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GREAT EXPECTATIONS T h e N a s h e r Prize, one of the most respected accolades in the art world, has named its sixth laureate: Iranian- born Nairy Baghramian, who has lived and worked in Berlin since 1984. Baghramian isn't afraid to upend the traditions of sculpture — the art form through which she feels her ideas are most effortlessly expressed. "It's the language I speak the best," she explained in impeccable English during the filmed reveal of the Nasher Prize earlier this fall. As the 2022 laureate, she will receive $100,000 and an award designed by Renzo Piano, the Pritzker Prize- winning architect of the Nasher Sculpture Center. In Baghramian's practice, the sculptural vocabulary is always mindful of history and materials while evoking the idea of the body's vulnerability. One seminal recent work, Knee and Elbow (2020), abstractly depicts those two primary joints. Featuring pitted pink and white marble connected by thin, stainless-steel elements, the sculpture appears to be on the verge of collapse, alternately clumsy, poignant, and humorous. A s s u c h , i t m e t a p h o r i c a l l y suggests the fragility of the human form. Baghramian also uses sculpture to explore the relationship between architecture, objects, and the body, while championing often overlooked subjects. One of her most recent series, "Misfits," exhibited in Milan and Paris this summer, offers a THE NEWEST NASHER PRIZE LAUREATE, NAIRY BAGHRAMIAN, HUMANIZES SCULPTURE WITH GREAT CARE AND EMPATHY. By Caitlin Clark THE NASHER'S CHOICE OF BAGHRAMIAN CONTINUES T H E M U S E U M ' S M I S S I O N T O E N C O U R A G E THOUGHTFUL DIALOGUE AROUND CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE ON A GLOBAL SCALE. Nairy Baghramian, The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts Nairy Baghramian's Dwindlers, 2018 Nairy Baghramian's Coude à Coude/ Elbow to Elbow, 2019 COURTESY THE ARTIST. PHOTO TUCKER BLAIR. TIMO OHLER SHIFT STUDIO BERLIN (Continued) 34