Fariba Hajamadi, (born in Esfahan, Iran) lives and works in Los Angles and Brooklyn. Hajamadi received her BFA in painting from Western Michigan University (1980) and her Masters of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts) (1982).
In her unique art practice Hajamadi creates large scale works that employ photography, printing and painting on fabric, canvas and wood panels, often presented as large scale installation. Her work considers the technical histories of both photography and painting stretching the parameters of photography to achieve work of profound emotional resonance. A pioneer in the exploration of the representation of the “other”, Hajamadi dissects the cultural institution from the point of view of the cultural outsider both as a woman and as someone born in a non-Western culture. Her work investigates cultural and gender Identity, as well as narratives of displacement.
The photographs of the interiors of cultural institutions are the points of departure in constructing her multi-layered canvases. Her architectural interiors are fictional, a seamless collage made by compositing many layers of photographs, of the same location from different vantage points or by combining different locations. A new solitary interior with a forced symmetry and perspective allows the viewer to see an interior from the center and the periphery at the same time, sometimes verging on the surreal.
In her highly worked composites, Hajamadi creates a new narrative, where the line between photography and painting is blurred, engaging the viewer in a discourse about cultural and gender identity and the relationship between representation and historical truth.
Hajamadi’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Max Protetch Gallery, Christine Burgin gallery and Queens Museum in New York; Galerie Laage-Salomon, Paris; Fonds Régionale d’Art Contemporain De Basse-Normandie, France; Musée Municipal de La Roche-sur-Yon, France; Galleria Transepoca, Milan; Ecole Régionale d’Art de Dunkerque, France; Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago; Interim Art, London; I.C.A.,Philadelphia
Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including in 2022 in ARTS DE l'ISLAM, UN PASSÉ POUR UN PRÉSENT organized by la Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais and Musée du Louvre, Matt Mullican, Fariba Hajamadi, Peter Nadin,Ti-Shan Hsu, Hurbertushoeh, Art+Architecture, Berlin, Germany (2017); 2X: Paintings, Pairs, Twins, Diptychs, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers (2015); Permanent Collection, Musée d’art modern, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France (2014); Dark Places, Santa Monica Museum of Art (2006); After The Revolution , Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea, Spain (2005); Strange Home, Kestner Museum, Hannover, Germany; On the Frac Track , Maidstone Museum and Art Gallery, England; Ekbatana , Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen K, Denmark; Exlux, Kunsthalle Tirol, Austria; Transmute , Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Echolot , Museum Fridericianum Kassel Germany; Cultes Intimes, Musée de l’Histoire Vivante, Paris (1998); Wood Work, Fisher Landau Center, New York; Other Modernities, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen K, Denmark (1997); Remote Connections , Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland; Art Focus, Jerusalem, Israel; Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria, Departure Lounge , Instl., P.S.1 Museum, New York; curated by Alanna Heiss, Home/Salon , P.S.1 Museum, New York; 4th. International Biennial of Istanbul , Nouvelles Aquisitions et Collection du Musée , Musée Municipal de La Roche-sur-Yon; Rencontres Internationale de la Photographie, Arles, France, 1994; Sosies, Paris; curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, L’Hiver de l’Amour, Instl., ARC Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; P.S.1 Museum, NY; Drama, Max Protetch Gallery, New York; Don’t Look Now, Thread Waxing Space, New York; Where is Home, Kent Gallery, New York, 1992; Misure e Misurazioni , Villa Campolieto, Naples. Images Metisses , Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Material Matters , Fisher Landau Center, New York; Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago; The Library of Babel , White Columns, New York; Hajamadi, Perlman, Welling , Richard Kuhlenschmidt Gallery, Los Angeles; Trans/Mission , Rooseum Museum, Malmo, Sweeden; Displazamientos , Atlantic center of Modern Art, Las Palmas; Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato 1990; Vertigo , Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris; Fauxtography , Art Center School of Design, Pasadena, CA; The Silent Baroque , Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Salzburg (1989), CalArts: Skeptical Belief(s) , The Renaissance Society, Chicago; New Port Harbor Art Museum, Fake, The New Museum, New York (1987)