Baseera Khan

{{Infobox artist | name = Baseera Khan | image = Basseerakhan.jpg | caption = Khan in 2023 | birth_name = Baseera Khan | birth_date = 1980 | birth_place = Denton, Texas, US | death_date = | death_place = | field = Installation art<br>Mixed media | training = University of North Texas<br>Cornell University | movement = | works = | patrons = | influenced by = | influenced = | awards = ''The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist'' (2023) }} {{use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

'''Baseera Khan''' (born 1980) is an American visual artist who uses material, form, and color to express non-verbal concepts in sculpture, installation, painting, performance, and photography.

Khan uses they/them pronouns.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-09-04 |title=This Labor Day, These Workers Are Trying to Stay Afloat |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/arts/labor-day-workers-arts-coronavirus.html |access-date=2023-04-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-01 |title=Baseera Khan Opens a Solo Exhibition at Moody Center for the Arts |url=https://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2022/05/baseera-khan-opens-a-solo-exhibition-at-moody-center-for-the-arts/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=OutSmart Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Abrams |first=Bill |date=2021-04-30 |title=Made in America: Baseera Khan at Lux Art Institute |url=https://ranchandcoast.com/explore/lux-art-institute-baseera-khan/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Ranch & Coast Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Their work discusses the political circumstances of their identity as a queer Muslim and "as a feminist, and as a brown Indian-Afghani".<ref name="AIAM-review">{{Cite news|url=https://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/baseera-khan/|title=Baseera Khan|author=Jane Ursula Harris|work=Art in America|date=26 May 2017|access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref> They are based in New York City.

== Early life and education == Khan was born in 1980 in Denton, Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baseera Khan |url=https://muslims.brooklynhistory.org/narrators/baseera-khan/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Muslims in Brooklyn Website |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Baseera Khan: I Am an Archive |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/baseera_khan |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Brooklyn Museum}}</ref> They were raised in Denton by working class, Muslim parents who lived in near-isolation because of the threat of deportation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.remahortmannfoundation.org/project/baseera-khan-2/|title=Baseera Khan|publisher=Rema Hort Mann Foundation|access-date=2018-03-04|archive-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305202533/http://www.remahortmannfoundation.org/project/baseera-khan-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their parents emigrated from Bangalore, India to the United States before they were born.<ref name="AIAM-review" />

They received a B.F.A. in drawing/painting and sociology from the University of North Texas in 2005, and an M.F.A. from the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art and Planning in 2012.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abronsartscenter.org/classes-workshops/faculty/bio/baseera-khan/|title=Baseera Khan|publisher=Abrons Arts Center|access-date=2018-03-04|archive-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063418/http://www.abronsartscenter.org/classes-workshops/faculty/bio/baseera-khan/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014, they completed the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture program.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.skowheganart.org/skowperforms2016/2016/5/11/baseera-khan-a-14|title=Baseera Khan (A '14)|publisher=Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture|access-date=2018-03-04|archive-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063244/https://www.skowheganart.org/skowperforms2016/2016/5/11/baseera-khan-a-14|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Career == [[File:The Liberator, 2022, Baseera Khan at Hirshhorn.jpg|thumb|right|''The Liberator'' (2022) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2023]]

Khan is a conceptual artist who uses a variety of mediums to "visualize patterns and repetitions of exile and kinship shaped by economic, social, and political changes in local and global environments, with special interests in decolonization processes".<ref name="whitney">{{Cite web |title=Study Sessions: Baseera Khan |url=https://whitney.org/Events/StudySessionsBaseeraKhan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305142506/https://whitney.org/Events/StudySessionsBaseeraKhan |archive-date=5 March 2018 |access-date=2018-03-04 |publisher=Whitney Museum of American Art}}</ref>

In December 2016, Khan was listed by ''Artnet'', the art market website, as one of "14 Emerging Women Artists to Watch for 2017".<ref>{{Cite web |author=Sarah Cascone |date=2016-12-21 |title=14 Emerging Women Artists to Watch in 2017 |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/emerging-female-artists-2017-766571 |access-date=21 March 2022 |website=Artnet}}</ref>

Khan's first solo exhibition in New York was at the Participant Inc gallery space in 2017.<ref name="Baseera Khan">{{Cite web |date=2017-05-26 |title=Baseera Khan |url=https://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/baseera-khan/ |access-date=2019-03-01 |website=Art in America}}</ref> The exhibition, titled "iamuslima", was named after the eponymous term that Khan had Nike stitch on a pair of sneakers as a way of protesting Nike Inc.'s refusal to allow the words "Islam" or "Muslim" on its customizable sneaker models.<ref name="Baseera Khan" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=iamuslima |url=https://www.baseerakhanstudios.com/test |access-date=2019-03-01 |publisher=Baseera Khan Studios }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}<br />- Kasem, Yasmine Kasem, (2019) [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0mw501ft "Jihad of Bitter Petals: Queering Identity and Material through Unraveling and Struggle"], masters thesis, University Of California San Diego</ref>

In 2018, Khan was an artist in residence at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pioneerworks.org/residency/baseera-khan/|title=Baseera Khan|publisher=Pioneer Works|access-date=2019-03-01|date=2018-07-10}}</ref> Other residencies and fellowships include an artist residency at Abrons Arts Center (2016–17), an International Travel Fellowship to Jerusalem/Ramallah through Apexart (2015) and a Process Space artist residency at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2015).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseerakhanstudios.com/bio|title=Baseera Khan|website=Baseera Khan|access-date=2019-03-01}}</ref>

Khan staged their first solo museum exhibition, "Baseera Khan: I Am an Archive," in 2021 at the Brooklyn Museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. Presented as part of the annual UOVO Prize for emerging Brooklyn-based artists, the exhibition explored themes of Muslim-American identity and the body as a place of shared history.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Baseera Khan: I Am an Archive |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/baseera_khan |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=www.brooklynmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref>

In 2022, Khan was commissioned to create a series of sculptures based on the form of a Corinthian column – albeit one that seems to have been toppled and wrapped in handmade silk rugs from Kashmir – for Meta’s Manhattan office complex in the historic James A. Farley Building.<ref>Benjamin Sutton (24 August 2022), https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/08/24/meta-new-york-office-art-commissions [Meta puts analogue art front and centre in sprawling new Manhattan office] ''The Art Newspaper''.</ref>

In 2023, Khan was the winner of ''The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist'', a reality TV series that aired on MTV and the Smithsonian Channel.<ref name=smithsonian.230303>{{cite news |last=Roger |first=Catlin |date= March 3, 2023 |title=Behind the Scenes of the New Reality Series, 'The Exhibit' |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/behind-the-scenes-of-the-new-reality-series-the-exhibit-180981731/ |work= The Smithsonian|location=Washington DC |access-date=March 3, 2023}}</ref> Following the series finale, Khan's final winning commission, ''The Liberator'' (2022), was installed in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., from May to July 2023. The work, a mixed media figurative sculpture made from a 3D-printed model of the artist's body and plexiglass, was partly inspired by an 18th-century Buddhist statue, ''Naro Dakini'', in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |last1=Chen |first1=Min |title=Artist Baseera Khan's Sculpture That Won Them the Top Prize on Reality Show 'The Exhibit' Will Go on View at the Hirshhorn |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/the-exhibit-baseera-khan-winning-comission-hirshhorn-2291901 |website=Artnet |access-date=6 May 2023 |date=1 May 2023}}</ref>

== Exhibitions == * 2015: ''Walk with Me'', Critical Practices Inc., New York, New York * 2015: ''Of Gentle Birth'', Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn, New York * 2016: ''BRIC Biennial,'' Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, New York<ref name=whitney/> * 2016: ''SKOWHEGANPerforms'', Socrates Sculpture Park, New York, New York * 2016: ''Subject to Capital'', Abrons Art Center, New York, New York * 2017: ''Standard Forms'', curated by Christian Camacho-Light, Art Galleries at The Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts, Ramapo College of New Jersey, New Jersey<ref>[https://www.ramapo.edu/news/press-releases/ramapo-curatorial-prize-exhibition-political-abstraction-opens-kresge-gallery/ Standard Forms]</ref> * 2017: ''Ritual'', Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado * 2017: ''Other Romances'', curated by Em Rooney, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.racheluffnergallery.com/exhibitions/detail/upstairs-other-romances/installation-stills |title=Other Romances |access-date=12 October 2019 |archive-date=12 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012181919/https://www.racheluffnergallery.com/exhibitions/detail/upstairs-other-romances/installation-stills |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2017: ''Sessions'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York * 2017: ''Fatal Love'', Queens Museum, Queens, New York * 2017: ''Iamuslima'', Participant Inc. Gallery, New York, New York<ref name=whitney/> * 2018: ''How to see in the dark'', curated by Christian Camacho-Light, Cuchifritos, New York, New York<ref>[http://artistsallianceinc.org/cuchifritos-gallery-2/how-to-see-in-the-dark How to see in the dark]</ref> * 2018: ''Not for Everybody'', curated by Allie Tepper, Simone Subal Gallery, New York, New York * 2018: ''Long, Winding Journeys: Contemporary Art and the Islamic Tradition'', Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York * 2018: ''SEED'', Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, New York * 2018: Carry Over: New Voices from the Global African Diaspora, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, New York * 2018: ''Mane n' Tail'', Luminary, St. Louis, MO * 2018: ''ROYGBIV'', Kate Werble Gallery, New York, New York * 2018: ''I am no bird...'', ltd Los Angeles, California * 2018: ''In Practice: Another Echo'', SculptureCenter, New York, New York * 2018: ''Long, Winding Journeys: Contemporary Art and the Islamic Tradition'', Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York * 2018: ''LOVE 2018: Purple Hearts'', LeRoy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University, New York * 2018: Hyphen American, Gallery 102, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. * 2018: ''iamuslima'', Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, Colorado * 2019: ''snake skin'', Simone Subal Gallery, New York, 2019<ref>{{Cite web|last=Anania|first=Billy|date=2019-12-04|title=Baseera Khan's Vivid, Anti-Imperialist Odes|url=https://hyperallergic.com/531376/baseera-khans-vivid-anti-imperialist-odes/|access-date=2020-08-13|website=Hyperallergic}}<br />- {{Cite web|last=Gilbert|first=Alan|date=2019|title=Baseera Khan: snake skin|url=https://brooklynrail.org/2019/12/artseen/Baseera-Khan-snake-skin/|access-date=2020-11-10|website=The Brooklyn Rail}}</ref> * 2021: ''I Am an Archive,'' Brooklyn Museum, New York<ref name=":0" /> * 2023: ''Cloak and Dagger,'' De La Cruz Art Gallery, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

== References == {{reflist}}

== See also == * {{cite thesis |last=Blacklock |first=Naomi |date=2019 |title=Conjuring Alterity: Refiguring The Witch and the Female Scream in Contemporary Art |type=PhD |chapter=Baseera Khan |pages=78–84 |publisher=Faculty of Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology |chapter-url=https://eprints.qut.edu.au/132362/1/Naomi_Blacklock_Thesis.pdf |access-date=December 5, 2020}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Baseera}} Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Artists from New York (state) Category:Artists from Texas Category:Muslims from Texas Category:Muslim artists Category:American feminist artists Category:American LGBTQ artists Category:LGBTQ people from Texas Category:American LGBTQ people of Asian descent Category:Queer Muslims Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people