Miriam Cahn (born 21 July 1949) is a Swiss painter.

Biography

Cahn was born on 21 July 1949 in

Basel, Switzerland Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with ...

. She studied at

Schule für Gestaltung Basel The Schule für Gestaltung Basel (Basel School of Design), located at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule in Basel Switzerland, and its students have influenced the international graphic design community since it opened in 1968. Its tradition is shaped ...

in Basel from 1968 to 1973, where she became involved with feminist and

anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

movements. Cahn is Jewish.

Work

Cahn's paintings and drawings incorporate

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and child endangerment themes, female rituals; often featuring "violent and shocking representations of sexual organs". They are often created using unorthodox methods.Priscilla Frank (3 September 2012
"Swiss Painter Miriam Cahn On Her Upcoming Exhibition 'Lachen Bei Gefahr' At Badischer Kunstverein, Germany"
''Huffington Post (Arts & Culture)''. Retrieved 18 June 2013. Cahn's first exhibition was ''Being a Women in My Public Role ''in 1979. Cahn's first exhibition in the United States was at the

Elizabeth Dee Elizabeth Dee is an American art gallery owner. She is the founder of Independent Art Fair and the Elizabeth Dee Gallery. Art career Gallery The gallery has exhibited artists Alex Bag, Mark Barrow, Derek Jarman, Harry Dodge and Stanya Kahn, Jef ...

Gallery, New York City, in 2011. Cahn's work has described as having

Neo-Expressionist Neo-expressionism is a style of Late modernism, late modernist or early-Postmodern art, postmodern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s. Neo-expressionists were sometimes called ''Transavantgarde'', ''Junge Wilde'' or ''Neue Wild ...

influences.

Reception and awards

Jörg Scheller describes Cahn as a "feminist who likes to fight." Her work has been the source of some controversy, including in 2023, when several

French far-right French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

associations petitioned to have Cahn's ''fuck abstraction!'' removed from the "My Serial Thought" show at the

Palais de Tokyo The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...

, claiming the painting depicted "pedo-pornographic" material. France's State Council rejected the appeal and allowed the painting, which abstractly depicted the Bucha massacre by Russian troops. In 1998, Cahn won the

Käthe Kollwitz Prize The Käthe Kollwitz Prize () is a German art award named after artist Käthe Kollwitz. Established in 1960 by the then-Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic (nowadays the Academy of Arts, Berlin), the prize is awarded annually by a j ...

awarded by the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

. In 2024, Cahn received the

Goslarer Kaiserring Since 1975, the Goslarer Kaiserring award has been given, by the city of Goslar, to a distinguished international artist of modern and contemporary art. The award is for artists whose work has given the contemporary art significant impetus. The pr ...

Collections

Cahn's works can be found in numerous art collections around the world, among others at

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York, at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

in London, at the

Reina Sofía Museum Reina (the Spanish word for queen) or La Reina may refer to: Geography * Reina, Badajoz, a municipality in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain * Reina, Estonia, a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County, Estonia * La Reina, a commune ...

in Madrid, as well as at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.

Exhibitions

Individual exhibitions

* ''READING DUST,''

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Amsterdam, 2024 * Miriam CAHN: Ma pensée serielle, Palais de Tokyo, Paris 2023 * Miriam Cahn: ME AS HAPPENING, Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), 2020–21 * Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, 2019 *''Miriam Cahn: I as Human'', Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2019 *''Miriam Cahn: I as Human'',

Haus der Kunst The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a museum for modern and contemporary art in Munich, Bavaria. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park. It was built between 1933 an ...

, Munich, 2019 *''everything is equally important,''

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Museo may refer to: * ''Museum'' (2018 film), Mexican drama heist film *Museo station Museo is a Naples Metro station on Line 1. It opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. On 27 Ma ...

, Madrid, 2019 *DAS GENAUE HINSCHAUEN, Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2019 *ICH ALS MENSCH, Kunstmuseum Bern, 2019 *devoir-aimer, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris, 2017 *mare nostrum, Meyer Riegger, Berlin, 2016 *Lachen bei gefahr, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, 2012 *''Sarajevo,'' Stampa, Basel, 1993 *Stampa, Basel, 1994 *''Nachkrieg-Vorkrieg (Was Fehlt),'' Stampe, Basel, 1992 *

Museum für Moderne Kunst The Museum für Moderne Kunst (''Museum of Modern Art''), or short MMK, in Frankfurt, was founded in 1981 and opened to the public 6 June 1991. The museum was designed by the Viennese architect Hans Hollein. It is part of Frankfurt's Museumsuf ...

, Frankfurt am Main, 1992, 1995 *''Verwandschaften,'' Galerie Espace, Amsterdam, 1991 *''Verwandschaften,'' Stampa, Basel, 1990 *''Verwandschaften,'' Art Frankfurt, 1990 *''Verwandschaften,'' Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1990 *Elisabeth Kaufmann, Zurich, 1988 * Van de Loo, Munich, 1988 *''Lesen in Staub,'' Gemeentemuseum, Arnhem, 1988 *''Lesen in Staub,'' Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, 1988 *''Lesen in Staub/Weibliche Monate,'' Kunstverein Hannover, 1988 *

Musée Rath The Musée Rath is an art museum in Geneva, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. Its building is the oldest purpose-built art museum in Switzerland, and the original home of Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva), Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'H ...

, Geneva, 1988 *''Lesen in Staub/Strategische Orte,'' Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, 1987 * Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, 1987 * Galerie Vorsetzen, Hamberg, 1987 * Stampa, Basel, 1987 *''Strategische Orte,'' DAAD, Berlin, 1986 *''Strategische Orte,'' Stampa, Basel, 1986 *''Strategische Orte,'' Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, and Kunstmuseum, Bonn, 1985 *''Strategische Orte,'' Elisabeth Kaufmann, Zurich, 1985 *''Das Klassische Lieben,'' Musée la Chaux-de-Fonds, 1984 * ''Das Klassische Lieben,'' Galerie Grita Insam,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 1984 * ''Das Klassische Lieben,'' Stampa, Basel, 1984 *''Das Klassische Lieben,'' Kunsthalle Basel, 1983 *''Wach Raum 1,'' Konrad Fischer, Zurich, 1982 *Stampa, Basel, 1977, 1979, 1981

Selected group exhibitions

Documenta 14 Documenta 14 was the fourteenth edition of the art exhibition documenta which took place in 2017 in both Kassel, Germany, its traditional home, and Athens, Greece. It was held first in Athens from 8 April to 16 July, and in Kassel from 10 Ju ...

, Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany, 2017 *21st Sydney Biennal, 2018 *Prière de toucher – Le tactile dans l'art, Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2016 *Module mai, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2010 *Sammlung Van de Loo, Neue National galerie Berlin, 2004 *''Where Is Abel, Your Brother?,''

Zachęta – National Gallery of Art The Zachęta – National Gallery of Art () is a contemporary art museum in the center of Warsaw, Poland. The Gallery's chief purpose is to present and support Polish contemporary art and artists. With numerous temporary exhibitions of well-known ...

, Warsaw, 1995 *''From Beyond the Pale,''

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art (), also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. It is located in Kilmainham, Dublin. History Irish art collector Gordon Lam ...

, Dublin, 1994 *Centre d'Art Contemporian, Geneva, 1994 *''Zur Sache Selbst,'' Künstlerinnen des 20. Jahrhunderts Museum, Wiesbaden, 1990 *''Triennal de Dibuix,'' Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 1989 * Sydney Biennal, 1986 *''Crosscurrents in Swiss Art,''

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...

, London, 1984 *''

Documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

,'' Kassel, Germany, 1982 *''Feministische Kunst International,'' Frauenzimmer, Basel, 1979 *''Claudia Martínez Garay and Miriam Cahn: Ten Thousand Things'', Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, 2020

References

External links

Entry for Miriam Cahn
on the

Union List of Artist Names The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) is a free online database of the Getty Research Institute using a controlled vocabulary, which by 2018 contained over 300,000 artists and over 720,000 names for them, as well as other information about artist ...

. * Cahn's Collections a
Cura Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cahn, Mirian 1949 births Living people 20th-century Swiss painters 21st-century Swiss painters Swiss contemporary artists Swiss Jews Jewish artists Artists from Basel-Stadt Feminist artists Neo-expressionist artists 20th-century Swiss women painters 21st-century Swiss women painters Jewish feminists Swiss feminists