# Baseera Khan
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{{short description|American artist}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Baseera Khan
| image = Basseerakhan.jpg
| caption = Khan in 2023
| birth_name = Baseera Khan
| birth_date = 1980
| birth_place = [Denton, Texas](/source/Denton%2C_Texas), US
| death_date =
| death_place =
| field = [Installation art](/source/Installation_art)
[Mixed media](/source/Mixed_media)
| training = [University of North Texas](/source/University_of_North_Texas)
[Cornell University](/source/Cornell_University)
| movement =
| works =
| patrons =
| influenced by =
| influenced =
| awards = ''[The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist](/source/The_Exhibit%3A_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.[{{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](/source/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}}][{{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}}][{{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}}] Their work discusses the political circumstances of their identity as a queer Muslim and "as a feminist, and as a brown Indian-Afghani".[{{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}}] They are based in [New York City](/source/New_York_City).
== Early life and education ==
Khan was born in 1980 in [Denton, Texas](/source/Denton%2C_Texas).[{{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}}][{{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}}] They were raised in Denton by working class, Muslim parents who lived in near-isolation because of the threat of deportation.[{{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}}] Their parents emigrated from Bangalore, India to the United States before they were born.[{{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}}] In 2014, they completed the [Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture](/source/Skowhegan_School_of_Painting_and_Sculpture) program.[{{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}}]
== Career ==
[[File:The Liberator, 2022, Baseera Khan at Hirshhorn.jpg|thumb|right|''The Liberator'' (2022) at the [Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden](/source/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".[{{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}}]
In December 2016, Khan was listed by ''[Artnet](/source/Artnet)'', the [art market](/source/art_market) website, as one of "14 Emerging Women Artists to Watch for 2017".[{{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](/source/Artnet)}}]
Khan's first solo exhibition in New York was at the Participant Inc gallery space in 2017.[{{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}}] The exhibition, titled "iamuslima", was named after the eponymous term that Khan had [Nike](/source/Nike%2C_Inc.) 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.[{{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 }}]
- 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
In 2018, Khan was an artist in residence at [Pioneer Works](/source/Pioneer_Works) in Red Hook, Brooklyn.[{{Cite web|url=https://pioneerworks.org/residency/baseera-khan/|title=Baseera Khan|publisher=Pioneer Works|access-date=2019-03-01|date=2018-07-10}}] Other residencies and fellowships include an artist residency at [Abrons Arts Center](/source/Abrons_Arts_Center) (2016–17), an International Travel Fellowship to Jerusalem/Ramallah through [Apexart](/source/Apexart) (2015) and a Process Space artist residency at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2015).[{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseerakhanstudios.com/bio|title=Baseera Khan|website=Baseera Khan|access-date=2019-03-01}}]
Khan staged their first solo museum exhibition, "Baseera Khan: I Am an Archive," in 2021 at the [Brooklyn Museum](/source/Brooklyn_Museum)'s [Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art](/source/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.[{{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}}]
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](/source/Meta_Platforms)’s Manhattan office complex in the historic [James A. Farley Building](/source/James_A._Farley_Building).[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](/source/The_Art_Newspaper)''.]
In 2023, Khan was the winner of ''[The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist](/source/The_Exhibit%3A_Finding_the_Next_Great_Artist)'', a reality TV series that aired on MTV and the Smithsonian Channel.[{{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}}] Following the series finale, Khan's final winning commission, ''The Liberator'' (2022), was installed in the [Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden](/source/Hirshhorn_Museum_and_Sculpture_Garden) in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_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](/source/National_Museum_of_Asian_Art).[{{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](/source/Artnet) |access-date=6 May 2023 |date=1 May 2023}}]
== 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](/source/Weeksville_Heritage_Center), Brooklyn, New York[
* 2016: ''SKOWHEGANPerforms'', [Socrates Sculpture Park](/source/Socrates_Sculpture_Park), New York, New York
* 2016: ''Subject to Capital'', [Abrons Art Center](/source/Abrons_Arts_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](/source/Ramapo_College), New Jersey][[https://www.ramapo.edu/news/press-releases/ramapo-curatorial-prize-exhibition-political-abstraction-opens-kresge-gallery/ Standard Forms]]
* 2017: ''Ritual'', [Aspen Art Museum](/source/Aspen_Art_Museum), Aspen, Colorado
* 2017: ''Other Romances'', curated by Em Rooney, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY[{{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 }}]
* 2017: ''Sessions'', [Whitney Museum of American Art](/source/Whitney_Museum_of_American_Art), New York, New York
* 2017: ''Fatal Love'', [Queens Museum](/source/Queens_Museum), Queens, New York
* 2017: ''Iamuslima'', Participant Inc. Gallery, New York, New York[
* 2018: ''How to see in the dark'', curated by Christian Camacho-Light, Cuchifritos, New York, New York][[http://artistsallianceinc.org/cuchifritos-gallery-2/how-to-see-in-the-dark How to see in the dark]]
* 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](/source/Katonah_Museum_of_Art), Katonah, New York
* 2018: ''SEED'', [Paul Kasmin Gallery](/source/Paul_Kasmin_Gallery), New York, New York
* 2018: Carry Over: New Voices from the Global African Diaspora, [Smack Mellon](/source/Smack_Mellon), Brooklyn, New York
* 2018: ''Mane n' Tail'', Luminary, St. Louis, MO
* 2018: ''ROYGBIV'', [Kate Werble Gallery](/source/Kate_Werble_Gallery), New York, New York
* 2018: ''I am no bird...'', ltd Los Angeles, California
* 2018: ''In Practice: Another Echo'', [SculptureCenter](/source/SculptureCenter), New York, New York
* 2018: ''Long, Winding Journeys: Contemporary Art and the Islamic Tradition'', [Katonah Museum of Art](/source/Katonah_Museum_of_Art), Katonah, New York
* 2018: ''LOVE 2018: Purple Hearts'', LeRoy Neiman Gallery at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University), New York
* 2018: Hyphen American, Gallery 102, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
* 2018: ''iamuslima'', [Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center](/source/Colorado_Springs_Fine_Arts_Center) at Colorado College, Colorado
* 2019: ''snake skin'', Simone Subal Gallery, New York, 2019[{{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}}]
- {{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}}
* 2021: ''I Am an Archive,'' Brooklyn Museum, New York