Biography

Taravat Talepasand

Iran

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Painting

Taravat Talepasand

Born in 1979, Eugene, OR
Lives and works in USA

“I am the Corrupt Minority.”
Taravat Talepasand, born in 1979 in the United States, retained close family and artistic ties to Iran, Esfehan, where she was trained in the challenging discipline of Persian miniature painting. Paying close attention to the cultural taboos identified by distinctly different social groups, particularly those of gender, race and socioeconomic position, her work reflects the cross-pollination, or lack thereof, in our “modern” society.

Talepasand's works on paper and egg tempera paintings draw on realism to bring a focus on an acceptable beauty and its relationship with art history under the guise of traditional Persian painting. Her interest, however, is in painting a present which is of and intrinsically linked to the past, making it easily understood by the Iranian and inductive of assumption for the Westerner. “ Since I myself am considered a taboo in that I am a conglomerate of equal, yet irreconcilable cultural forces, my work challenges plebeian notions of acceptable behavior,” says the artist.

Taravat has exhibited in solo and group shows in United States and Europe, including the 2010 California Biennial, Yerba Buena Center of the Arts, Galerie Une, Switzerland, Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco, CA; Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA; Charlie James, Los Angeles, LA; di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA; and the 2003 Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR. Taravat is the recipient of the 2010 Diebenkorn Fellowship, Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Grant, Irene Pijoan Memorial Painting Awardee, Murphy Cadogan Scholarship recipient. Talepasand’s work is also in the permanent collection of the de Young Museum in San Francisco and the Orange County Museum of Art. Her work has been written about and reproduced in Art in America, Art Papers. Artweek, Alarm, Artltd., The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, Planet Magazine, SOMA Magazine, San Francisco, THE Mag LA, stretcher.org, Lifescapes, The Oregonian, and New American Paintings. She is a featured artist in Different Sames: New Perspectives in Contemporary Iranian Art, edited by Hossein Amirsadeghi. Talepasand received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001 and MFA and the San Francisco Art Institute in 2006.

Education:

2006. San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA MFA, Painting
2001. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI BFA, Illustration
2000. Athens School of Fine Art, Athens, Greece Painting, Printmaking

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2021. Are You There Allah? It’s Me, Taravat. Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland, OR
2018. Yeki Bood, Yeki Nabood (Once Was, Once Wasn't), Jack Fisher Gallery, Minnesota Street Projects, San Francisco, CA
2017. Westoxicated, Zevitas Marcus, Los Angeles, CA
2017. Made in Iran, Born in America, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015. Not an Arab Spring, Beta Pictoris Gallery, Birmingham, AL 
2012. Pathétique, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2011. The Corrupt Minority, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA
2010. Taravat Talepasand: Drawings, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2009. Situation Critical, Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco, CA
2009. Hampah: Ala Ebtekar & Taravat Talepasand, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008. To the Martyrs! Plane Space, New York, NY
2007. Seeya and Sefeed, Heather Marx Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006. Taravat Talepasand, Vernissage, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
2002. New Works, From Greece, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR 

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2021. I Am…, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2020. Yesterday - Tomorrow, Baik Art, Los Angeles, CA
2020. FAULTline Art Show, Bartolini Gallery, San Rafael Civic Center, San Rafael, CA
2019. EPOCH, Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA
2019. Once at Present, Contemporary Art of the Bay Area Iranian Diaspora, Minnesota Street Projects (MSP), San Francisco, CA
2019. FAULTline 2,Shotwell & 20th, San Francisco, CA
2019. “45RPM SoEx Auction,” Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2019. “ART BRIEF IV: Iranian Contemporary San Francisco,” SOMARTS San Francisco, CA
2019. Untitled Art Fair, Zevitas Marcus Gallery; Pier 35, San Francisco, CA
2018. “Bay Area Now 8,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2018. “The Internet Archive’s 2018 Artist In Residence Exhibition,” Evergold Projects at
2018. Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA
2018. “In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present,” LACMA, Los Angeles, CA  
2017. "Why Draw? 500 years of Drawings and Watercolor," Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Maine
2016. “POWERS | TVAT | DEFAZIO,” Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2016. "Vinyl Icons: Persian Pop and Turkish Psychedelia," Vane Gallery, New Castle, UK ARCO Madrid, Spain 
2015. “Bootleg Show,” Printed Matter, Inc., New York, NY
2015. Passport 2015, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA 
2015. Volta11, Markthalle, Basel, Switzerland
2015. Miami Art Fair, New York, New York
2015. “Amen,” Bass & Reiner, San Francisco, CA
2015. Volta NY, New York, New York
2015. Azadi va Edalat, Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, GA 
2014. “Theory of Survival: Fabrications,” Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2013. “New...Now...Next...” Angles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 
2012. “Tessellation Make Up,” Galerie Zilberman, Istanbul, Turkey
2012. “Nu Body,” Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012. “Belles Comme Le Jour,” Galerie Une, Zurich, Switzerland 
2012. “FAX,” San Francisco Arts Commision Gallery, San Francisco, CA 
2011. PULSE Miami, FL
2011. “I am who I am: The Portrait Reconsidered,” Steven Zevitas, Boston, MA
2011. “Sea Change II: The 10th Anniversary Exhibition,” Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco, CA 
2011. “Sea Change I: The 10th Anniversary Exhibition,” Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco, CA 
2011. “Fabrications,” Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco, CA 
2010. California Biennial,” Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
2010. “I RAN Home (In America),” CoCA Center of Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
2010. “Tehran - New York,” Leila Taghinia-Milano Heller (LTMH) Gallery, New York, NY
2010. Chahar Ghesmat: Iranian Women Create, Akus Gallery, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT (curated by Afarin Rahmanifar and Elizabeth Peterson)
2009. I Want You To Want Me, Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco, CA
2009. Bad Moon Rising 4, Galerie Sans Titre, Brussels, Belgium (curated by Jan Van Woensel)
2009. Femme on Femme” Cypress College Art Gallery, Cypress, CA (curated by Cari Marshall)
2008. Sexy Time: A Group Effort, Morgan Lehman, New York, NY
2008. East of the West, SomArts, San Francisco, CA (curated by Taraneh Hemami & Anuradha Vikram)
2007. The Diane and Sandy Besser Collection, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
2007. Three on the Tree, Plane Space, New York, NY
2007. Selections from New American Paintings: The MFA Annual, OSP Gallery, Boston, MA
2007. GRAPHIC: New Bay Area Drawing, di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA
2006. Cream from the Top, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA
2005. Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004. Murphy Cadogan Award, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004. Obsessive Patterns, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004. Ephemeral, Crucible Steel Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003. Oregon Biennial, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
2000. New Paintings, Blackfish Gallery, Portland OR
2000. Illustrations, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Honors and Awards:

2011. Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant
2010. Richard C. Diebenkorn Teaching Murphy Fellow at San Francisco Art Institute
2006. Irene Pijoan Memorial Painting Award
2005-06. New American Paintings: MFA Annual Competition
2005. Murphy Cadogan Scholarship
2004-05. San Francisco Art Institute, Merit Scholarship
2000. Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship
1999-01. Rhode Island School of Design Merit Scholarship
1999. Guilford Handcraft

Selected Collections:

Orange County Museum of Art, Orange County, CA
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
Film and Documentary: Pearls on the Ocean Floor by Robert Adanto
Voices of America, Persian News Network interview by Monaliza Noormohammadi

Selected Bibliography:

2011. Sarrah Zadeh, "Taravat Talepasand," Zan Magazine, NOV/DEC, Issue No. 1, p.61-63
2011. Swanhuyser, Hiya, "Ten Years, Part Deux," SF Weekly (Night & Day section), July 13, p. 17
2011. Cate McQuaid, "Remaking History by Themselves," Boston Globe, May 11
2011. Gabrielle Selz, "The Outsider Insider: New Work by Taravat Talepasand," Huffington Post Arts, May 25
2011. Rebecca Goldschmidt, “Big Things Ahead: Taravat,” May 5
2011. Sanaz Khalaj-Santos, “The Corrupt Minority,” July, www.persianesque.com
2011. "Exhibition Spotlight: Fabrications at Marx & Zavattero," The Huffington Post, February 4
2011. Wood, Sura, “Coming soon to an art gallery near you,” Bay Area Reporter, January 13, p. 23
2011. Bowers, Keith, “The Horror, The Humor,” SF Weekly January 5, p. 18
2010. Deutsche Bank Art Works, “Art as Lifesaver 2010 California Biennial,” November, www.db-artmag.com
2010. Rabe, John, “Taravat Talepasand’s Revolution,” November 89.3 KPCC, Southern California
2010. Chang, Richard, “O.C. Museum of Art Unveils it’s New Biennial,” November, www.ocregister.com
2010. Moeini, Noushin, “Pearls on the Ocean Floor,” Javanan Magazine, June,
Issue No. 1207, p. 34
2010. Moeini, Noushin, “Taravat Talepasand’s images: Crossing Cultures in search of identity,” Javanan International Weekly Magazine, April, p. 36
2010. Razo, Jennifer, “Exquisite Corpse with Taravat Talepasand,” Beautiful/Decay, June 15,
2010. Kluth, Mary Anne, “Situation Critical,” artpractical.com February, The Painting Issue #8
2010. Eisenhart, Mary, “Don’t Miss: Situation Critical,” San Francisco Chronicle (96 Hours section), January 7, p. 13
2010. Sanaz Khalaj-Santos, "Pushing Boundaries," www.persianesque.com
2009. Huston, Johnny Ray, “Weekly Picks,” San Francisco Bay Guardian,
December 16, p. 16-17
2009. Granade, Rives, “Talepasand’s ‘Situation Critical,’” examiner.com, January
2009. Melendez, Franklin, “Behind the veil,” San Francisco Magazine, December, p. 37, 40
2009. Harouni, Shadi, “Ala Ebtekar & Taravat Talepasand: Hampah,” The Mag LA, June, p. 38
2009. Selz, Gabrielle, “Taravat Talepasand: In Her Own Image,” Art Papers,
March/April, p. 22-25
2009. Amirsadeghi, Hossein (Editor), Different Sames: New Perspectives in Contemporary Iranian Art, Trans Globe Publishing Limited, London, U.K.
2008. Zevitas, Steven T. (Editor), New American Paintings, The Open Studios Press, Boston MA; Number 79, Dec. 2008/Jan. 2009, p. 152-155
2008. Turner, Cherie Louise, “Young at Art: 15 Artists Under 35,” art ltd., May, p. 59
2008. Junker, Howard (Editor), “That Fateful, Faithful Cup of Wine” (reproduction), ZYZZYVA, Spring, Vol. XXIV No. 1, p. 54
2008. Goodin, Analisa, “Taravat Talepasand,” Alarm, Winter, p. 76-79
2007. Van Proyen, Mark, “Taravat Talepasand at Heather Marx,” Art in America,
December, p. 169
2007. Che, Julia, “Taravat Talepasand: You Liberal Iranian,” Metro.Pop, Issue 32, p. 57
2007. Zevitas, Steven T. (Editor), New American Paintings: Special Edition, The Open Studios Press, Boston MA; Number 70, July, p. 188 & back cover
2007. Weiss, Nina, “Golden Girl: Taravat Talepasand Shines on the Outside,” 7x7 Magazine, May, p. 71
2007. Ross, Michael, “Taravat Talepasand @ Heather Marx Gallery,” whitehotmagazine.com, May, WM Issue #3
2007. Nataraj, Nirmala, “Iran So Far Away,” SF Weekly (Night & Day section), May 2, p. 23
2007. Melendez, Franklin, “Taravat Talepasand: The Golden Road,” Planet, Spring Issue 15, p. 017
2006. Binshtock, Avital, “Art School Confidential,” Lifescapes, November, p. 64
2006. Turner, Cherie Louise, “‘Cream’ at Arts Benicia,” Artweek, October, p. 25
2006. Meeker, Cheryl, “SFAI MFA Graduation Exhibition,” stretcher.org, West Coast, May 27
2006. Van Proyen, Mark, Catalogue Essay, MFA Graduate Exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2005. Zevitas, Steven T. (Editor), New American Paintings, The Open Studios Press, Boston MA; New American Paintings, MFA Annual Catalogue
2003. Oregon Biennial Catalogue, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
2003. Speer, Richard, “Bi-Furious,” Willamette Week, July 2
2003. “A Question of Commitment,” The Oregonian, June 29
2003. “Oregon Biennial Sticks to Traditional Fields, Omits Web-based Work,” The Oregonian, March 12
2002. New American Painters, Pacific Coast Edition No. 43