LILYA CORNELI

Lilya Corneli (b. 1978, Yerevan) is an Armenian photographic artist based in The Hague, working since 2002 between painterly staged photography and art-historical reinterpretation. Her Tobeamuse project, founded in Vienna in 2016, restages world-famous artworks in a contemporary idiom and has been shown at the Albertina Museum in Vienna and at NordArt in Germany, where it received the Public Choice Award in 2023. Her most recent series, Memory Box, was presented in a solo exhibition at Debed Life Resort in Armenia in 2025.

BORN

1978, Yerevan, Armenia

EDUCATION

Master's degree in International Economics

PHOTOGRAPHY

Since 2002

LIVES AND WORKS

The Hague, Netherlands (2019 – present)

Vienna, Austria (2016 – 2019)

Hamburg, Germany (2001 – 2015)

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2026

Büdelsdorf, Germany — NordArt, group exhibition

2025

Debed Life Resort, Armenia — "Memory Box" series, solo exhibition

2024

Büdelsdorf, Germany — NordArt, group exhibition

2023

Büdelsdorf, Germany — NordArt, group exhibition (Public Choice Award for the Tobeamuse project)

2021

Brussels, Belgium — Espace 22 Gallery, group exhibition

2017

Lisbon, Portugal — "Tobeamuse", solo exhibition at Bexi Art & Design

2014

Luxembourg — "Lensmodern Retrospective", group exhibition, Am Tunnel gallery

2013

Hamburg, Germany — "Lilya Corneli's Reflections", solo exhibition at Petit Café Gallery

2012

Sesto San Giovanni, Italy — "Florarium", solo exhibition at Villa Visconti d'Aragona

Milan, Italy — "Florarium", solo exhibition at Spazio Contemporaneo Carlo Talamucci

2010

Paris, France — Lumas Paris, group exhibition

2009

Paris, France — Lumas Paris, group exhibition

Berlin, Germany — "New to the Eye", group exhibition at ArtMBassy gallery

Hamburg, Germany — "Better Halves", solo exhibition

2008

Sesto San Giovanni, Milan, Italy — solo exhibition

Milan, Italy — "Green Shades", group exhibition, Museo di Milano

Bobbio, Italy — Terzo Occhio, group exhibition

Tokyo, Japan — FujiFilm Foto Salon, group exhibition

2007

Berlin and New York — Lumas Berlin and Lumas Soho, group exhibition

Fukuoka, Japan — group exhibition at Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art

Brussels, Belgium — exhibition with Oleg Dou at Espace 22 gallery

2006

Évora and Lisbon, Portugal — group exhibitions

Bobbio, Italy — group exhibition

Moscow, Russia — Fotofusion, group exhibition

Prague, Czech Republic — solo exhibition at Galerie T Studio

2005

Yerevan, Armenia — "Red Apple of Discord", group exhibition

Bobbio, Italy — Terzo Occhio Imagina, group exhibition

Tokyo, Japan — Terzo Occhio Imagina, group exhibition

PROJECTS

2016 – present

Tobeamuse — an art project founded in Vienna, recreating world-famous artworks in a modern way

2014 – 2016

Clutchartproject — limited-edition leather clutches with art prints by Lilya Corneli

SHOWS

28 February 2017 — "Schiele & Die Bohème", Salon Albertina, Tobeamuse show at the Albertina Museum, Vienna

31 October 2017 — "Raphael Reinterpreted", Tobeamuse show at the Albertina Museum, Vienna

18 April 2018 — Fashion event launching the H&M Conscious Exclusive 2018 collection

COOPERATIONS

Albertina Museum, Park Hyatt Vienna, Steinway Austria, H&M Showroom Vienna, Restaurant Das Fritz, Girls Dreams Boutique, Stella Models Agency, Hotel Renthof Kassel, Belka Fashion, Runway

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2010 — Twill, Italy

2009 — Photo Art International, France

2008 — Lumas Art Gallery

2007 — "About Flowers and Red Fishes" series, Spring issue of Expression, China

2007 — Elegy, France, March issue, cover and interview

2007 — Zoom, Russian photography book

2006 — Fine Art Foto, Germany, issue #3, portfolio and cover

2006 — Expression, China, portfolio and cover

2006 — Il Fotografo, Italy, portfolio and cover

Tobeamuse in the press (selected): Russia Beyond, C/O Vienna, Grazia Russia, Cosmopolitan Russia, Here&There Magazine, Mediamax, Metropole, EFE Agency Spain, ArmMuseum, Visão