closer than they appear
Lugar a Dudas, Cali
RE: Painted
S.M.A.K., Ghent
video screening 25
Zero, Milan
Amnesia
Nadácia - Centrum súčasného umenia, Bratislava
2013
Behind Images
Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam (catalogue)
Traces
Stedelijk Museum, s-Hertogenbosch
Agora
4th Athens Biennale, Athens
On the Road to... Tarascon, Adrian Ghenie and Navid Nuur
Plan B, Berlin
Passion de l'Art en Finistère / Collection #4
Centre d'art contemporain de Quimper
(T)HERE
Bonnefanten Hedge House, Wijlre
Flex-Sil Reloaded
Kunst Halle St. Gallen, St. Gallen
Casey Kaplan, New York
The Image in the Sculpture
Centre Pompidou, Paris (curated by Christine Macel and Navid Nuur)
Time, Trade and Travel
Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam
Small Gestures
MU / Strijp S, Eindhoven
Mesures et disparition / Over maat en verdwijning
Institut Néerlandais, Paris
It wasn't there yesterday
Raster Gallery, Warsaw
2012
This Title is an Artwork of Mine
Motto Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (curated by Mikkel Carl)
The Castle in the Air. Séance of Imagination
Centre of Culture ZAMEK, Poznan (curated by Adam Budak)
Through an open window
Institut Néerlandais, Paris
A Battle for Narrative
Bonnefanten Hedge House, Wijlre
Galerie Nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Wien
TAF / the Art Foundation, Athens
Sint-Jan
Sint-Baafskathedraal, Ghent (curated by Jan Hoet and Hans Marten)
SummerNest
Nest, Den Haag
On Geometry and Speculation
official parallel project during the Marrakech Biennale, ESAV, Marrakech (curated by Hicham Khalidi)
Rollercoaster. The Image in the 21st Century
MOTI, Breda
Un paisaje holandés / A Dutch Landscape
La Casa Encendida, Madrid (catalogue)
Ashes and gold. A World’s Journey
Marta Herford Museum, Herford (catalogue)
People have the power
Zero, Milano
2011
Villa Tokyo, Tokyo
SLAA
curated by Bianca Stiger, Performance, De Balie, Amsterdam
De Nederlandse identiteit?
De Kracht van Heden, Museum De Paviljoens, Almere
Recently unpacked. How art ages
MARTa Herford Museum, Herford
Royal Awards for Painting 2011
Royal Palace, Amsterdam
ILLUMInations
The 54th Venice Biennale, Venice (catalogue)
Too late, too little, (and how) to fail gracefully
Kunstfort Asperen, Langedijk (catalogue)
Image to be projected until it vanishes
Museion - Museum of modern and contemporary art, Bolzano (curated by Mihnea Mircan)
Radical Autonomy
Netwerk / centrum voor hedendaagse kunst, Aalst
Inside Installations | Collectietentoonstelling
S.M.A.K (Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst), Ghent (catalogue)
Falten, Searching for White, Rise above Reason
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam
2010
Taking Place
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Invisible Shadows, Images of Uncertainty
MARTa Herford Museum, Herford (catalogue)
Benefit Exhibition
Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, St. Gallen
Starter
Arter, Istanbul (curated by Rene Block) (catalogue)
History of Art
David Roberts Art Foundation, London
Performative Attitudes
Kunsthaus Glarus
Up to You
Stroom, The Hague
2009
The Knight's Tour
De Hallen Museum, Haarlem (catalogue)
Sculptural - Collection
S.M.A.K (Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst), Ghent
Broken English
Seiler + Mosseri-Marlio Galerie, Zurich
2008
Modern Museum of Arnhem
Portfolio 1
Plan B, Berlin (catalogue)
Schilders
DCR, The Hague
Geoair
residency in Georgia, Tbilisi
Mariakapel, Hoorn
2007
Billy town
Rijswijk
INSIDEOUT
Moira Gallery, Utrecht
Voorstel voor
DCR Project Space, The Hague
Drawing the line somewhere
duo, Ned. Cacaofabriek, Helmond
Lumiere
Galerie Blaak 10, Rotterdam
2006
Villa Nuts, The Hague
For a(n) relation(s)
ADA Gallery, Virginia
Countersale, Utrecht
Rebound
HKU gallery Utrecht, Utrecht
2005
Jack of Hearts
Project space Stroom, The Hague
2004
The Art of Management
Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Paris
Billboart European Billboard Exposition, Bratislava, Warsaw
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Monographs
ROMA Publications / Navid Nuur / Be-Part (Eds.): FUNNELFLUX, Amsterdam / Waregem, 2017
Galerie Max Hetzler / Galería Plan B (Eds.): Navid Nuur. MINING MEMORY, Berlin, 2015
Bonnefanten Museum (Ed.): When text becomes my ex, Maastricht, 2013
UOI projectspace (Ed.): Smacked & Smoked, Grenoble, 2013
Parasol Unit (Ed.): Phantom Fuel, London, 2013
Van Abbemuseum / Matadero (Eds.): The Afterglow / El rastro de la luz, Eindhoven/Madrid, 2011
Onestar Press (Ed.): At this Museum I damaged Navid Nuur's art, Paris, 2011
Mousse (Ed.): Bored at the museum / Bored at the studio, Milan, 2011
Onomatopee (Ed.): The Value of Void, Eindhoven, 2010
Navid Nuur / Gallería Plan B / Martin van Zomeren (Eds.): Extexts, Vol. 1, 2009
Onomatopee (Ed.): Where I end and you begin, Eindhoven, 2007
Veennman (Ed.): Etiolation, Rotterdam, 2007
Onomatopee (Ed.): Sliding The Slow Split, Eindhoven, 2007
Revolver Archiv (Ed.): Aftérouge, Berlin, 2006
Others
Galerie Max Hetzler (Ed.): Halftone: Through the Grid, Berlin, 2014
La Casa Encendida (Ed.): Un Paisaje Holandés / A Dutch Landscape, Madrid, 2012
Marta Herford Museum (Ed.): Ashes and Gold - A World's Journey, Cologne, 2012
Bice Curiger (Ed.): ILLUMInations. 54th International Art Exhibition La Biennale Di Venezia, Milan, 2011
Farid Tabarki (Ed.): Too late, too little, (and how) to fail gracefully, 2011
Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst / Amsterdam University Press (Eds.): Inside Installations. Theory and Practice in the Care of Complex Artworks, Amsterdam, 2011
Marta Herford Museum (Ed.): Invisible Shadows - Images of Uncertainty, Herford, 2010
Ilkay Baliç (Ed.), Arter: Starter, Istanbul, 2010
De Hallen Museum (Ed.): The Knight's Tour / Lunar Distance, Haarlem, 2009
Videos
Publications
Navid Nuur: STEP BY STEP
Exhibition Poster
2022
€ 10.00
la mia ceramica
Lynda Benglis, Ida Ekblad, Lucio Fontana, Günther Förg, Liz Larner, Fausto Melotti, Navid Nuur, Pablo Picasso, Sterling Ruby, David Salle, Josh Smith, Rosemarie Trockel, Rebecca Warren, Edmund de Waal
Galerie Max Hetzler / Holzwarth Publications, Berlin 2016
With an introduction by Edmund de Waal
€ 35.00
Navid Nuur: MINING MEMORY
Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin | Paris / Galeria Plan B, Berlin, Cluj 2015
With a text by Navid Nuur
€ 40.00
Navid Nuur: MINING MEMORY
Booklet with a fictional interview between Navid Nuur and a rock
€ 3.00
HALFTONE
Darren Almond, Tauba Auerbach, Mark Barrow & Sarah Parke, Jeff Elrod, John Houck, Navid Nuur, Albert Oehlen, Michael Raedecker, Tursic & Mille, Kelley Walker, Christopher Wool, Toby Ziegler
Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin | Paris 2014
With a text by Pierre-Nicolas Bounakoff
€ 15.00
Selected Press
ArtReview May 2021
Flash Art February 2016
artpress October 2014
Artforum November 2013
Art in America May May 2012
Artforum May 2011
Frieze June 2010
Artforum November 2010
Modern Painters December 2009
