Sargon Khnu
Scene I-V, 2025
Five bas-reliefs in lime wood, 61 x 66 x 6 cm each
Offering, 2025
PLA bioplastic, colour, synthetic hair
112 x 215 x 69 cm
Courtesy the artist
Sargon Khnu (b. 1991, Assyrian) is currently studying at Offenbach University of Art and Design and lives between Frankfurt and Berlin. He names Assyria as his place of origin—referring to the ancient region of Mesopotamia, where the traditions of the Akkadian and Sumerian civilisations were rooted. His work explores the relationship between sexual desire and power.
Khnu navigates the fluid boundary between seduction, desire, and vulnerability. For the exhibition And This is Us 2025, he has created a sculpture and bas-reliefs that engage with themes of submission and homoerotic tension. At the centre of his work are male figures portrayed in a state of preparation for a sexual act. Kneeling on the floor is a larger-than-life sculpture. The body is naked, exaggerated in form: the musculature is accentuated with a narrow wasp waist. The pose accentuates the figure’s rounded, prominent buttocks, with the testicles clearly visible. The face, obscured by long black hair, remains indiscernible. The body’s surface is smooth, flawless, and stark white.
Khnu digitally modelled the figure, 3D printed and assembled the several parts, then meticulously refined each part by hand using both organic and synthetic materials to create their immaculate finish.
Mounted on the wall are five wooden panels: digitally rendered drawings that have been CNC milled into lime wood as shallow reliefs and subsequently hand finished. These, too, depict idealised male bodies focused on rituals of preparation for physical intimacy with another person. One figure wears a large bow wrapped around the chest, as if presenting itself as a living gift.
Khnu’s aesthetic merges the anatomical stylisation of bodybuilders with what he describes as an “anime-Barbie aesthetic”, breaking away from conventional categories. He also draws inspiration from fashion and has previously designed accessories for the Paris-based fashion label Ottolinger.
Khnu’s work explores the body as a site of performance and the construction of identity—and, in parallel, desire as a non-heteronormative primal force. He cites as key references by French theorist and LGBTQ pioneer Guy Hocquenghem, as well as Michel Foucault’s . Khnu is interested in how sexuality shapes self-perception, social norms, and power structures within society. Concepts of identity, power, and symbolism underpin his practice, alongside the question of how human emotion and inner states can be made visible.
His work moves between the energetic poles of giving and receiving, and the tension between self-sacrifice and authority within systems of power.
Sargon Khnu (b. 1991, Assyrian) has been studying at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach (DE) with Prof. Alexander Oppermann since 2018. He works with sculptures in both physical and digital forms addressing taboo topics and fostering dialogue on sexual minorities, gender, and the modification of the human body.
In 2019, he was awarded the Samsung Rundgangpreis für Bewegtbild und Digitale Medien. He has also received several scholarships, including the Deutschlandstipendium (2020, 2024) and the Hessen Abschlussförderung grant from the Ministry of Science and the Arts in Darmstadt (2022). He has exhibited at venues such as B3 Biennial of the Moving Image, Frankfurt am Main (DE), Haimney Gallery, Barcelona (ES), La Montgolfière, Paris (FR), Domicile Tokyo (JP), Spruce Gallery, Manila (PH), Gr_und Gallery, Berlin (DE), and Untitled Gallery, Berlin (DE). His work and interviews have been featured in numerous publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, Tunica Magazine, Metal Magazine, and Coeval Magazine.
