RANIA MATAR

BIO

Nata e cresciuta in Libano, nel 1984 si trasferisce negli Stati Uniti.
Dopo aver intrapreso gli studi di architettura decide di dedicarsi a tempo pieno alla fotografia e all'insegnamento presso il Massachussets College of Art and Design.
I suoi lavori si focalizzano su donne e bambine nate negli Stati Uniti o in Medio Oriente, dando particolare importanza a temi quali l'identità e l'universalità.

Le sue fotografie sono state ampiamente esposte in luoghi di prestigio, più recentemente presso il Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cantor Arts Center della Stanford University, Carnegie Museum of Art, National Museum for Women in the Arts, Harn Museum of Art, Howard Greenberg Gallery, The Gund Gallery del Kenyon College, Tufts University Art Gallery, East Wing Gallery Dubai, Galerie Janine Rubeiz Beirut, Galerie Eulenspiegel Basel, Lehmbruck Museum in Germania, Sharjah Art Museum, e alla National Portrait Gallery di Londra.

Rania Matar ha ricevuto numerosi riconoscimenti e premi quali: nel 2017 il Mellon Foundation an artist-in-residency grant alla Gund Gallery del Kenyon College, nel 2011 Legacy Award al Griffin Museum of Photography, 2011 and 2007 Massachusetts Cultural Council artist fellowships, il primo posto alla New England Photographers Biennial and Women in Photography International. Nel 2008 è stata uno dei finalisti del Foster Award  all'Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, dove ha ottenuto una sua mostra personale. I suoi lavori sono stati recentemente selezionati quali 10 Remarkable Photographers to Discover at This Year’s AIPAD Fair.

Una retrospettiva del suo lavoro è in corso presso l'Amon Carter Museum of American Art, grazie ad una mostra personale In Her Image, Dicembre 2017 – Marzo 2018.

I lavori fotografici dell'artista sono conservati nelle collezioni permanenti di numerosi musei, istituzioni e collezioni private di tutto il mondo.

Ha pubblicato tre libri L’Enfant-Femme, 2016; A Girl and Her Room, 2012; Ordinary Lives, 2009.

Nel 2018 ha vinto la Guggenheim Fellowship, un premio concesso ogni anno dal 1925 dalla statunitense John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation a chi "ha dimostrato capacità eccezionali nella produzione culturale o eccezionali capacità creative nelle arti".

Recentemente la stampa internazionale le ha dedicato una serie di articoli che parlano del suo lavoro e della sua ultima mostra In Her Image presso 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

CV

Principali mostre personali in corso e recenti

2017 – 2018

  • Gund Gallery, Gambier, Ohio,  She - Marzo 2018
  • The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX: In Her Image: Photographs by Rania Matar, mostra personale a cura di Joy Jeehye Kim, Dicembre 2017 – Giugno 2018
  • Fondation Boghossian – Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgio: Instantanés d’Orient, Dicembre 2017 – Febbraio, 2018
  • John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL: Aftermath: The Fallout of War – America and The Middle East, a cura di Carol McCusker, Settembre 2017 – Gennaio 2018
  • Canadian War Museum,Ottawa, Ontario: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers From Iran and the Arab World, a cura di Kristen Gresh, Ottobre 2017 – Febbraio 2018
  • Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, Georgia: The Future of America, a cura di  Rebecca Cochran, Febbraio– Aprile  2018
  • Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers From Iran and the Arab World, Marzo – Giugno, 2018
  • American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC: ‘I AM’, a cura di  Janet Rady, Settembre– Ottobre 2017. Mostra inaugurata presso la National Gallery of Fine Arts, Jordan e itinerante nel Regno Unito e negli Stati Uniti, durante il 2018

Principali mostre personali passate 

2017

  • PhotoMed Lebanon, Invisible Children, a cura di  Guillaume de Sardes
  • 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, per il 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, a cura di 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

CV

Principali mostre collettive passate 

2016 – 2017

  • Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris: Biennale des Photographes du Monde Arabe Contemporain, curated by Gabriel Bauret, Settembre – Novembre, 2017
  • The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Gambier, OH: Aftermath: The Fallout of War – America and The Middle East, a cura di  Carol McCusker
  • National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and The Arab World, a cura di  Kristen Gresh
  • 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, a cura di Amy Schlegel
  • ARP Museum, Germany: Children’s Worlds Between Desire and Reality, curated by Dr. Susanne Blöcker

2015

  • Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA: She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and The Arab World, a cura di Kristen Gresh
  • 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 

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, a cura di Eliot Dudik
  • McIninch Art Gallery, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH: A Source of Identity: Contrasting Personal Environments, a cura di Audrey Pepper
  • Beirut Exhibition Center, Lebanon: Bridge to Palestine, a cura di Mark Hachem
  • Sharjah Art Museum, UAE: The Other and Me, a cura di Colin Reaney
  • Tsereteli Museum of Modern Art, Tbilisi, Georgia:Contemporary Women Photographers, a cura di Tina Schelhorn

2013

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

2012

  • The Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubai: Women on the Verge: Women Photographers from the Middle East, a cura di 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, a cura di Douglas Stockdale

2011

  • Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon: Rebirth, co-curated by Janine Maamari and Danièle Giraudy, Conservateur Général des Musées de France
  • Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX: Portraits of Teenagers, a cura di 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, a cura di Charles Dee Mitchell and Cynthia Mulcahy
  • Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA: Winner Legacy Award, a cura di Debra Klomp
  • University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, ME: Photo National 2011: A Survey of Contemporary Photography, a cura di Brian Clamp e George Kinghorn
  • Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA: Off the Wall, First Prize Winner, di Susan Stoops
  • Festival Internazionale di Roma, Italy: Motherland: Place Where I Belong, a cura di 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, a cura di 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, a cura di 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

Musei

  • 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 (ora il 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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