Ayan Farah, Mehdya, 2024. Clay, rust and India ink on linen and canvas. 190x360 cm (3 panels of 190x120 cm)

Ayan Farah

Born in 1978 in Sharjah, UAE, to Somali Parents, Ayan Farah spent her childhood in Sweden and moved to London where she got her MA at the Royal College of Art. She lives and works in Stockholm.

Recent grants and residencies include the The Roberts Institute of Art Residency in Scotland, Black Rock in Dakar, and Sven-Harrys Konstmuseum in Stockholm. Her works were recently presented at Black Rock Sénégal / Dak’art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal (2024), as well as in prominent group shows at El Espacio 23, Miami, Cromwell Place (the Roberts Institute of Art) London, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, and Fondazione Prada, Venice (all 2023), the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, The New Art Centre, Salisbury (all 2022) and the Tarble Arts Centre at Eastern Illinois University, Whitechapel Gallery, London (both 2018), Fondation Hipocrine, Paris (2014). Her work is included in the collections of The Kadist Foundation, Paris, Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Sammlung Zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Public Art Agency Sweden, The Hill Collection, New York, El Espacio 23, Miami, and the David and Indré Roberts Collection, London.

Stockholm Cosmology, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, 2024. Photo: Mattias Lindbäck

Stockholm Cosmology, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, 2024. Photo: Mattias Lindbäck

Stockholm Cosmology, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, 2024. Photo: Mattias Lindbäck

Stockholm Cosmology, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, 2024. Photo: Mattias Lindbäck

Ayan Farah in conversation with Yates Norton (curator Roberts Institute of Art, London) on the occasion of Farah's solo exhibition 'Seeds' at Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, January 26, 2024

Installation view, 'Seeds', Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, 2024

Installation view, 'Seeds', Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, 2024

Installation view, 'Seeds', Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, 2024

Saloum, 2024, Indigo, marigold, rust and terracotta on linen, 190 x 130 cm, 74 3/4 x 51 1/8 in

Omen, 2022, rust, marigold and sun faded indigo on linen and hemp, 180 x 220 cm

Asha, 2023, clay, mud, india ink, rust and indigo on linen
240 x 180 cm

Khadija, 2023, indigo, rust and sea salt on linen
220 x 170 cm

Installation view, Everybody Talks About the Weather, Fondazione Prada, Venice, 2023. Photo: Marco Cappelletti

'Peradam' solo show, Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm, 2022

Analogue - Saline, 2022, rust and sea salt on linen, 160 x 150 cm

Aafina - Kano, 2022, indigo, sea salt and embroidery on linen, 65 x 55 cm

Installation view, "Ayan Farah, Peradam", Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, 2022

Peradam, 2022, rust, marigold, carob, indigo and embroidery on linen and hemp, 200 x 170 cm

Tundra, 2022. Clay, mud, indigo and rust on linen

Installation view, "Ayan Farah, Peradam", Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, 2022

Bojadour, 2022. Terracotta and cloud seeded water on canvas

Ras Bujadur, 2022. Terracotta on canvas

Flesh Arranges Itself Differently, The Hunterian, Glasgow, UK, 2022.

Moonstone, 2022 rust, ink, indigo, marigold leaves, embroidery on linen and hemp

Kunstwerk, Sammlung Klein. Eberdingen/Nussdorf, Germany, 2018.

Kunstwerk, Sammlung Klein. Eberdingen/Nussdorf, Germany, 2018.

Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, 2018

Kadel Willborn, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2016

Kadel Willborn, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2016

Almine Reich, Paris, 2014

Royal College of Art, London, 2012