NAVID NUUR


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

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

2024

When Doubt turns into Destiny
Oude Kerk, Amsterdam


2023

MONO NO AWARE NESS
Soda, Kyoto

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, The Hague

Entrelacs (duo show with Victor Man)
Centre d'édition contemporaine, Geneva

Paintpusher
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, Berlin


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)

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 (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

Museum of Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K.), 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

2024

The Humming of Colors
Art Chosun Space, Seoul


2023

Kiss My Soul 
Dordrechts Museum

Am Seegarten

Kirchmöser, Brandenburg

...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

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
Museum of Contemporary Art (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
Museum of Contemporary Art (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, 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

Casey Kaplan, New York

The Image in the Sculpture
, curated by Christine Macel and Navid Nuur
Centre Pompidou, Paris

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
, curated by Mikkel Carl
Motto Charlottenborg, Copenhagen

The Castle in the Air. Séance of Imagination
, curated by Adam Budak
Centre of Culture ZAMEK, Poznan

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

Museum of Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K.), 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

Starter
, curated by Rene Block
Arter, Istanbul(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

Museum of Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K.), 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

€ 15.00

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

Booklet with a fictional interview between Navid Nuur and a rock

€ 3.00

Navid Nuur: MINING MEMORY

Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin | Paris / Galeria Plan B, Berlin, Cluj 2015
With a text by Navid Nuur

€ 40.00

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

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Flash Art February 2016

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artpress October 2014

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Artforum November 2013

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Art in America May May 2012

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Artforum May 2011

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Frieze June 2010

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Artforum November 2010

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Modern Painters December 2009

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