Maria Hassabi in dialogue with Adam Linder.
Maria Hassabi
is a choreographer, performer, and visual artist. Since the early 2000s, she has developed a distinct practice based on the relationship between the live body, the still image, and the sculptural object. Centered on stillness, deceleration, and aesthetic precision, her work spans performance, installation, photography, sculpture, sound, and moving image, treating time as material and the human figure as a physical and representational presence. Her static works often take her live performances as a point of departure, extending choreography into material and spatial relationships through different media and processes.
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, Luxembourg (2019); K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2017-18); 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 also been featured in group exhibitions and festivals such as Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India (2025); Festival d’Autumn, Paris in collaboration with Chaillot National Theater, Paris (2025); The Story of Public Art – Dancing in the Streets (On Power) at MAPS, Denmark (2025); ENNOVA Biennale, Langfang City (2024); IMMA, Dublin (2024); Art Unlimited, Basel (2024); Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels (2024, 2017, 2016, 2014); Thailand Biennale, Chiang Rai (2023); FRONT Triennial, Cleveland (2022); Festwochen, Wien (2021); Performa, NY (2019, 2013, 2009); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2018); documeta14, Kassel (2017); Crossing the Line Festival, NY (2016, 2011, 2009); the 55th Venice Biennale (2013); ArtSonje, Seoul (2015); Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2014); Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva (2012), amongst others.
Hassabi was an Onassis Resident 2019-2022 and has received the 2019 Performa Malcolm Mclaren Award along with artist Nairy Baghramian; 2016 “Bessie” Award; 2015 Herb Alpert Award; 2012 President’s Award from LMCC; 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship; 2009 Foundation for Contemporary Arts. She holds a BFA from Calarts and currently lives and works in Paris.