1981 born in shiraz, iran
2000 lives and works in vienna
2007 university of applied arts vienna (christian ludwig attersee)
upcoming
2019 oct, schau....6, kunsthaus kollitsch, klagenfurt
2019 nov, mahroum / ausgeschlossen (exclusion), strabag kunstforum, vienna
2019 nov, a matter of form, langenzersdorf museum, langenzersdorf
past (excerpt)
2019 July/aug, award exhibition, strabag kunstforum, vienna
2019 feb, a matter of form. kunsthaushorn. curated by silvie aigner
2019 jan, crease, galerie weihergut, salzburg
2018 nov, vienna art week (open studio day), artist talk with angela stief
2018 nov, 2=1, galerie Lisa kandlhofer/project room, vienna
2018 sept, vienna contemporary
2018 june, segregation/tabiies, lendhafen-klagenfurt, curated by nora leitgeb
2018 may, galerie hinterland, structures/sakhtar, vienna
2017 sept, identity, parallelvienna
2016 june, galerie ulrike hrobsky, vienna
2015 nov, artmark gallery, vienna
2015 nov, querschnitt, galerie zimmermann kratochwill, graz
2015 nov, das vertraut entfremdete, aic gallery, vienna
2012 dec, project space/kunsthalle, vienna
2012 jan, wittgensteinhaus, vienna
2010 jan, stuttgarter film winter, der gezeichnete nomade
2009 oct, heiligenkreuzerhof, vienna
award
strabag international artaward 2019
award of recognition
in her work soli kiani refers to her teenage years in iran as a woman in an isolated, strictly religious and patriarchal country. after years in vienna, she became more and more aware of the circumstances under which she spent her childhood and youth where she was prescribed the ideology of family, society, school and moral police. clothing, fabrics and fashion have played a rather dominant role in her life. fabric was not only clothing, but also a protective cloak, as well as the prison of her identity.
her artistic exploration derives from the depiction of her own life as a woman in islamic iran and in democratic austria, hence the starting point is an autobiographical one. nevertheless, her goal is to bring social issues to the fore and not to force something on people what she has experienced.
“the viewer should be allowed to freely forge an opinion through my abstract forms. I do not teach anyone or impose an opinion on anyone. my goal as an artist is to allow debates on all sorts of topics, with which the recipients are confronted through my works, emerging in a broader social and political context,” says kiani.
(text: liesa takagi)
