Iman Rezai

Iman Rezai (born 1981 in Shiraz, Iran) is an artist currently living and working in Berlin, Germany.

In March 2012, Rezai attracted international attention for his conceptual artwork "Die Guillotine" (German for: The Guillotine)

Early life

Rezai began his artistic career at art school in Tehran, studying in Tokyo and London before moving to Berlin where he became a masters student at the University of Arts in the class of Leiko Ikemura from 2006 to 2012.[1] In January 2015, his brother Ardavan Rezai published the autobiographical book "We are all mouses" (original German title "Wir sind alle Mäuse") that releases insights of the childhood of the two brothers and their migration to Berlin[2]

Art

Die Guillotine

In 2012, Iman Rezai and Rouven Materne, who were at this time master students at the Berlin University of Arts, have built an execution instrument and started a public vote concerning the killing of a sheep to assess and represent the current state of democracy. The construction of the machine and the literature surrounding the life or death of the sheep was already met with resistance at the University whilst still in its planning stage. In a democratic vote, with rules established by the artists, the public could decide whether a sheep will be executed by a colourful instrument of death devised by him. Over a period of four weeks 4.2 million people voted from all over the globe and over 500 different international media reported on the uproar.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Cyber War 2012

Using the email address of the New National Gallery Berlin, Iman Rezai invited guests to the fictional exhibition named "The performative post-modern as an expression of modern austerity in the age of precarity."[13]

With "BundesInvest", Rezai demonstrated how easy it is to establish a company that appears to specialise in the sale of nuclear waste.[14]

Waterboarding 2012

With his performance "Waterboarding" as part of an exhibition, Rezai invited volunteers who could be subjected to the procedure in a rack created by him – to find out for themselves whether Waterboarding should be judged as a painful experience or merely a harmless shower.[15][16][17]

Exhibitions
  • 2012 "Illusion H2O", von Marten, Berlin[18]
  • 2012 "1965,85 °C", Spinnerei, Leipzig
  • 2012 "Die Guillotine", Virtuell
  • 2012 "Licht und Schatten", Beta-Haus, Berlin
  • 2011 "Neu West Berlin", Berlin
  • 2011 "Veilchen", Uferhallen, Berlin
  • 2011 "Zu Gast bei Connex", Connex, Leipzig
  • 2011 "Bubble Projects", (NL)
  • 2010 "MEETING POINT", Forum Kunst und Architektur, Essen
  • 2010 "Artpoint", Bereznitsky Gallery, Donetsk (UA)
  • 2010 "Musashino Art Festival", MAU, Tokio (JP)
  • 2010 "No Limit", MAU, Tokio (JP)
  • 2010 "MEETING POINT", Kommunale Galerie Berlin, Berlin
  • 2010 "Dragonz, come out to play", Tapetenwerk, Leipzig
  • 2010 "Rough&Tough", UdK Berlin, Berlin
  • 2010 "Forgotten Bar II", Berlin Kreuzberg
  • 2010 "Kongress für Anders", Hamburg
  • 2010 "Forgotten Bar I", Berlin Kreuzberg
  • 2010 "Hands and friends II", Pels Leusden, Berlin
  • 2010 "Hands and friends I" UdK, Berlin
  • 2009 "Nacht & Nebel Neukölln", Berlin

References
  1. Jeni Fulton: UDK Rundgang – Iman Rezai. auf: BerlinArtLink. 2. August 2011.
  2. We are all mouses Google Books February 20, 2015.
  3. ( The Telegraph, UK, April 24, 2012)
  4. ( Nigeria News, Nigeria, April 24, 2012)
  5. ( Zprávy, Czech Republic, April 24, 2012)
  6. ( Volkskrant, The Netherlands, April 24, 2012)
  7. ( Mente Aberta, Portugal, April 24, 2012)
  8. ( Austrian Times, Austria, April 25, 2012)
  9. ( Croatian Times, Croatia, April 25, 2012)
  10. ( Herald Sun, Australia, April 25, 2012)
  11. ( Kunstbeeld, The Netherlands, April 26, 2012)
  12. ( Huffington Post, USA, April 27, 2012)
  13. ( BLOUIN ARTINFO, USA, November 5, 2012)
  14. ( BundesInvest, 2012)
  15. ( Der Freitag, Germany, December 5, 2012)
  16. ("Die Vollmacht | Krzysztof W. Rath". Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015. Die Vollmacht, Germany, December 2012)
  17. ( YouTube documentation, 2012)
  18. "Illusion H2O, 2012". Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.


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