Bio

Qinza Najm is an internationally acclaimed Pakistani-American interdisciplinary artist whose practice bridges painting, installation, sculpture, and performance. Based between New York City and Lahore, Najm combines her formal training at Bath University and the Art Students League of New York with a Ph.D. in Psychology, creating deeply evocative work that interrogates themes of identity, migration, gender, and power.

Najm’s art has been exhibited at some of the most prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Queens Museum, Christie’s, Art Basel, and the Museum of the Moving Image. Her thought-provoking performances, such as Veil of Bullets, and installations like Zakhm-Marham: A Re-Clamation, explore urgent global issues—from displacement and climate change to the violence of societal norms. Her work has garnered recognition in ArtNet News, Hyperallergic, and The Huffington Post, cementing her reputation as a critical voice in contemporary art.

At the heart of Najm’s practice is a commitment to pushing material and conceptual boundaries. Her use of everyday and reclaimed materials transforms her works into immersive environments that challenge cultural narratives while fostering empathy and dialogue. Recent exhibitions, including Possibilities and Speculative Futures at the Bronx Museum and her participation in the Lahore Biennale Collateral, highlight her ability to connect local histories with universal concerns.

Through bold visual language and incisive social critique, Najm's work invites audiences to engage with the most pressing issues of our time, positioning her as a globally significant artist shaping the contemporary art discourse.

CV

Education

·   2006: Ph.D. in Psychology, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN

·   1999: M.S. in Psychology, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN

Selected Exhibitions

2025:

  • Re-Claiming Space (2), Miami Art Basel, Miami, FL

  • Weaving Space, ArtGotham Gallery, NYC

  • Re-Claiming Space, Clio Art Fair, NYC

  • (Un) Framing Gender, Culture Lab, NY

2024:

·   Possibilities and Speculative Futures, Bronx Museum, NYC

·   Zakhum-Marham A Re-Claimation, Lahore Biennale Collatral, Lahore, Pakistan

·   Hardwired Into the Next Reality, Nor For Sale Gallery, London, UK

·   In (Acessible) Garden, ArtSoch Contemporary, Lahore, Pakistan

. Kuch Ishq Kiya, Kuch Kaam Kiya, Thomas Nickle Gallery, NYC

2023:

·   Merey Dil Merey Musafir: Tracing The Belongings, ArtSoch, Lahore, Pakistan (Solo)

·   Waves of Belonging, WhiteBox Art Space, NYC

 2022:

·   MindGames: An Insight into Cultural Dualism, Lahore, Pakistan (Solo)

·   Golden Bullets, Frost Museum, Miami, FL

·   Off The Cloth, WhiteBox Art Space, New York, NY

·   Bullets (Gift Shop), Wolfsonian Museum, Miami, FL

·   Veil & Pleasure, National Arts Club, New York, NY

·   Off The Cloth, WhiteBox Art Space, New York, NY

·   Material X, 5-50 Gallery, New York, NY

2021:

·   Pleasure-Reclaimed, Spring Break Art Show, New York, NY (Solo)

·   Off The Cloth, WhiteBox Art Space, New York, NY

·   Golden Bullets, Frost Museum, Miami, FL

·   The Gift Shop (Bullets), Wolfsonian Museum, Miami, FL

·   Veil and Pleasure, National Arts Club, New York, NY

 2020:

·   Women Trouble, Western Exhibitions, Chicago

·   Femmephilia, School of Visual Arts Curatorial Practice, New York, NY

·   Her World-Her View, The Immigrant Artist Biennale, New York, NY

 2019:

·   What If? National Museum of China, Beijing

·   Still I Rise, A.I.R Gallery, New York, NY (Solo)

·   #BanNoMore, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea

·   Tabdeeli II, Karachi Biennale, Karachi, Pakistan

·   Times of Perception, Stevenson University, Maryland

·   Becoming a Wo-Men..., Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan (Solo)

·   Don’t Grow Up It’s a Trap, Karachi Biennale, Karachi, Pakistan

·   Veil of Bullets, Nicole Longnecker Gallery, Houston, TX

 2018:

All Around Her There Was a Frightening Silence, Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi,     Pakistan (Solo)

·   Ghost of Empire, Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE (Solo)

·   Violence as Methodology, Twelve Gates Art, Philadelphia, PA

·   Don’t Shoot, X, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY

 2017:

·   Tabdeeli, Queens Museum, New York, NY

·   #NoHonorInHonorKilling, Museum of Moving Images, New York, NY

·   Power, Pulse Art Fair, Miami, FL

·   Carousel, Aljira: A Center for Contemporary Art, New York, NY

·   Suitable Girl, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK

·   Performance, The Last Frontier, New York, NY

·   #BaNoMore, WhiteBox Art Space, New York, NY

·   Somewhere in America, St. Lawrence University Gallery, New York, NY

 2016:

·   Passage of Wishes, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, NYC

·   Fata, Aicon Gallery, NYC

·   Niqabi Virgin, WhiteBox Art Space, NYC

·   Ghost of Empire, Twelve Gates Art, Philadelphia

 2015:

·   Treasures of Love, Miami Art Basel, FL

·   Black and White, Place Pleiades Gallery, NYC

·   Swirl Bridge, United Nation, NYC

 

2014:

·   Red Dot, Miami Art Basel, Miami, FL

·   Somewhere In Berlin, Wattis Gallery, San Francisco, CA

·   #DamnILookGood, Dumbo Art Festival, NYC

·   Just Politics, Con Artist Gallery, NYC

·   More to What Meets The Eyes, Con Artist Gallery, NYC

·   Love vs. Hate, DIFC, Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE

·   Noun Al Neswa, Marsam Mattar Gallery, Dubai

 2013:

·   Sacred Sinister, United Nation, Auctioned by Christie’s, Dubai

·   Morphism of Love, Art Mora Gallery, NYC

·   Golden, Saffron Art Auction, NYC

·   Let it go, Leigh Wein Gallery, Chelsea NYC

·   Ego vs. Empathy, Governor Island Art Fair, NYC

·   Analysis of Love? Rush Art Gallery, Chelsea, NYC

·   Ego and I, Gallery Brooklyn, NYC

·   Modern Conflict, Art Dubai (Sikka), Dubai

·   Oscillating Reality, Green Point Gallery, NYC

·   Dream of Love, Abu Dhabi Art Hub, Abu Dhabi

·   East & West, SMV Gallery NY, NYC

·   Sublime Allegory, Time Square, NYC

 2012:

·   Small Works, Manhattan Borough President's Office, NYC

·   Love & Ego, Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery, NYC

·   Memories, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), GA

·   Contemporary Artist, US Consulate, Dubai, UAE

 2010:

·   Blue, Art Couture Gallery, Dubai, UAE

 Residencies

·   2020: Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA), North Adams, MA

·   2019: Bakehouse Art Complex, Studio Residency, Miami, FL

·   2018: New York University, Steinhardt Summer Studio Residency, New York, NY

·   2017: World of Co, Sofia

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