Navid Nuur

Work

Exhibitions

Text

Just as time is an expression of perception and change, the artistic cosmos of Navid Nuur remains in constant movement, permanently being formed by drawings, paintings, sculptures, and installations. The artist himself describes his works as “interimodules”: module in reference to the works’ conceptuality and the interrelationship between different elements, and interim as an indicator of being in-between, a temporary state of transition. Starting from matter as the substance of all things, Nuur investigates almost like an alchemist the nature of art and the world by focusing his attention on materiality and by revealing diverse manifestations. Recontextualization as well as processes of discovery and rediscovery are characteristic of his approach. Nuur examines various parameters of art and experiments with elements such as color, light, and heat, thereby exploring phenomena of perception and inspiring new ways of seeing.

Navid Nuur (born 1976 in Tehran, lives and works in The Hague) was given the Royal Award for Painting in Amsterdam in 2011, and in 2013 – together with Adrien Ghenie – he received the Discovery Prize at Art Basel Hong Kong. In 2020, the Marta Herford, among others, has dedicated a solo show to the artist. Nuur’s works can be found in significant collections including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Musée National d’Art Moderne/The Centre Pompidou, Paris, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, and the Kunsthalle Zurich.

Vita

1976

Born in Teheran

(Lives and works in The Hague)

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)

Selected Solo Shows

2024

When Doubt turns into Destiny – Oude Kerk, Amsterdam

2023

The Tentext Theory – Parliament, Paris

MONO NO AWARE NESS – Soda, Kyoto

2022

STEP BY STEP – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

Softly Seized – Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam

2021

Navid Nuur. Apart from the secret that it holds – Galerie Max Hetzler, London

When meanings get marbled – Plan B, Berlin

2020

Navid Nuur. I am because of you – Kunstmuseum The Hague, The Hague

Hocus Focus – Marta Herford, Herford

What is lost in time will be found by time – Jahn und Jahn, Munich

2019

THE AFTER GLOW III I BY NAVID NUUR – NDSM, Amsterdam

Fight Light Fight – Sofie Van de Velde Gallery, Antwerp

When doubt turns into destiny Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris

2018

RE/FLECT/OR (public sculture) – Intersection Spui / Grote Markstraat, The Hague

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

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

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

Unified Not Uniformed – Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam

TA-DA ! – Galerie des Enfants, Centre Pompidou, Paris

Phantom Fuel – Parasol Unit, London

Track&Trace – Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk

Smokebombsmoke – OUI Center of Contemporary Art, Grenoble

2012

Bergamo – Heden, The Hague

Hocus Focus – Matadero, Madrid

2011

Conductorconductor – Galería Plan-B, Berlin

It's No Crime To Tickle Time – Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam

Post Parallelism – Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, St. Gallen

2010

Glow (Re-)discovering Eindhoven – Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven

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

(No) Norms Forgotten – 10m2 Project space, Sarajevo

Aass Wwee bbccoommee Oonnee – Klerkx, Milan

Within Your Worlds – Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam

In Your World – Galería 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

Drawing the line somewhere – duo, Ned. Cacaofabriek, Helmond

2004

Galerie De5er, Rotterdam

Selected Group Shows

2024

Drei Hubwagen und ein Blatt Papier: Die Edition Block (1966 – 2022) – Museum Kurhaus Kleve

2023

Drei Hubwagen und ein Blatt Papier. Die Edition Block 1966 – 2022, Neues Museum, Nuremberg

Gifted Eye – Teylers Museum, Harleem

50 seconds – Yetis International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

KISS MY SOUL – Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, NL

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 – 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

Les Flammes. L'Âge de la céramique – Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (MAM), Paris

Trailblazers. 150th Anniversary of the Royal Award for Modern Painting, Royal Palace, Amsterdam

Stations – Lustwarande, Tilburg

Hide & Hair. Contemporary ceramics acquisitions 2015–2021 – The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden

The House of Losing Control – 17th Vienna Art Week, Nordwestbahnstraße 53, Vienna

Écrire, c'est dessiner – Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz

Press Eject and Give Me the Tape – Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam

2020

CoBrA. The color of freedom – Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam

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

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

CHAPTER 1NE. Edson Sabajo & Guillaume Schmidt ‘Can’t be greedy… You gotta take some, and leave some’ – Het HEM, 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, begleitend zur Biennale di Venezia, Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, Venice

Freedom. The Fifty Key Dutch Artworks Since 1968 – Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle

Negativer Raum – ZKM, Karlsruhe

₡ U RR€ ₦ ₡ ¥ – NOME, Berlin

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

Various Others – 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

2017

Eugenia Pop and Navid Nuur – Galería 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

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 – De Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam

Mountains With A Broken Edge – Havana Biennial, 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, 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

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

Traces – Stedelijk Museum, s-Hertogenbosch

Agora – 4th Athens Biennale, Athens

On the Road to... Tarascon, Adrian Ghenie and Navid Nuur – Galería Plan B, Berlin

Passion de l'Art en Finistère / Collection #4 – Centre d'art contemporain de Quimper, 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, The Hague

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

Ashes and gold. A World’s Journey – Marta Herford Museum, Herford

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

Too late, too little, (and how) to fail gracefully – Kunstfort Asperen, Langedijk

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

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

Benefit Exhibition – Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, St. Gallen

Starter – Arter, Istanbul (curated by Rene Block)

History of Art – David Roberts Art Foundation, London

Performative Attitudes – Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus

Up to You – Stroom, The Hague

2009

The Knight's Tour – De Hallen Museum, Haarlem

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 – Galería Plan B, Berlin

Schilders – DCR, The Hague

Geoair – residency in Georgia, Tbilisi

Mariakapel, Hoorn

2007

Billy town, Rijswijk

INSIDEOUT – Moira Gallery, Utrecht

Voorstel voor – DCR Project Space, Den Haag

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

2005

Rebound – HKU Gallery Utrecht, Utrecht

Jack of Hearts – Stroom, The Hague

2004

The Art of Management – Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Paris

BillboartEuropean Billboard Exposition, Bratislava, Warsaw