Nahid Hagigat

Artist Biography

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1943, and now based in New York, Nahid Hagigat is a pioneering artist whose work bridges Iranian and Western art. After graduating in Fine Arts from Tehran University, Hagigat moved to New York in 1968 and pursued a Ph. D. from New York University, where she mastered the processes of etching and printmaking. Hagigat often exhibited her etchings and photo etchings in New York and Tehran, and was instrumental in introducing and popularizing etching and printmaking to the Iranian art world. Her work deeply examines the social and political injustices faced by women on a global scale, which became even more prescient as Hagigat furthered her artistic practice. Throughout Hagigat’s œuvre, her goal is not to depict victims, but rather women for whom strength and passion for life surpasses their entanglement with oppression

In 2013, Hagigat was included in the foundational show Iran Modern at the Asia Society in New York, and in 2023 her work was included in LACMA’s Women Defining Women: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and Beyond. Hagigat’s solo exhibitions include Etched In Time at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (2024 – 2025); Taymour Grahne Projects, London; White Wall Space, New York; Litho Gallery, Tehran. Her work is in numerous permanent collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, JP Morgan-Chase, New York University, and World Bank in Washington, D.C. Hagigat has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Maryland Federation Of Art, Juror Selected Award, Winner; Celebrity Center, World Contemporary Art, International Fine Arts Competition & Exhibition, Best of Show Award; HTEL, Heckstcher Museum 38th Annual Art Exhibition, New York, Award of Excellence.

Artist Statement

I started my professional career during the 1970s in New York. During this time, I created a series of etchings and photo-etchings depicting Iranian women and children, among other subjects. In these series, I portrayed figures showing power and resistance. Sometimes, the main figure is repeated many times, each representing a different stage of being. During the 1980s and beyond, I shifted to a different subject matter, creating paintings on canvas influenced by nature, such as dry leaves of palm trees and bare branches. I explored the intensity and force of branches against light, expressing complexity, music, synchronization, harmony, and grace.

In 2015, I began printing my etching plates from the 1970s era in only black color and decided to paint on them with colors. I call this series “hand-painted etchings.” I selected four plates mainly focusing on the subject of women. Choosing these specific plates, my goal is not to depict a “victim,” but rather a woman for whom strength and
passion for life surpasses her entanglement with oppression. The women in my etchings embrace aliveness and a willingness to thrive as they achieve their next level of greatness. Flowers are powerful symbols of resistance and that is why my “women” are showered with
them. Flowers symbolize beauty, innocence, power, purity, peace, fertility, divinity, eternity, and love. Some are delicate, some are rough, some are short-lived, some are long, but all in their unique ways radiate an irreplaceable energy. As with my “women,” they each have
their own story to tell. Every print has been transformed and has taken on a new life and momentum of its own.