Eye to Eye: Artist Talk with Hayv Kahraman and Curator Georgia Erger

Eye to Eye: Artist Talk with Hayv Kahraman and Curator Georgia Erger

Join exhibiting artist Hayv Kahraman and Curator Georgia Erger for an engaging gallery talk as we celebrate the opening of Hayv Kahraman: Look Me in the Eyes. Surrounded by the artwork, explore Kahraman’s distinctive painting techniques and gain insight into how her family’s refugee experience informs this powerful body of work. Together, Kahraman and Erger will reveal how symbolic imagery—such as female figures, disembodied eyes, and flora—allows Kahraman to delve into personal and collective histories of migration.

Please note that this program will take place in the gallery and seating is limited.

About the Artist

Hayv Kahraman (born 1981) is a Kurdish-Iraqi painter whose work primarily deals with the body politics of migrant consciousness. Often blended with her personal history as a refugee to Europe and ultimately to the United States, she creates a unique visual language that reflects her nomadic background and challenges various notions of hegemonic control. Kahraman’s recent solo exhibitions include Acts of Reparation, CAM St. Louis; Audible Inaudible, Joslyn Museum of Art, Omaha; Sound Wounds, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Gendering Memories of Iraq - a Collective Performance, which has been staged at CAM St. Louis, Birmingham Museum of Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and Duke University; Reweaving Migrant Inscriptions, Jack Shainman, New York; Audible Inaudible, The Third Line Gallery, Dubai; and How Iraqi are you?, Jack Shainman, New York. Recent group exhibitions include No Man’s Land: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection, Miami; UNREALISM: Presented by Larry Gagosian and Jeffrey Deitch, Miami Design District; June: A Painting Show, Sadie Coles HQ, London. Kahraman was shortlisted for the 2011 Jameel Prize at the Victoria and Albert Museum and has received the Excellence in Cultural Creativity award from the Global Thinkers Forum.

Hayv Kahraman: Look Me in the Eyes is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco and curated by Ali Gass, Founding Director and Chief Curator, with Christine Koppes, former Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs. The Frye Art Museum’s presentation is organized by Georgia Erger, Curator, with Alexis L. Silva, Curatorial Assistant.

Individual support for the Frye's installation provided by Dr. Vittorio Gallo. Generous additional support provided by ArtsFund and Frye Members. Media sponsorship by The Seattle Times.

Eye to Eye: Artist Talk with Hayv Kahraman and Curator Georgia Erger

A woman wearing black with curly black hair smiling and standing in front of a blue wall hung with multiple paintings

Hayv Kahraman and view of the exhibition Hayv Kahraman: Look Me in the Eyes, Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, 2024. Courtesy Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco. Photo: Glen Cheriton, Impart Photography

October 26, 2024

4–5:15 pm

Frye Art Museum
704 Terry Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
Ticket Limit
8