Aiza Ahmed (b. 1997, Lahore, Pakistan, lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice is rooted in the intersection between drawing, painting, sculpture, animation, and installation; a stage where fact meets fiction, a cast of characters composed from cinema, archival documents, reportage, lived experiences, memory, and fantasy are brought to light in a make-believe world. Ahmed earned her BFA, with minors in Art History and Business, from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY (2020) and received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, RI (2024). Ahmed’s work has been exhibited worldwide, recent group exhibitions include What Lovers Do: RISD MFA Painting Exhibition, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY (2024); Really From, NYC Culture Club, NY (2023); Educate, Christie’s, New York, NY (2020); I Shouted my Laughter to the Stars, Aicon Gallery, New York, NY (2022); First Person, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY (2023); Going Dutch: A Rembrandt Soirée, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY (2017); Now Streaming, Rajiv Menon Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Parable of the Planes, New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), New York, NY (2024); MFA Painting Thesis Show, Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia, PA (2024); In A Look, VM Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan (2021); Ladies Who Lunch, Dominion Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan (2021); among others. Ahmed’s first solo exhibition in India is scheduled in April 2025 at Chemould CoLab, an extension program of the esteemed Chemould Prescott Road.
She is the recipient of several awards, including The Graduate Commons Grant Fellowship, Providence, RI (2024); Rhode Island School of Design Fellowship, Providence, RI (2022); The Edith Stone and Walter King Memorial Prize, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (2019); and David R. Bean Prize in Fine Arts, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (2018). In 2021, she collaborated with Rastah, a Lahore-based luxury streetwear brand aiming to decontextualize South Asian heritage through sustainable designs. In February 2024, Ahmed was selected by the Brown Arts Institute to participate in the William Kentridge & The Centre for the Less Good Idea residency in Providence, RI.
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 EXHIBITIONS
2025 Chemould CoLab, Chemould Prescott Road, India [upcoming April ’25]
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
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
2024 William Kentridge & The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Brown Arts Institute, Providence, R
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
VM Permanent Collection