About
Born in 1988 in Tehran, Iran, Rey Hosseini lives and works in Berlin.
Born and raised in Tehran, Hosseini studied philosophy before emigrating to Vienna in 2014 to further pursue her studies and received her MFA at the Academy of Vienna in 2021. Growing up under the rule of the Islamic Republic, Hosseini’s work is often inspired by opposition, with a focus on women’s liberation and creative expression. In search of the possibility of freedom, the artist left Iran for Vienna, a decision not in response to solely pressure, but a result of political confrontation.
As a storyteller, Hosseini is inspired by lived experiences and the body’s intimate relationship between memory, trauma, and nature. Her strong sense of corporeality coupled with the absurdity of the scenes that she depicts reveal a psycho-emotional approach to life and painting. The figures that populate her works oscillate between beauty and ugliness, they have a cartoonish appearance that adds a glimpse of humor and playfulness to her compositions, yet they are imbued with philosophical subtleties. Hosseini’s paintings take us to a dreamlike world where each of her characters evokes our unconscious thoughts, our inner child, as well as our mental and social imagery.
Currently working in Berlin, the artist often reflects on Iran from a distance, her migratory path, and her relationship to memory, the past, and the political. Painting for Hosseini operates as a form of travel, an attempt to reread the self and turn back historical roots: Iranian roots, pre-Silamic culture, and collective memory that existed before religious ideology. The work investigates the remembering body, how trauma becomes movement, how time collapses, how, through relationships with others, self-awareness can emerge. The canvas becomes a space where the past is neither erased or denied, but re-understood, allowing the artist to rebuild oneself anew.
Education
2021 MFA in Fine Arts, The Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria Graphic Arts and Printmaking Techniques
2013 Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy, University of Tehran
Solo Exhibitions
2026 Upcoming Solo Exhibition: Listening to Light, Ross Sutton Gallery, Stockholm
2024 “8,” Moosey Gallery, London, UK
2020 Come In, A.MORE Gallery, Milan, Italy
2019 Get Out, Public Domin, Porgy & Bess, Vienna, Austria
2014 They do not forgive you, Elahe Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2013 Galerie het Vijfde Seizoen, Netherlands
2012 Moments pass by you, Elahe Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Group Exhibitions
2025 -Snapshot – Collective exhibition by artists at SOHO STUDIOS
2024 – Unapologetic WomXn, Curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton, Venice Biennale, Italy – Future Fair, Newcube.art, New York, United States – CAN Ibiza Art Fair, Ross Sutton Gallery, Ibiza, Spain – Art and Exchange in the Diaspora, Verein Ann, Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna, Austria – Residency at Moosey in Norwich, UK
2023 – Reoriented, Mey Gallery, Los Angeles, United States
2022 – “Chronicles 4,” Galerie Dorste, Berlin, Germany – “Echos,” Galerie Droste, Paris, France – “Food Obsession,” Gärna Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain – Body Language, Future Fair, Newcube.art, New York, United States – “La Grande Bouffe,” Elektrohalle Rhomberg Gallery, Salzburg, Austria – “Well Cold,” Moosey Gallery, London, UK – “Wild Dreams,” The Warehouse Gallery, Shanghai, China
2021 – “Up Close and Personal,” Ross+Kramer Gallery, New York, United States – Art Fair Parallel, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria – Diploma Exhibition, MFA of the Fine Arts Academy in Vienna
2020 – “Digital Black & Yellow,” Art Verona, A.MORE Gallery, Verona, Italy – “Outburst,” Improper Walls Gallery, Vienna, Austria – “Rundgang,” Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
2019 – “All Paper Show,” Semperdepot, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria – “Parallel Art,” Die Schöne Gallery, Vienna, Austria – “Bit Up, Then Left,” Zollamt Galerie, Offenbach, Frankfurt, Germany – “Rundgang,” Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
2018 – “Old Painters Are Trying to Kill Me,” Specktakel, Vienna, Austria – “Usbest,” Library of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria – “Rundgang,” Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
2017 – “Reduce Yourself,” The Manfred, Vienna, Austria – “Rundgang,” Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
2013 – Festival for Youth Art, Saba Akademie Center, Tehran, Iran – Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran – Gallery Niavaran, Tehran, Iran – “40 Iranian Women,” Art Cantara, Brussels, Belgium – “40 Iranian Women,” Art Cantara, Athens, Greece – “40 Iranian Women,” Art Cantara, Warsaw, Poland – Elahe Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2011 – Elahe Gallery, Tehran, Iran – Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2010 – Gallery Lale, Tehran, Iran – Gallery Barg, Tehran, Iran – Festival for Youth Art, Saba Akademie Center, Tehran, Iran
Awards
2024 – Kupferstichkabinett Graphic Collection acquired a painting of mine.
2021 – Nomination: STRABAG Art Award
Press
2024
Solo Exhibition “8” at Moosey Gallery, London, UK
Moosey Islington, 2nd – 24th March 2024
https://mooseyart.co.uk/blogs/exhibitions/8-by-reihaneh-hosseini
https://www.les-nouveaux-riches.com/exhibition-reihaneh-hosseini/
https://artplugged.co.uk/reihaneh-hosseini-8/
https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/painting/reihaneh-hosseini-and-thenumber-8-moosey-london/
Residency at Moosey, Norwich, UK
Future Fair / Newcube.art, New York, USA
https://www.newcube.art/article/jeanne-masel-a-game-changer-in-the-artworld
CAN Ibiza Art Fair, Ross Sutton Gallery, Ibiza, Spain
https://contemporaryartnow.com/en/artista/reihaneh-hosseini/
2023
Reoriented exhibition, Mey Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
18 Apr – 16 May 2023
https://www.meygallery.com/exhibitions/15-reoriented/
https://www.artforum.com/artguide/mey-22628/reoriented-215847
https://curate.la/event.php?id=26143
https://www.artrabbit.com/events/reoriented
2022
Food Obsession, Gärna Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain
23 Nov 2022 – 8 Jan 2023
https://www.urvanity-art.com/en/2022/11/23/el-arte-de-comer-foodobsession/
2021
MFA Diploma Exhibition, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
Up Close and Personal, Ross+ Kramer Gallery, New York, USA
Jun 26 – Aug 14, 2021
https://artmazemag.com/issue-24/
https://www.friendoftheartist.com/europe
2020
Solo Exhibition “Come in,” A. MORE Gallery, Milan, Italy
1 – 30 October 2020
https://segnonline.it/COME-IN-IL-DEBUTTO-ITALIANO-DI-REIHANEHHOSSEINI/
https://www.exibart.com/MOSTRE/A-MORE-GALLERY-MILANO-REIHANEHHOSSEINI/
Ausbruch, Improper Walls Gallery, Vienna, Austria
29 May 2020
