Maria Hassabi
Mirrors

The Breeder is pleased to present MIRRORS, the second solo exhibition of Maria Hassabi at the gallery, which explores the interplay between reality and perception of an image.

At the heart of the exhibition is her installation “Mirrors”, first presented at Art Basel Unlimited in June 2024. Nine photographs merge in a large frame of golden acrylic mirrors, portraying distorted figures of the same color scheme. Hassabi used mirrors to capture the reflections of the dancers’ movements as a way to abstract the body further than a naked eye could possibly perceive it. This process was used as a commentary on the pervasive influence of media in shaping our perceptions. Placing the photographic works back onto their material of origin, the viewer can look at them and look back at themselves, initiating a loop of reflection.

A new series of paintings completes the exhibition. The paintings feature elongated gold leaf figures on a white background.  While a similar process with the photographic works was applied to create the paintings, their materiality resembles an outer skin, a distorted layer of a posed body. Stillness here is prominent. The figures are descriptive and yet, their lack of breath is palpable.

Hassabi’s works collectively encourage a re-examination of one’s own image in a fragmented, digital age, reclaiming a nuanced sensitivity often dulled by the rapid pace of visual consumption. In this disconnected world, she portrays an illusory  presence, and blurs the lines between stillness-movement, space-time, subject-viewer.  The strokes of warm colors attempt to draw us towards a corporeal form of self-perception.

The works featured in this exhibition are a continuation of her immersive performative installation I’ll Be Your Mirror, first exhibited at Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong in 2023. 

Maria Hassabi (b. Cyprus) is an artist and choreographer working with live performance, installation, sculpture, painting, photography and video. Since the early 2000s she has carved a unique artistic practice based on the relationship between the live body, the still image, and the sculptural object. Hassabi’s works reflect concepts of time and the human figure, while employing a variety of media to emphasize the complexity of formal organization. In most of Hassabi’s works the performing body is the main subject, often embedded within imposing installations. Her photographic, video and sculptural works use her live performances as a departure point, while the use of technological tools and approaches are employed to override the limitations that occur within the format of liveness and realness.

Solo exhibitions and presentations include Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2023); LUMA Arles (2022); OGR, Turin (2022); Secession, Vienna (2021); Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis (2019); MUDAM, Luxenberg (2019); Point Center, Cyprus (2018); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2018); K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2017-18); Onassis Stegi, Athens (2017); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2017); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2015); The Kitchen, New York (2019, 2016, 2013, 2011, 2006); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015); Performance Space 122, New York (2007, 2009).

Her works have been featured in group exhibitions and festivals such as, Ennova Art Biennale, Langfang, Hebei (2024); Tom Burr’s Torrington Project, Connecticut (2024); IMMA, Dublin (2024); UNLIMITED, Art Basel (2024); Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels (2024, 2017, 2016, 2014); Thailand Biennale, Chiang Rai (2023); FRONT Triennale, Cleveland (2022); Museion, Bolzano (2021); River to River Festival, NY (2021, 2017, 2014, 2012); Gropius Bau, Berlin (2020); Performa, NY (2019, 2013, 2009); Serralves Museum, Porto (2019, 2015); Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva (2019, 2012); documeta 14, Kassel (2017); the 55th Venice Biennale (2013); Crossing the Line Festival, NY (2016, 2011, 2009); ArtSonje, Seoul (2015); Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2014); steirischer herbst, Graz (2014); Panorama Festival, Rio de Janeiro (2012), amongst others.

Hassabi was an Onassis Resident 2019-2022 and has received the 2019 Performa Malcolm McLaren Award along with Nairy Baghramian; 2016 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award; 2015 Herb Alpert Award; 2012 President’s Award for Performing Arts from LMCC; 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship; 2009 Grants to Artists Award from Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Her works are part of important collections such as the Tate Modern, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt; Onassis Foundation, Athens and Dakis Joannou Collection. She holds a BFA from California Institute of the Arts and she’s currently based in Paris, Athens and New York.