Paradise Lost

27. 11. 2027 — 5. 5. 2028

The Iranian-British artist Soheila Sokhanvari is one of the most exciting figures in the international contemporary art scene. Born in Shiraz, Iran, in 1964, she left her homeland one year before the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In her multimedia practice, Sokhanvari combines historical techniques with a contemporary, often politically charged visual language. Her works revolve around memory, identity, exile, and cultural belonging, and in particular tell the stories of rebellious women whose voices and life stories have repeatedly been silenced in Iranian society. She gained international recognition in 2022 with her highly acclaimed solo exhibition *Rebel, Rebel*, which was first shown at the Barbican Center in London and subsequently at the ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark. In close collaboration with the artist, the Frieder Burda Museum is presenting Sokhanvari's largest solo exhibition to date worldwide. The exhibition centers on her portraits, executed in luminous egg tempera, which draw on the tradition of Persian miniature painting and depict not only her own family but also well-known figures from Iranian cultural and contemporary history —a dynamic dialogue between past and present, personal history, and social reality.

An exhibition presented by the Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden and the Kunsthal Rotterdam.