Elnaz Javani
Central Stage spotlights artists recently, currently, or soon to be featured in leading international exhibitions and recurring large‑scale shows such as biennials and triennials, as well as those recognised through major public commissions or new acquisitions by prominent museums and public institutions.
Elnaz Javani
Born in Tehran, currently based in Colorado
RARARES Gallery, Dubai
Elnaz Javani. Courtesy of the artist and RARARES Gallery.
Born in Tehran and currently based in Colorado, Elnaz Javani is an Iranian-American artist and educator whose practice has been gradually captivating institutional and curatorial circuits across the Middle East, Europe, and the US. Working with textiles, sculpture, and installation, she constructs dense, layered forms through embroidery, stitching, dyeing, and assemblage. Her work treats textiles as spatial and sculptural objects rather than two-dimensional, with layering, perspective, and time shaping the conceptual framework, embedding questions of memory, displacement, and bodily experience in the material itself.
Javani’s trajectory places her at the forefront of a generation of MENA artists whose practices are now reshaping institutional and market attention. Javani’s growing recognition includes being named one of Newcity Chicago’s Breakout Artists of 2022. She has exhibited internationally across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, with presentations at major institutions such as the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid, and Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles.
Elnaz Javani, The Fall IV, 2025. Hand stitched embroidery, hand dyed fabric, sublimation printing and discharge printing on cotton fabric, 160 x 110 cm. Courtesy of the artist and RARARES Gallery.
About the Artist
Elnaz Javani is an Iranian-American artist and educator whose practice explores personal and cultural memory, often reflecting on her experiences of migration and identity. She trained at the Art University of Tehran (BFA) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA, Fiber and Material Studies). Her work has been exhibited internationally in museum and institutional contexts including the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Craft Contemporary Museum (Los Angeles), DePaul Art Museum (Chicago), Jameel Arts Center (Dubai), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Madrid), and Museum San Telmo (San Sebastián), as well as in galleries and nonprofit spaces in the US, Europe, and the Middle East. She is a recipient of the Terra Foundation Grant (2025), the New Voices Award from Print Center New York (2024), and the Chicago Individual Artists Programme Grant (2023). Javani is currently an Assistant Professor of Fibers at Colorado State University.
