BEHRANG KARIMI

“These are works that developed in the studio like weeds pushing through concrete — unexpected, organic. They come from places I am still learning to identify myself, often only through long observation and reflection...

What matters is that feeling — the one you get when you think deeply about the world, its origins, its meaning. That is the territory of philosophy, science, and history. There is something poetic in the fact that so much of research is speculative, bounded by what cannot be proven. That sense of mystery is powerful for me. Maybe it sounds childish, but it is a tender, restorative place. However if you need a concrete answer: my church is the forest.”

Behrang Karimi, Interview: Self-Survey FAQ, Pocket Call, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Dusseldorf, 2024

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Behrang Karimi (b. 1980, Schiraz, Iran) currently lives and works in Köln, Germany. He received a Masters and Diploma from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany.

Selected solo exhibitions include: Pocket Call, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (2024); Theory of a smell, Ermes Ermes, Rome, Italy (2024); Dinge Weltweit, Maureen Paley & Studio M, London, UK (2023); Law of the Tent, Melas Martinos, Athens, Greece (2023); Caprii, Düsseldorf, Germany (2023); bacchus madness walking experiences, ERMES ERMES, Rome, Italy (2022); Rotpeter: Bild eines zur Dressur gezwungenen, Moon Grove, Manchester, UK (2022); coming for your job and wifes, Tramps, London, UK (2021); SPIT, Braunsfelder, Köln, Germany (2021); Zarinbal Khoshbakht, Köln, Germany (2020).

Selected group exhibitions include: Ten Thousand Ugly Inkblots (Parts 1 & 2/3), Schiefe Zähne, Berlin, Germany (2024–25); 9th Biennial of Painting: Stories from the Ground, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium (2024); Ghosts Shimmer in Sunlight, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, Thirsk, UK (2024); Room by Room: Concepts, Themes, and Artists in The Rachofsky Collection, The Warehouse, Dallas, TX, USA (2023); outer view, inner world, Maureen Paley: Morena di Luna, Hove, UK (2023); The Age, Shahin Zarinbal, Berlin, Germany (2022); Fifteen Painters, Andrew Kreps, New York, USA (2021); Everything is Personal, Tramps, New York, USA (2020); Alles Notwendige (Everything Necessary), Braunsfelder, Köln, Germany (2020); Behrang Karimi and Alastair Mackinven, Maureen Paley, London, UK (2019).