Tahir Karmali is primarily an investigator of materials and vernacular design. Living and working in New York, he reflects on the underlying sources of material as currency, marker of cultural identity, or exploitable artefact. By transforming materials into deceptively beautiful art forms (sculptural installations, prints, textile works), Karmali allows the viewer to savour their primary materiality before a layer of trauma (of migration, displacement, labour) slowly reveals itself. Informed by personal experiences of migration and immigration, Karmali’s work explores how certain materials transition through diverse cultures and are thus transformed, according to their use in space, especially in the art world.

 

Karmali holds a Master’s in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, New York. He is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and has held residencies at institutions including the Watermill Center, MacDowell, Triangle Arts Association, Pioneer Works, and the Montello Foundation. Solo exhibitions include Hang Me Between Your Windows at Circle Art Gallery (2025), Eternal Rent at Management Gallery, New York (2024) and Bound Between Cliffs at Circle Art Gallery (2022). His work has featured in group exhibitions at Wave Hill, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Karmali has participated in major fairs including Freize New York, The Armory Show New York, and 1–54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London. In 2019, he was commissioned for The Shed’s inaugural Open Call, and in 2022 his work was selected for display at The Rockefeller Foundation following his participation at The Armory Show. He also participated in the Dakar Biennale (2024).