RANIA MATAR

10_RaniaMatar

 

Born and raised in Lebanon, Rania Matar moved to the U.S. in 1984. Originally trained as an architect she now works full time on her personal photography projects and teaches at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her work focuses on women and girls in the U.S and in the Middle East, with an emphasis on identity and universality.

Matar’s work has been widely exhibited, most recently at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Carnegie Museum of Art, National Museum for Women in the Arts, Harn Museum of Art, Howard Greenberg Gallery, The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Tufts University Art Gallery, East Wing Gallery Dubai, Galerie Janine Rubeiz Beirut, Galerie Eulenspiegel Basel, Lehmbruck Museum in Germany, Sharjah Art Museum, and The National Portrait Gallery in London.

Matar has received several grants and awards including a 2017 Mellon Foundation an artist-in-residency grant at The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, a 2011 Legacy Award at the Griffin Museum of Photography, 2011 and 2007 Massachusetts Cultural Council artist fellowships, first place at the New England Photographers Biennial and Women in Photography International. In 2008 she was a finalist for the Foster Award at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, with an accompanying solo exhibition. Her work was recently selected at one of the 10 Remarkable Photographers to Discover at This Year’s AIPAD Fair.

A mid-career retrospective of Matar’s work will be exhibited at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, in a solo exhibition In Her Image, December 2017 – May 2018.

Matar’s images are in the permanent collections of several museums, institutions and private collections worldwide.

She has published three books:
L’Enfant-Femme, 2016; A Girl and Her Room, 2012; Ordinary Lives, 2009.

 

In 2018 She won the Guggenheim Fellowship,  awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those “who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts””.

Recently the international press has published a lot of articles about her work and her last solo show
In Her Image at The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX:
The Washington Post
Paper City
Spiegel
lensculture
THE EYE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
i-D Vice
Patron
Star-Telegram

 

 

Selected Current and Recent Exhibitions

2017 – 2018

  • Gund Gallery, Gambier, Ohio,  She – March 2018
  • The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX: In Her Image: Photographs by Rania Matar, solo exhibition curated by Joy Jeehye Kim, December 2017 – June 2018
  • Fondation Boghossian – Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium: Instantanés d’Orient, December 2017 – February, 2018
  • John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL: Aftermath: The Fallout of War – America and The Middle East, curated by Carol McCusker, September 2017 – January 2018 (exhibition catalogue)
  • Canadian War Museum,Ottawa, Ontario: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers From Iran and the Arab World, curated by Kristen Gresh, October 2017 – February 2018 (exhibition catalogue)
  • Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, Georgia: The Future of America, curated by Rebecca Cochran, February – April 28, 2018
  • Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers From Iran and the Arab World, March – June, 2018
  • American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC: ‘I AM’, curated by Janet Rady, September – October 2017. Exhibition opened at the National Gallery of Fine Arts, Jordan and is traveling to different venues in the UK and USA, through 2018 (exhibition catalogue)

 

Selected Past Solo Exhibitions

2017

  • PhotoMed Lebanon, Invisible Children, curated by Guillaume de Sardes (exhibition catalogue)
  • RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, CA: Becoming: Girls, Women and Coming of Age
  • Pictura Gallery at AIPAD, New York City
  • Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, Switzerland: L’Enfant-Femme and Invisible Children

2016

  • Pictura Gallery, Bloomington, IN: Becoming: Girls, Women and Coming of Age
  • Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut Lebanon: Deux Univers: Filles et Femmes
  • Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD: Invisible Children
  • EastWing Gallery, Dubai, UAE: Becoming: Girls, Women and Coming of Age

2015

  • Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM: Exposure: Gordon Parks and Rania Matar
  • Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, Switzerland: A Girl and Her Room

2014

  • Toot Yung Art Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand: Ordinary Lives: Women of the Middle East
  • Arab-American National Museum, Dearborn, MI: Ordinary Lives
  • Fotofest 2014, Houston, TX: Deserted Spaces and Ordinary Lives, curated by Kinzelman Art
  • Alliance Française, Singapore: Ordinary Lives: Women of the Middle East

2013

  • Carroll and Sons Art Gallery, Boston, MA: L’Enfant-Femme
  • Galerie Lichtblick, Cologne, Germany: A Girl and Her Room
  • Sana Gallery, Singapore: Ordinary Lives: Women of the Middle East

2012

  • SouthEast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL: A Girl and Her Room
  • Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR: A Girl and Her Room
  • Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA: Girls In Between: Portraits of Identity
  • Leica Gallery, Warsaw, Poland: A Girl and Her Room
  • Umbrage Gallery, Brooklyn, NY: A Girl and Her Room
  • Leica Headquarters Gallery, Solms, Germany: A Girl and Her Room
  • Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon: A Girl and Her Room
  • The Foster Gallery, Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, MA: A Girl and Her Room

2011

  • The Mosaic Rooms at the A.M Qattan Foundation, London, UK: A Girl and Her Room
  • De Santos Gallery, Houston, TX: A Girl and Her Room
  • Boston Art Academy Gallery, Boston, MA: Just a Girl?

2010

  • Gallery of Photography B&B, Bielsko-Biala, Poland: A Girl and Her Room
  • Schneider Gallery, Chicago, IL: In-Between
  • Gallery Kayafas Boston, MA: A Girl and Her Room

2009

  • The Institute of Contemporary Art, ICA Boston, MA: Ordinary Lives, curated by Carole-Anne Meehan, for the James and Audrey Foster Prize
  • Mt Ida College Art Gallery, Chestnut Hill, MA: Ordinary Lives
  • MANEGE, St. Petersburg, Russia: Ordinary Lives
  • The Mosaic Rooms at the A.M Qattan Foundation, London, UK: Ordinary Lives
  • St Botolph Club, Boston, MA: Ordinary Lives

2006 – 2008

  • Koppelman Gallery, Aidekman Arts Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA: Contrapuntal Lines: A Tribute to Edward Said, curated by Amy Schlegel and Rhonda Saad
  • Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL: Women of Islam in the Aftermath of War
  • Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI: Lebanon at the Crossroads
  • Council for Foreign Relations, New York, NY: The Veil: Modesty, Fashion, Devotion or Statement
  • Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA: Lebanon at the Crossroads
  • Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR: Forgotten People and Aftermath of War
  • Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA: The Veil
  • Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge MA: The Veil

 

Selected Past Group Exhibitions

2016 – 2017

  • Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris: Biennale des Photographes du Monde Arabe Contemporain, curated by Gabriel Bauret, September – November, 2017 (exhibition catalogue)
  • The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Gambier, OH: Aftermath: The Fallout of War – America and The Middle East, curated by Carol McCusker (exhibition catalogue)
  • National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and The Arab World, curated by Kristen Gresh (exhibition catalogue)
  • Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL: Aftermath: Fallout of War – America and The Middle East
  • Tufts University Art Gallery at the Aidekman Arts Center: Mortal Things: Portraits Look Back and Forth, curated by Amy Schlegel
  • ARP Museum, Germany: Children’s Worlds Between Desire and Reality, curated by Dr. Susanne Blöcker (exhibition catalogue)

2015

  • Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and The Arab World, curated by Kristen Gresh (exhibition catalog)
  • Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, San Francisco, CA: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and The Arab World
  • National Portrait Gallery, London, UK: Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize (exhibition catalog)

2014

  • Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY: The Middle East Revealed: A Female Perspective
  • Andrews Gallery, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA: Breaking Ground: Contemporary Photography, curated by Eliot Dudik (exhibition catalogue)
  • McIninch Art Gallery, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH: A Source of Identity: Contrasting Personal Environments, curated by Audrey Pepper (exhibition catalogue)
  • Beirut Exhibition Center, Lebanon: Bridge to Palestine, curated by Mark Hachem (exhibition catalogue)
  • Sharjah Art Museum, UAE: The Other and Me, curated by Colin Reaney (exhibition catalogue)
  • Tsereteli Museum of Modern Art, Tbilisi, Georgia:Contemporary Women Photographers, curated by Tina Schelhorn

2013

  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and The Arab World, curated by Kristen Gresh (exhibition catalogue)
  • Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany: Hey Alter…! curated by Sybille Kastner
  • Lloyds Club, London, UK: Women Collectors, Women Artists, curated by Marcelle Joseph

2012

  • The Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubai: Women on the Verge: Women Photographers from the Middle East, curated by Hester Keijser
  • Fotokina: A Girl and Her Room, curated by Angela Rupprecht, UNICEF Photo of the Year Award
  • Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy, Fotografia 2012: International Photography Festival of Rome Book Exhibition, curated by Douglas Stockdale

2011

  • Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon: Rebirth, co-curated by Janine Maamari and Danièle Giraudy, Conservateur Général des Musées de France (exhibition catalog)
  • Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX: Portraits of Teenagers, curated by Bevin Bering Dubrowski
  • Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, ICA 75th Anniversary Exhibition: 75 Artists for 75 Years
  • Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas TX: XXI: Conflicts in a New Century, curated by Charles Dee Mitchell and Cynthia Mulcahy
  • Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA: Winner Legacy Award, curated by Debra Klomp
  • University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, ME: Photo National 2011: A Survey of Contemporary Photography, co-curated by Brian Clamp and George Kinghorn
  • Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA: Off the Wall, First Prize Winner, by Susan Stoops
  • Festival Internazionale di Roma, Italy: Motherland: Place Where I Belong, curated by Marc Prust

2010

  • University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, ME: I-95 Triennial Invitational Exhibition
  • Beirut Exhibition Center: International Art of the Lebanese Diaspora, winners exhibition
  • Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR: Beyond Place: Recent Photography Acquisitions

2009

  • Spagnuolo Gallery, Georgetown University, Washington, DC: Select Contemporary Photography
  • Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA: “Three Concerned Women”
  • Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA: New England Photographer’s Biennial
  • Noorderlicht Photofestival, Netherlands: The Pursuit of Happiness, curated by Wim Melis

2006 – 2008

  • deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA: Photographs of Children from the Collection
  • Trustman Art Gallery, Simmons College, Boston, MA: MCC Grant Recipients Exhibition
  • Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA: MCC Grant Recipients Exhibition
  • Houston Center for Photography: 25 Anniversary Exhibition, by invitation, curated by Anne Tucker
  • Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA: New England Photographer’s Biennial, Purchase Prize
  • Espace SD, Beirut, Lebanon: Moving Walls International, Open Society Institute
  • Le Pont Gallery, Aleppo, Syria: 9th International Photography Gathering
  • Museo de Bellas Artes, Argentina: Secunda Bienal Argentina de Fotografia Documental

Collections:

  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
  • The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City MO
  • The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX
  • The Harn Museum, Gainesville, FL
  • Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
  • Worcester Museum of Art, Worcester, MA
  • deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA
  • Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
  • Davis Museum, Wellesley, MA
  • Tufts University Permanent Art Collection, Medford, MA
  • Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, MI (now the Broad Museum)
  • The Girls’ Club Collection, Contemporary Art by Women, Ft Lauderdale, FL
  • Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL
  • The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Gamber, OH
  • Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
  • The Art of War Collection by Ms. Anne Wilkes Tucker
  • George Gund Foundation Collection, Cleveland, OH
  • Fidelity Investments, Boston MA
  • The A.M. Qattan Foundation Collection, London, UK
  • Levant Foundation, Houston, TX
  • Al Thani Private Collection, Doha, Qatar
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