Vian Sora's first US solo museum exhibition to debut in Texas

Vian Sora (b. 1976, Baghdad) creates dazzling, layered abstractions that channel the turbulence of life, ancient Mesopotamian history, and Iraq's diverse natural landscapes — including its deserts, rivers, and archeological sites. Outerworlds — her first solo museum exhibition in the United States — surveys a decade of her most vibrant work, charting her transformation into one of today's most distinctive voices in painting. The exhibition will open with a reception on April 15 from 6–8 p.m., and remain on view through August 2, 2026. Sora's practice emerges directly from lived experience. Having grown up amid the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq, she witnessed the devastation of her homeland firsthand. She later left Baghdad, sought refugee status for her family in the United Arab Emirates, and then eventually resettled in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2016, Sora realized she needed to use abstraction to process the tumultuous events of her lif