Baseera Khan

Khan was born in 1980 in Denton, Texas.[7][8] They were raised in Denton by working class, Muslim parents who lived in near-isolation because of the threat of deportation.[9] Their parents emigrated from Bangalore, India to the United States before they were born.[6]

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.[10] In 2014, they completed the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture program.[11]

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".[1]

Khan's first solo exhibition in New York was at the Participant Inc gallery space in 2017.[12] 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.[12][13]

In December 2016, Khan was listed by Artnet, the art market website, as one of "14 Emerging Women Artists to Watch for 2017".[14]

In 2018, Khan was an artist in residence at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn.[15] 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).[16]

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.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19]

• 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[1]
• 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[20]
• 2017: Ritual, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado
• 2017: Other Romances, curated by Em Rooney, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY[21]
• 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[1]
• 2018: How to see in the dark, curated by Christian Camacho-Light, Cuchifritos, New York, New York[22]
• 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 [23]

• Blacklock, Naomi (2019). "Baseera Khan" (PDF). Conjuring Alterity: Refiguring The Witch and the Female Scream in Contemporary Art (PhD). Faculty of Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology. pp. 78–84. Retrieved 5 December 2020.