Iman Rezai

Iman Rezai (born 1981 in Shiraz, Iran) is an artist currently living and working in Berlin, Germany.

In March 2012, Rezai attracted international attention for his conceptual artwork "Die Guillotine" (German for: The Guillotine).

Early life

Rezai began his artistic career at art school in Tehran, studying in Tokyo and London before moving to Berlin where he became a masters student at the University of Arts in the class of Leiko Ikemura from 2006 to 2012. In January 2015, his brother Ardavan Rezai published the autobiographical book "We are all mouses" (original German title "Wir sind alle Mäuse" and a translation mistake in the word 'mouses' was kept) that releases insights of the childhood of the two brothers and their migration to Berlin.

Art Die Guillotine

In 2012, Iman Rezai and Rouven Materne, who were at this time master students at the Berlin University of Arts, have built an execution instrument and started a public vote concerning the killing of a sheep to assess and represent the current state of democracy. The construction of the machine and the literature surrounding the life or death of the sheep was already met with resistance at the University whilst still in its planning stage. In a democratic vote, with rules established by the artists, the public could decide whether a sheep will be executed by a colourful instrument of death devised by him. Over a period of four weeks 4.2 million people voted from all over the globe and over 500 different international media reported on the uproar. The artists announced the controversial project was sold for $2.3 million. This was later revealed as fake news.

Cyber War 2012

Using the email address of the New National Gallery Berlin, Iman Rezai invited guests to the fictional exhibition named "The performative post-modern as an expression of modern austerity in the age of precarity."

With "BundesInvest", Rezai demonstrated how easy it is to establish a company that appears to specialise in the sale of nuclear waste.

Waterboarding 2012

With his performance "Waterboarding" as part of an exhibition, Rezai invited volunteers who could be subjected to the procedure in a rack created by him – to find out for themselves whether Waterboarding should be judged as a painful experience or merely a harmless shower.

Exhibitions 2023 “EXITUS”, Berlin, Germany 2022 “DIALOGUE WITH THE OTHER” O GALLERY, Tehran, Iran 2020 “SPRAY III”, Alte Muenze Berlin, Germany 2019 “SPRAY MOUNTAIN", Berlin, Germany 2018 “OFFBEAT”, Schaufenster, Berlin, Germany 2018 “THAT’S ALL RIGHT MAMA”, XXY-ROOM, Berlin, Germany 2018 “SPRAY", VOODOO55 Art Space, Berlin, Germany 2018 LUFTHACKEN /Virtual /Robot 2017 I AM E-WASTE /Virtual 2013 “QUAL & WAHL”, KUNSTVEREIN Wolfsburg, Germany 2012 “CYBER WAR”, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin /Virtual 2012 "Illusion H2O", von Marten, Berlin 2012 "1965,85 °C", Spinnerei, Leipzig 2012 "Die Guillotine", Virtuell 2012 "Licht und Schatten", Beta-Haus, Berlin 2011 "Neu West Berlin", Berlin 2011 "Veilchen", Uferhallen, Berlin 2011 "Zu Gast bei Connex", Connex, Leipzig 2011 "Bubble Projects", (NL) 2010 "MEETING POINT", Forum Kunst und Architektur, Essen 2010 "Artpoint", Bereznitsky Gallery, Donetsk (UA) 2010 "Musashino Art Festival", MAU, Tokio (JP) 2010 "No Limit", MAU, Tokio (JP) 2010 "MEETING POINT", Kommunale Galerie Berlin, Berlin 2010 "Dragonz, come out to play", Tapetenwerk, Leipzig 2010 "Rough&Tough", UdK Berlin, Berlin 2010 "Forgotten Bar II", Berlin Kreuzberg 2010 "Kongress für Anders", Hamburg 2010 "Forgotten Bar I", Berlin Kreuzberg 2010 "Hands and friends II", Pels Leusden, Berlin 2010 "Hands and friends I" UdK, Berlin 2009 "Nacht & Nebel Neukölln", Berlin