Maryam Najd - Rhapsody of the Unseen
in der Galerie Nosbaum Reding bis 3.10.2026
Nosbaum Reding
Maryam Najd
Rhapsody of the Unseen
03.09.2026 – 03.10.2026
Nosbaum Reding | Luxembourg is pleased to announce the opening of a solo exhibition: Rhapsody of the Unseen, by Maryam Najd, Thursday, 3 September at 6 PM, in presence of the artist.
Through painting, Maryam Najd explores questions of identity, belonging and the social structures that shape our understanding of one another. Drawing on her experience as a woman living across different societies, her work engages with race, nationality and gender through symbolism, allegory and ambiguity. Rather than offering fixed answers, her paintings create spaces for reflection, questioning how much of who we are is our own, and how much is defined by the world around us.
Artist Statement:
Every day we are confronted with new wars, new conflicts and new reasons to divide people from one another. We speak about nationality, race, religion and gender, yet less and less about what it means to be human.
Although I work through painting, my practice is also a way of questioning the ideas and discussions that have shaped our understanding of race, nationality, gender, identity and belonging. These questions come not only from observation, but also from my own experiences as a woman living in different societies. Rather than presenting answers, I try to create images that leave space for thought, interpretation and dialogue.
For me, art is never only about aesthetics. It is a way of slowing down the way we look at the world and at one another. Symbolism, allegory and ambiguity allow different meanings to exist at the same time, making it possible to approach challenging subjects without reducing them to simple statements. Art, for me, is not a therapeutic solution or an escape from these realities but another way of engaging with them.
This exhibition brings together three bodies of work, each approaching these questions from a different perspective. Together, they reflect on race, nationality, gender, identity, suppression, censorship and the social and political structures that shape the world around us. At the heart of all three projects lies the same question: Who we are as individuals and how we are treated as human beings. how much of who we are belongs to us, and how much has already been defined by the society? Are we as people free? And to what extent is our freedom constrained by the society in which we live?
I do not expect these paintings to provide answers. Instead, they offer a space for reflection—a space to look beyond familiar categories and reconsider the values and boundaries that continue to shape our lives. Through painting, I have the possibility to imagine and recreate what reality has failed to realise.
- Maryam Najd
Maryam Najd's (°1965) has roots in Tehran, but for the past several years Antwerp has been both her home and workplace. She works both purely abstract – using subtle colour gradations – and thematically figurative. What appear to be diverging concerns at first sight, turn out to be two sides of the same coin. Her figurative paintings are the most accessible to viewers; they demonstrate a reflective artistic process that simultaneously interweaves and unravels the social chasm dividing the two cultures. Najd juxtaposes the Middle East's oppressive and conflict-charged context with the West's utopia of “freedom”, and in doing so creates an open, but critical discourse between two opposing worlds.
Her work draws on a number of recurring themes: the corporeal versus the spiritual, Western women's freedom as expressed in the issue of naked versus veiled femininity, and the visible versus the invisible, for example the mysterious existence of anonymous refugees, migrants and world travelers. In her paintings Najd uses images that in their essence evoke the most pressing and frequently asked existential questions. Maryam Najd persistently seeks the point
at which extremes intersect.
Painting with an overwhelming sense of empathy, and yet without drifting into the
melodramatic, Maryam Najd portrays characters with exacting clarity that do full justice to their human dignity. Her portraits convey a sense of the artist's ability to position herself within the European tradition, while not sacrificing her “Eastern” perspective. The migrants depicted are not impoverished beggars, but instead elegant characters, heads held high under ill-fated circumstances. The connections she makes in her pieces are always unexpected, for instance between origin and yearning, between utopia and ideology, or between individuality and concealed beauty. In the end, it all revolves around the concept of freedom, not just as a goal in and of itself, but also as a philosophical concept and eternal point of enquiry. Is freedom a right or a gift? Is it a challenge or a trial? And what about the freedom to commit transgressions?
Gallery Nosbaum Reding
2 + 4, rue Wiltheim L-2733 Luxembourg / T (+352) 28 11 25 1 / contact@nosbaumreding.com
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