Across multiple media, Anna Boghiguian presents sensory and psychological impressions with a brazen, and often crude, style that reveals a critical eye and active imagination.
Anna Boghiguian
Across multiple media, Anna Boghiguian presents sensory and psychological impressions with a brazen, and often crude, style that reveals a critical eye and active imagination.
In drawings full of smoke and motion, Boghiguian captures the chaos, confusion, and exuberance of urban life in her native Cairo, with a drafting style that is at once frenetic and meticulously detailed. Interlaced with expressive text that swirls like repeated thoughts, Boghiguian’s works read like psychological cartography, referencing the ancient history and contemporary transformation of Egypt, as well as her Armenian heritage. Often a chronicle of her extensive travels, Boghiguian’s self-reflective work is exploratory, not myopic, illuminating the multitude of perspectives and experiences she observes.
Recent solo exhibitions: Anna Boghiguian, Tate St. Ives, UK (2019); The Loom of History, New Museum, New York, USA (2018); Anna Boghiguian, Bait Al Serkal, Sharjah Arts Square, Sharjah, UAE (2018); Anna Boghiguian, Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli, Italy (2017); Cities by the Rivers, SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada (2015); Anna Boghiguian, I heard of myths but I understood I have to free myself from it but how, when, and where, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon (2014).
b. 1946. Anna Boghiguian lives and works in Cairo.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
- Anna Boghiguian: Period of Change, The Douglas Hyde, Ireland
2023
- Anna Boghiguian: Time of Change, The Power Plant, Ontario, Canada
2022
- Anna Boghiguian: Period of Change, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria
2021
- The Uprooted, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
- A Short Long History, S.M.A.K. Belgium
2019
- Anna Boghiguian, Retrospective Exhibition, Tate Modern, London, UK
- Anna Boghiguian: Le Carré, La Ligne et La Règle, Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris, France
- Anna Boghiguian, Artes Mundi, Wales, UK
- Anna Boghiguian: Conversations on Limits and Unlimits, Mendes Wood DM Gallery, Sao Paolo, Brazil
2018
- The Loom of History, New Museum, New York, US
- Anna Boghiguian, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
- Anna Boghiguian, Retrospective Exhibition, Sharjah's Art Square, Sharjah, UAE
2017
- Anna Boghiguian, Lo Studio, Castello di Rivoli, Museo d'Arte Contemporeano, Rivoli, Italy
- Woven Winds, INDEX, The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden
- Unfinished Conversations: New Work from the Collection, MoMA, New York, US
- Retrospective, Castello di Rivoli, Museo d'Arte, Torino, Italy
2016
- A Walk in the Unconscious, Carré d'Art, Nimes, France
2015
- Cities by the Rivers, SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada
2013
- Anna Boghiguian. Unstructured Diary for an Autobiography, Daad Galerie, Berlin, Germany
- ZYX-XYZ an autobiography - odd times in life, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
2011
- A Poet on the Edges of History, Gallerie Gitti Nourbakhsch, Berlin, Germany
2010
- A Voyage Through Cavafy's Alexandria-Watercolours by Anna Boghiguian, Benaki Museum of Islamic Art, Athens, Greece
- Anna Boghiguian, Gardens of Egypt, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2009
- Anna Boghiguian, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2008
- Anna Boghiguian, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2007
- Anna Boghiguian, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2006
- Péres, Kasr el Basha and Centre Culturel Français, Gaza, PLE & CCF of Amman, Jordan
- Anna Boghiguian,Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2004
- Anna Boghiguian, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2003
- Anna Boghiguian, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2001
- Anna Boghiguian, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
- Sacred Rivers: Anna Boghiguian, The American University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
2000
- Anna Boghiguian, Safar Khan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
1996
- Drawings and Paintings on Constantine Cavafy, Espace Karim Francis, Cairo, Egypt
- Constantine Cavafy, Cavafy House, Alexandria, Egypt
1995
- Mémoires d'un Voyageur, Espace Karim Francis, Cairo, Egypt
1993
- From Wax Images to Indian Tales, Berlin Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt; Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
1992
- Anna Boghiguian, Recent Works, Cairo Atelier, Cairo, Egypt
- Anna Boghiguian, Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
1991
- Anna Boghiguian, Dare-Dare, Montreal, Canada
1990
- ZYX-XYZ, Dessins par Anna Boghiguian, Dare-Dare, Montreal, Canada
1989
- Cities, Atelier du Caire, Cairo, Egypt
1988
- Anna Boghiguian, Peintures, Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
1987
- Anna Boghiguian, Trains, Ragab Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
1986
- ZYX-XYZ, Galerie Forum, Athens, Greece
- Anna Boghiguian, Atelier du Caire, Cairo, Egypt
1985
- Anna Boghiguian, Armenian Artistic Club, Cairo, Egypt
1984
- Anna Boghiguian, Atelier du Caire, Cairo, Egypt
1983
- Anna Boghiguian, Atelier du Caire, Cairo, Egypt
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
- Materials and Objects, The Tate Modern, UK
2021
- Espressioni. The Proposition, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy
2020
- Nirin, 22nd Sydney Biennial, Sydney, Australia
- James Richards: Alms for the Birds, Castello di Rivoli, Museo d'Arte Contemporeano, Rivoli, Italy
2019
- Could Be (An Arrow): A Reading of La Colección Jumex, Fondacion Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico
- A la plume, au pinceau, au crayon: dessins du monde arabe, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
- 3rd Anazero Biennial, Coimbra, Portugal
2017
- The Restless Earth, La Triennale de Milano, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milano, Italy
- Unfinished Conversations: New Work from the Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, US
2016
- THE UNFAITHFUL REPLICA, Centre de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid, Spain
- Site Sante Fe International Biennial, Sante Fe, US
2015
- Positions #2, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- 56th Venice Biennial, Armenian Pavilion, Venice, Italy
- Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
- Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE
- Gallery 3010, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
- Armenien Pavillon 56, Espazione Internazionale d'Arte, Venice, Italy
- How to (talk about) things that don't exist - an exhibition developed out of the 31st Sao Paolo Biennale, Fundacao de Serralves, Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Porto, Portugal
2014
- Here and Elsewhere, New Museum, New York, US
- 31st Biennial de São Paolo, Brazil
- 1st International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Cartagena, Columbia
- Tagore's Post Office, nGbK, Berlin, Germany
- Anna Boghiguian and Taysir Batniji, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
2013
- Anna Boghiguian & Goshka Macuga: Tagore's Universal Allegories, INIVA, London, UK
- Society for Contemporary Art: Acquisition Finalists 2013, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, US
- Cross-Border, Künstlerinnen der Gegenwartaus dem arabischen Mittelmeerraum, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
2012
- dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany
2011
- Plot for a Biennale, 2011 Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE
2010
- EL ELE, Rodeo Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
- Self-Consciousness, Veneklasen/Werner, Berlin, Germany
- What Happens When The Cheese is Gone? Works from the 11th International istanbul Biennale, Fondazione Puglisi Cosentino, Palazza Valle, Catania, Italy
2009
- What Keeps Mankind Alive? 11th International Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey
- Hand in Hand, Rodeo Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2008
- In the Middle of the Middle, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
2007
- Heterotopias Biennale 1. Biennale of Thessaloniki, State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
2003
- Contemporary Arab Representation, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Centro José Guerrero de la Diputacion de Granada, Granada, Spain; Bildmuseet Umea, Sweden
2002
- Drawings . Straight from the artist's studio, Falaki Gallery, Cairo Egypt
2001
- L'Art du Livre Arabe du Manuscrit ou Livre d'Artiste, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France
1997
- Constantine Cavafy, Galerie Athanor, Marseille, France
1994
- Festival des Allumées, Nantes, France
- Four Painters, Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, Canada
1992
- Paintings & Art Works Exhibitions, Armenian Artistic Club, Cairo, Egypt
Awards
2024
- 30th Wolfgang Hahn Prize of the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2024
2015
- Golden Lion for best national participation, 56th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
Collections
- Neue Galerie Kassel, Germany
- Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
- Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, France
- Musée Carré d'Art, Nîmes, France
- Castello di Rivoli, Museo d’Arte Contemporeano, Rivoli, Italy
- Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
- Tate Modern, London, UK
- New Museum, New York, US
- Museum of Modern Art, New York, US
- Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
- The Art Institute of Chicago, US
- University of Chicago, US
- Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
- Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- INIVIA, Institute of International Visual Arts, London, UK
- Fundacion Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico
- INDEX, The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden
- National Museum of Wales, Wales, UK
- Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
- Frac des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France