{{Short description|Belgian artist}} {{Infobox artist | name = Sanam Khatibi | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1979}} | birth_place = Tehran, Iran | death_date = | death_place = | field = Painting, sculpture, embroidery, tapestry }}
'''Sanam Khatibi''' (born 1979)<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Lavrador |first=Judicael |date=24 January 2019 |title=Ces paintres qui racontent des histoires |trans-title=These painters who tell stories |url=https://www.beauxarts.com/dossier/ces-peintres-qui-racontent-des-histoires/1-chroniqueurs-avec-une-grande-hache/ |url-status=live |journal=Beaux Arts Magazine |language=fr |volume= |issue=416 |pages=45 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230915193718/https://www.beauxarts.com/dossier/ces-peintres-qui-racontent-des-histoires/1-chroniqueurs-avec-une-grande-hache/ |archive-date=15 September 2023 |access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref> is an Iranian-born Belgian visual artist.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Specter |first=Emma |date=8 March 2020 |title=5 Female Artists Who Celebrate Women in Their Work |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/female-artists-from-around-the-world |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328130031/https://www.vogue.com/article/female-artists-from-around-the-world |archive-date=28 March 2023 |access-date=12 September 2021 |website=Vogue |publisher=Condé Nast |language=en-US}}</ref> Her work consists of paintings, embroideries, tapestries, and sculptures. Themes of her work relate to humanity's primal instincts and animality, male-female dynamics, balance of power between the sexes, domination and submission, and fear and desire.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Vankerkhoven |first=Stefan |date=29 April 2021 |title=Lemon Drizzle: expo vol dierlijkheid en oerdriften in het Groeningemuseum in Brugge |trans-title=Lemon Drizzle: exhibition full of animality and primal urges in the Groeninge Museum in Bruges |url=https://kw.be/nieuws/cultuur/lemon-drizzle-expo-vol-dierlijkheid-en-oerdriften-in-het-groeningemuseum-in-brugge/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509010810/https://kw.be/nieuws/cultuur/lemon-drizzle-expo-vol-dierlijkheid-en-oerdriften-in-het-groeningemuseum-in-brugge/ |archive-date=9 May 2021 |access-date=12 September 2021 |website=KW.be |language=nl}}</ref> Her works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Europe and the U.S.<ref name="AboutSK">{{cite web|title=Sanam Khatibi|url=http://sanamkhatibi.com/about/|access-date=2018-05-18}}</ref><ref name="Janssen">{{Cite web |title=Sanam Khatibi |url=http://www.rodolphejanssen.com/artist/sanam-khatibi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530111308/https://rodolphejanssen.com/artists/sanam-khatibi/ |archive-date=30 May 2023 |access-date=27 March 2018 |website=Rodolphe Janssen Gallery}}</ref><ref name="Blouin">{{cite web |date=6 October 2017 |title=‘Rivers in Your Mouth’ by Sanam Khatibi at Rodolphe Janssen Gallery, Brussels |url=http://enfr.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2567249/rivers-in-your-mouth-by-sanam-khatibi-at-rodolphe-janssen |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125073425/http://enfr.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2567249/rivers-in-your-mouth-by-sanam-khatibi-at-rodolphe-janssen |archive-date=25 January 2019 |access-date=18 May 2018 |website=Blouin Artinfo}}</ref> She lives and works in Brussels, Belgium.
== Work ==
Khatibi cites Frida Kahlo, Hieronymus Bosch, and Henry Darger as her sources of inspiration. Khatibi's paintings often resemble Renaissance imagery, with groups of almost transparent nude female figures against backgrounds of pastel-coloured landscapes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rizzo |first=Cailey |date=2 July 2017 |title=Artist Reimagines Renaissance Era Paintings with Powerful Women |language=en-au |work=Vice |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/artist-reimagines-renaissance-paintings-powerful-women/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512103640/https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywgg4j/artist-reimagines-renaissance-paintings-powerful-women |archive-date=12 May 2023}}</ref> The ghost-like women interact with the surrounding wildlife and explore their animal impulses.<ref name="artlead" /> Her work is seen as putting "a contemporary spin on surrealism and the uncanny."<ref>{{cite web |date=14 October 2016 |title=The Human Condition |url=https://www.ilovebelgium.be/tags/sanam-khatibi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519120527/https://www.ilovebelgium.be/tags/sanam-khatibi |archive-date=19 May 2018 |access-date=18 May 2018 |website=I Love Belgium}}</ref>
A self-taught artist,<ref name=Blouin/><ref name="artlead">{{cite web |date=29 August 2017 |title=Sanam Khatibi: 'Rivers in your mouth' – at Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels |url=http://artlead.net/content/journal/sanam-khatibi-rivers-in-your-mouth-at-rodolphe-janssen-brussels/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605164254/https://artlead.net/journal/sanam-khatibi-rivers-in-your-mouth-at-rodolphe-janssen-brussels/ |archive-date=5 June 2023 |access-date=18 May 2018 |website=Art Lead}}</ref> Khatibi is described as "guided by an untamed instinct", and "each work seems to be an invitation to a sexual game, tender or brutal, romantic or savage."<ref name=artlead/> Khatibi explains, “No matter how much society tries to cover it up, no matter how polite and educated we act, our impulses remain primitive.”<ref name="Bruzz">{{Cite web |date=29 August 2017 |title=Sanam Khatibi on 'Rivers in Your Mouth' |url=https://www.bruzz.be/node/102770 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327145014/https://www.bruzz.be/node/102770 |archive-date=27 March 2018 |access-date=27 March 2018 |website=BRUZZ |language=en}}</ref>
The emotional tone of her work is considered benign, despite the underlying themes: "Along with the apparent bestiality and the violence of the depicted scenes, the artist keeps an amused eye on the joyful carnival."<ref>{{cite web |date=2016 |title=Sanam Khatibi: Le jardin décomposé |url=https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Sanam-Khatibi--Le-jardin-decompose/E18ED5F463635F2A |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705150705/https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Sanam-Khatibi--Le-jardin-decompose/E18ED5F463635F2A |archive-date=5 July 2018 |access-date=18 May 2018 |website=MutualArt}}</ref> Furthermore, "her female subjects are presented as protagonists, not victims. They hunt, tame, or seduce the wild beasts, rather than being ravaged by them."<ref>{{cite web |date=30 April 2018 |title=Breakout Talents |url=https://www.artsy.net/series/artsy-vanguard/artsy-editors-breakout-talents |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230915210837/https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editors-breakout-talents |archive-date=15 September 2023 |access-date=18 May 2018 |website=The Artsy Vanguard}}</ref>
Khatibi says her female figures are "the predators, the dominant figures, who are quite impulsive and playful... often depicted within the same plane as the flora and fauna."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schelfhout |first=Dorien |date=29 August 2016 |title=The intricate and intriguing work of Brussels-based artist Sanam Khatibi |url=http://thewordmagazine.com/art/the-intricate-and-intriguing-work-of-brussels-based-artist-sanam-khatibi/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904044604/http://thewordmagazine.com/art/the-intricate-and-intriguing-work-of-brussels-based-artist-sanam-khatibi/ |archive-date=4 September 2016 |access-date=27 March 2018 |website=The Word Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> A review notes that "the women have an ambiguous relationship with power, violence, sensuality, and one another."<ref name="artsy20">{{Cite news |last=Lesser |first=Casey |date=10 June 2016 |title=These 20 Female Artists Are Pushing Figurative Painting Forward |language=en |work=Artsy |url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-these-20-female-artists-are-pushing-figurative-painting-forward |url-status=live |access-date=25 April 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170323081240/https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-these-20-female-artists-are-pushing-figurative-painting-forward |archive-date=23 March 2017}}</ref> Khatibi adds that “I suppose they are all me—and they are all bits and pieces of us all.”<ref name=artsy20/>
Her series, "The Murders of the Green River," exhibited in 2019 at the Rodolphe Janssen gallery in Brussels, examined the crimes of the serial killer Gary Ridgway in the Green River area of Washington State.<ref name=":0" /> ==Solo exhibitions== Khatibi has shown her work in various exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States. Notable solo exhibitions include: *''Séduire ou crever de faim'', Island, Brussels, Belgium (2014) *''Ask me nicely'', Trampoline, Antwerp, Belgium (2015) *''The hollow in the ferns'', NICC Vitrine, Brussels, Belgium (2016) *''Le jardin décomposé'', Super Dakota, Brussels, Belgium (2016) *''No Church in the wild'', The Cabin LA, Los Angeles CA, USA (2017) *''With tendresse and longing'', Billboard Series #6: Art in Public Space, Artlead, Gent, Belgium (2017) *''Rivers in your mouth'', Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium (2017) *''Wild Mink'', Artlead Salon, Brussels, Belgium (2018) <ref name=Janssen/> *The Murders of the Green River, Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium (2019)<ref name=":0" /> *“''Cruelest of the Seas''” Kunsthal Ghent (2020) *''Lemon Drizzle'', Groeningemuseum Bruges (2021)<ref name=":1" />
==Group exhibitions== *''Quel amour!'', MAC, Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille, France, 2018 *''NICC 20 Years Jubilee'', NICC, Antwerp, Belgium, 2018 *''Hecate'', Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2017 *''Summer in the City'', Christine Konig Gallery, Vienna, Austria, 2016 *''Biennial of Painting'', Museum of Deinze, Deinze, Belgium, 2016 *''Balls & Glory'', rodolphe janssen, Brussels, Belgium, 2016 *''Louise 186'', Brussels Art Days, Brussels, Belgium, 2015 *''Me, myself and I, trampoline'', Antwerp, Belgium, 2015<ref name=AboutSK/> *''The Seventh Continent'' 16th Istanbul Biennial, 2019 *“''The Tears of Eros: Moesman, Surrealism and the Sexes''” Utrecht, 2020
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://sanamkhatibi.com/ Artist's website] * [http://www.rodolphejanssen.com/exhibition/sanam-khatibi/12.01.2019/ Rodolphe Janssen exhibition]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatibi, Sanam}} Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Belgian contemporary artists Category:Artists from Brussels Category:Belgian tapestry artists Category:Iranian contemporary artists Category:21st-century Belgian sculptors Category:21st-century Belgian women sculptors Category:21st-century Iranian women painters Category:21st-century Iranian painters Category:21st-century Iranian sculptors Category:21st-century Belgian painters Category:21st-century Belgian women painters Category:Iranian emigrants to Belgium