Zarouhie Abdalian

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Zarouhie Abdalian (b. 1982) lives and works in New Orleans. She has exhibited her work at numerous international venues and biennials, including Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Secession, Vienna; Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; 2017 Whitney Biennial, New York; MOSTYN, Wales; the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg, Russia; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), North Adams; Prospect.3, New Orleans; the 8th Berlin Biennale; 9th Shanghai Biennale; CAFAM Biennale, Beijing; and the 12th Istanbul Biennial. Previous solo exhibitions include Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London; Haynes Court, Chicago; Altman Siegel, San Francisco; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; LAXART, Los Angeles; The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland; and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Abdalian was a 2017–2018 Pollock-Krasner Foundation grantee and 2020 recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. Her work is held in public collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA; and Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA. Select publications include Artforum, Art in America, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Art Review, and The Wire.  Abdalian teaches at her high school alma matter, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a public arts school in Louisiana. 
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
  • 2023   Bells for Baku, London, Louisiana, Pippy Houldsworth, London, England
  • 2022   art and facts, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
    Interregna, Haynes Court, Chicago, IL
    Bells for York, Coleman Center for the Arts, York, AL
  • 2021    The Box: con sordino, Pippy Houldsworth, London
    We can decide, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
  • 2018    Production, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA 
  • 2017    To History, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
    Work, LAXART, Los Angeles, CA
    Simple Machines, Cushion Works, San Francisco, CA
    Transport Empty, MOCA Cleveland, OH (with Joseph Rosenzweig)
  • 2016    A Betrayal, Clifton Benevento, New York, NY
  • 2015    Functions, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA
  • 2014    An Overture, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
  • 2013    MATRIX 249: Zarouhie Abdalian, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
  • 2008   Aliasings, Philadelphia Cathedral, Philadelphia, PA 
  • 2007   Approximations, Dillard University Art Gallery, New Orleans, LA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS2024    Reshaping the Narrative: California Perspectives, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
              vītatio, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA2023    Ring Ring Ring, Pal Project, Paris, France
  •               How We Gather, Mandeville Art Gallery, University of California San Diego, CA
  •               Be here, or even better, be nowhere, KADIST, San Francisco, CA
  • 2022   Put It This Way: (Re)Visions of the Hirshhorn Collection, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.
  •              Resonance of Place, CCA Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA
  •             The Artist’s Eye, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
  • 2020  Another Idea, Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, Chicago, IL
  •             poem from home, Jacob’s West, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2019   Higher! Higher! Lower, Lower. Louder! Louder! Softer, Softer, Shimmer, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  •              5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Ekaterinburg, Russia
  •             The Second Body, Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York, NY
  •             Double Cola, Regards, Chicago, IL
  • 2018   Other Mechanisms, Secession, Vienna, Austria
  •             Way Bay 2, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
  •             In Times of Perseus, Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY
  •             Way Bay, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
  •             Art of the City, The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans, LA 
  • 2017    Mechanisms, CCA Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA
  •             2017 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY 
  •             WAGSTAFF’S, MOSTYN, Llandudno, Wales
  • 2016    A Slow Succession with Many Interruptions, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA
  •             Will and be going to, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
  •             On my volcano grows the Grass, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, CA
  •             The Space Between, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA 
  •             Signal to Noise, Simon Preston Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2015    Figure 8, Clifton Benevento, New York, NY
  •             Nacht und Träume, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
  •             A+P+I, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
  •             The Story of the Stone, A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  •             The Lulennial: A Slight Gestuary, Lulu, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 2014    Prospect.3, New Orleans, LA 
  •             Audible Spaces, David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI
  •             Nothing Beside Remains, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, Australia
  •             8th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany 
  •             Invisible Hand, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
  • 2013   SECA Art Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA 
  •             Transmissions, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
  • 2012   9th Shanghai Biennial – San Francisco Pavilion, Shanghai, China
  •             Material Information, Kunstindustrie Museum, Bergen, Norway 
  •             When Attitudes Became Form Become Attitudes, CCA Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA (traveled to Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, MI)
  •             3rd Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia 
  •             Rendez-vous 12, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa 
  •             Mission Afterviews, Victoria Theater, San Francisco, CA 
  •             DocumentO, Krowswork, Oakland, CA 
  • 2011    12th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
  •             Rendez-vous 11, Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne, France 
  •             On the Edge, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, LA
  •             A Floorless Room Without Walls, The Lab, San Francisco, CA 
  •             Zarouhie Abdalian, AIDS 3-D, Matt Sheridan Smith, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
  •             Eb/N0, MacArthur B Arthur, Oakland, CA 
  • 2010   Painted Over/Under, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), CA
  •             SC13, SFADM, San Francisco, CA
  •             Bay Area Currents 2010, ProArts Gallery, Oakland, CA
  •             MFA Thesis Exhibition, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
  • 2009   Super Pop-Up Shop, Alameda Towne Centre, Alameda, CA

  • CURATORIAL PROJECTS
  • 2021    Making Art in Public: Monuments and Memorials, Coleman Center for the Arts, AL
  • 2018    Work Sites, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
  • 2015    Situational Music, Exploratorium, San Francisco (with Joseph Rosenzweig)
  • 2013    Sounding the Path of the Signal, Berkeley Art Museum (with Joseph Rosenzweig)

 AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
  • 2020   Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, New York, NY
  • 2018    Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY
  •              Residency, Coleman Center for the Arts, York, AL
  • 2017    Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, New York, NY
  •              Khoj International Workshop, Goa, India
  • 2015    Art+Process+Ideas Residency, Mills College, Oakland, CA
  • 2014    Art and Inquiry Residency, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA
  • 2012    SECA Art Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA

 PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
  • Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
  • Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
  • Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
  • UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
  • 101 Collection, Artnow International, San Francisco, CA
  • Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA

 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • Imrich, Bec. “Poetic efficiencies, subtle subversion streak through ‘vītatio’.” 48hills.org. 16 May, 2024.
  • Art Lovers Movie Club, ArtReview. “Zarouhie Abdalian: these are called holdings.” 17 March—7 April, 2023. 
  • Walsh, Theadora. “Lost and Found.” The Back Room, smallpresstraffic.org. 7 February 2023.
  • Stein, Jordan. Rip Tales: Jay DeFeo’s Estocada & Other Pieces. Soberscove Press, Chicago, IL, 2021. p. 112-115.
  • Cahill, Zachary, and Mike Schuh (ed.) Portable Gray, The Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2021. p. 47-58.
  • Green, Sarah Urist. You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation. Penguin Books, New York, 2020. p. 150-153.
  • Blythe, Finn. “Andrea Andersson, Chief Curator of Visual Arts at New Orleans’ Contemporary Arts Center, selects four vital artists working in the city,” HEROINE Magazine, Issue 11 (Fall 2019)p. 150-152.
  • “‘Double Cola’ at Regards,”Contemporary Art Daily, August 17, 2019.
  • Vogel, Wendy, ”Zarouhie Abdalian: Production.” ArtReview, January and February 2019, p. 109.
  • Tatum, Charlie, ”Zarouhie Abdalian,”Artforum, November 14, 2018
  • Huberman, Anthony (ed.), “Other Mechanisms,” Secession, Vienna and Revolver Publishing, Berlin, pp. 26-27
  • “Mechanisms,” Jeanne Gerrity, Anthony Huberman and Eva Mak, The Wattis Institute, San Francisco, pp. 10
  • Brown, Brandon, “Reviews: Mechanisms,” Art in America (February 1, 2018)
  • D’Addario, John, “Art in the air: A sound installation rings out in the French Quarter,” The New Orleans Advocate (January 15, 2018)
  • “Work: Zarouhie Abdalian,” texts by Tara McDowell and Joseph Rosenzweig, ed. Zarouhie Abdalian and Micki Meng, Published by LAXART, Los Angeles and Roma Publications, Amsterdam, pp. 20. 2018.
  • Morris, Barbara, “Zarouhie Abdalian: Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco,” Artillery (January 2, 2018)
  • Fisher, Cora, “Critics’ Picks: Zarouhie Abdalian,” Artforum (November 2017)
  • Huberman, Anthony (ed.), Mechanisms, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco and ROMA Publications, Amsterdam (2017)
  • Chanson du Ricochet. Artist book in conjunction with the Whitney Biennial, printed by Kayrock Screenprinting in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art. pp. 16. 2017.
  • Griffin, Jonathan, “Review: Zarouhie Abdalian Work,” Art Review (October 2017)
  • Mizota, Sharon, “Review: Where the chisel hits the marble: Zarouhie Abdalian seeks the moment nature becomes art,” The Los Angeles Times (August 25, 2017) 
  • Farago, Jason. “A User’s Guide to the Whitney Biennial,” The New York Times (March 8, 2017)
  • “Featured Artist: Zarouhie Abdalian,” Sculpture Center/Sculpture Notebook. September 2, 2016. 
  • Pagens, Peter, “Wise-guy-isms, Fence Posts and the Number Six.” The Wall Street Journal. May 7, 2016. 
  • Pocock, Antonia “First Look: Zarouhie Abdalian.” Art in America. May 2016. p. 33
  • Schwendener, Martha, “SoHo and TriBeCa, A Cradle of Contemporary Art. The New York Times. April 21, 2016.
  • “Zarouhie Abdalian: Clifton Benevento.” The New Yorker. April 2016.
  • Vogel, Wendy, “Artforum Critics’ Pick: Zarouhie Abdalian at Clifton Benevento.” Artforum. April 2016.
  • Burke, Sarah. “Zarouhie Abdalian’s Instructions for Group Activity,” East Bay Express. November 11, 2015.
  • Karl, Brian. “Review: Nacht und Träume,” Artforum. November 2015. p. 331.
  • Garza-Usabiaga, Daniel. “The Lulennial.” Frieze. September 2015. p. 164-5.
  • Jauregui, Gabriela, “The Lulennial: A Slight Gestuary,” ArtReview, (May 2015)
  • Watson, George. “Set for the Outside.” White Fungus. Issue 14. Page 150-53.
  • Stillman, Nick. “Prospect.3.” Artforum. January 2015. 
  • Forster, Ian, prod. "Kerry James Marshall at Prospect.3." Artist to Artist. 2014. Art21.org. Web.
  • Griffin, Jonathan. “Prospect.3.” Frieze. Issue 168: December, 2014.
  • D’Addario, John. “Top Five Prospect.3 Moments.” The New Orleans Advocate. 14 November 2014.
  • Planitzer, Matthias. “The Quiet Biennale.” Castor and Pollox. 28 May 2014.
  • Völzke, Daniel. “Berlin Biennale: Kunst Werke.” Monopol. 27 May 2014. 
  • Harbour, Aaron and Jackie Im. "Having Been Held Under the Sway." Fillip. Issue No. 19: Spring, 2014. pp. 77-83.
  • Allen, Gwen. "Review: Zarouhie Abdalian." Artforum. December 2013.
  • Linden, Christina. "Transmissions." Modern Painters. November 2013. 
  • Moss, Ceci. "Zarouhie Abdalian: MATRIX 249." The Wire. October 2013. p.71.
  • Sussman, Matt. "Zarouhie Abdalian / MATRIX 249." Art Practical. 16 September 2013.
  • Frock, Christian L. "Seeking SFMOMA's SECA Awards." KQED. 16 September 2013.
  • Seikaly, Roula. "Until I Die There Will Be Sounds: Zarouhie Abdalian at Berkeley Art Museum." KQED. 12 August 2013. 
  • McDowell, Tara. "Transmissions." Art Agenda. 19 July 2013.
  • artBahrain. "Interview: Zarouhie Abdalian" Art Bahrain. Spring/Summer 2013. p 62-64.
  • Markopoulos, Leigh. “The Accidental Exhibition: Chance as Curatorial Critique and Opportunity.” Journal of Curatorial Studies. 2012. Volume 1 Number 1. Pg 7-24.
  • “Proposal for a Museum: Museum of the Witnessing Object,” SFMOMA Open Space Blog. November 27, 2012.
  • Moss, Ceci. “Time and Revolution at the 12th Istanbul Biennial and ISEA 2011.” Rhizome. 17 October 2011.
  • Sharp, Chris. “Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial)”. Art Agenda. 20 September 2011.