Aiza Ahmed (b. 1997, Lahore, Pakistan, lives and works in New York) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and video, to contend with notions of borders, migrations, public histories, and private archives, within diasporic identities originating from the Indian Subcontinent. Observing relationships both real and imagined, Ahmed interweaves humor and performance to construct theatrical narratives that unsettle fixed narratives of nationhood, masculinity, and belonging.
Ahmed earned her BFA from Cornell University (2020) and received her MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design (2024). Ahmed’s work has been exhibited internationally, including a recent solo booth at SPRING/Break Art Fair in New York, a two-person exhibition at Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia, and a three-person exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, VA. Her group exhibitions include presentations at the RISD Museum, The FLAG Art Foundation, NYC Culture Club, Christie’s NY, Aicon Gallery, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Rajiv Menon Contemporary in Los Angeles, New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) in New York, and VM Art Gallery in Karachi, among others.
She has received several awards, including the Graduate Commons Grant Fellowship (2024) and the RISD Fellowship (2022) in Providence, RI; the Edith Stone and Walter King Memorial Prize (2019); and the David R. Bean Prize in Fine Arts (2018) at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. In 2024, she participated in residencies with William Kentridge & The Centre for the Less Good Idea at the Brown Arts Institute in Providence, RI, and The Macedonia Institute in Chatham, NY. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Silver Art Projects in New York City.
Aiza Ahmed
b. Lahore, Pakistan, 1997; Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
EDUCATION
2024 Master of Fine Arts, Painting, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), RI, USA
2020 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Cornell University, Architecture, Art, and Planning, Ithaca, NY, USA (Dean’s List)
Minors in Art History & Business
2018 Cornell AAPNYC, Semester Abroad in NYC, NY, USA
SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025 Border Play, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, New York, NY (curated by Indira A. Abiskaroon)
No father — no frontier, Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia, PA (curated by Protyasha Pandey ft Humaira Abid)
2019 Unsung Heroes, Tjaden Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Body Language, Hilton Garden Inn, Ithaca, NY
Color Relations, The Experimental Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Portals, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, VA (curated by Donna Honarpisheh ft Aryana Minai & Shyama Golden)
India Art Fair, Chemould CoLab, Chemould Prescott Road, India
The Big Fat South Asian Show, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
2024 Parable of the Planes, NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) Exhibition space, New York, NY (curated by Mari Spirito, Protocinema, & Tamara Khasanova)
MFA Painting Thesis Show, Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia, PA
RISD Graduate Show, RI Convention Center, Providence, RI
What Lovers Do: RISD MFA Painting Thesis Exhibition, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY (curated by Zoé Samudzi)
Now Streaming, Rajiv Menon Contemporary, Los Angeles, California
2023 First Person, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY
Painting with Butter, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI
Really From, NYC Culture Club & Jambhekar/Cruz, New York, NY
2022 Graduate Painting Triennial, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
Action, New Collectors Gallery, New York, NY
I Shouted my Laughter to the Stars, Aicon Gallery, New York, NY
2021 Judith Has Arrived, Aicon Gallery, New York, NY
Ladies Who Lunch, Dominion Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan
Ghost of Presence, Susan Eley Fine Art, New York, NY (curated by Monika Fabijanska)
In A Look, VM Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
2020 Fight Coronavirus & Artist Aid, Silent Auction, Christie’s New York, NY
Educate, A Charity Exhibition at Christie’s, New York, NY
BFA Thesis Gallery, Cornell Council for the Arts, New York, NY
Personal Space, Collective 131, Saratoga Springs, NY
2019 Coalesce, The Experimental Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
The BFA Show, Olive Tjaden Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
2018 Landlords, AAPNYC Gallery, New York, NY
Seeing Red, AAPNYC Gallery, New York, NY
2017 Going Dutch: A Rembrandt Soirée, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY
From The Dark, Olive Tjaden Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
RESIDENCIES
2025-26 Silver Art Projects, New York, NY
2024 The Macedonia Institute, Chatham, NY
William Kentridge & The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Brown Arts Institute, Providence, RI
GRANTS & AWARDS
2024 Graduate Commons Grant Fellowship, Providence, RI
AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship Nominee, Providence, RI
2022-2024 Rhode Island School of Design Fellowship, Providence, RI
2019 The Edith Stone and Walter King Memorial Prize, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
2018 David R. Bean Prize in Fine Arts, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
COLLECTIONS
RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island, US
Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University, Providence, RI, US
VM Art Gallery Permanent Collection, Karachi, Pakistan
VISITING ARTIST AND SELECTED LECTURES
2025 MoCA Arlington, Arlington, VA — Portals: Donna Honarpisheh in conversation with Aiza Ahmed, Aryana Minai & Shyama Golden
Smack Mellon Artist Studio Program — Studio visits with residents
2024 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI — Lecture
2022 Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY — Lecture
PUBLICATIONS
2024 On noses, pomp, and drama (self-published)
2022 At the Table, AAPI Awareness Fundraising Exhibition, Christie’s NY