BERLIN.- Father is a deeply personal and autobiographical exhibition by artist Diana Markosian. It explores themes of absence, memory, and reconciliation, reflecting on how decisions shape who we become.

Born in Moscow, at the age of seven Markosian left Russia with her mother and older brother, eventually relocating to California. This move across the world would solidify, and seemingly finalize, a fracturing of her family that had already taken place. Markosian’s parents had separated before she was born, and by the time they moved to America her father was, in many ways, already absent from her life. Once in California her mother sought to remove even the image of him from their lives by cutting his picture out of family photographs. For Markosian’s father, her and her brother became missing children whom he tried to find for years. His absence created a profound sense of mystery and confusion in Markosian as she looked for him, both literally and emotionally, in different men.

Fifteen years since she last saw him, and with no picture to remind her nor address to direct her, Markosian set out to find her father in Armenia. Father captures Markosian’s attempt to build a relationship with him over a decade with each visit revealing new complexities about the parent she lost and how that loss, originally and over time, came to shape the person Markosian had become.

Loss is an inescapable part of the human experience. One that binds us together, yet we often face alone. There is no manual for how to move through it. While Markosian’s story is unique, it carries a universal resonance. Through her story and exhibition, we are reminded that family ties are never perfect - and that art can offer a space for collective healing.

Father invites us to reflect on the therapeutic power of art - on how creating can be a way of processing, understanding and ultimately accepting.

Part of the power of Diana Markosian’s work is that it refuses to assign blame, instead inviting empathy for both sides. It reminds us to resist seeing things in absolutes, inviting us to hold space for complexity.

Her hope is for us to “arrive right at the center of the exhibition and understand that family is complicated”.

Diana Markosian has exhibited in leading museums, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography in New York, and the National Portrait Gallery in London. Markosian’s first monograph, Santa Barbara, was published by Aperture and selected as the book of the year by MoMA and Time Magazine. She recently was awarded the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro Arles, and her latest monograph, Father, was chosen as the photo book of the year by Le Monde Magazine.

Father is co-curated by Marie-Luise Mayer, Exhibitions Manager at Fotografiska Berlin, in collaboration with the artist. The exhibition is co-produced by Les Rencontres d’Arles and Foam, Amsterdam.