Introduction
Sara Rahbar (born in 1976, Tehran, Iran) is a contemporary mixed media artist whose work ranges from photography to sculpture to installation and always stems from her personal experiences and is largely autobiographical. She currently lives and works in New York City.
Biography
In 1982 Rahbar and her family fled Iran during the beginning of the Iranian Revolution which has left many traumatic memories that have influenced her work.
Rahbar pursued an interdisciplinary study program in New York at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in 2000 and studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London in 2005.
The first body of work that created international recognition for the artist was the Flag Series (2005–2016), in which traditional fabrics and objects are reworked as collages that form various incarnations of the American and Iranian flag, exploring ideas of national belonging, as well as the conflicting role of flags as symbols of ideological and nationalistic violence.
Work
Collections
Rahbar's work has been widely shown internationally and is held in multiple permanent collections worldwide, including Centre Pompidou, Paris; Saatchi Gallery, London; Taiwan National Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan; Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Australia; British Museum, London; and Davis Museum, Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 2014 – Swarming, Carbon 12, Dubai
- 2012 – Restless Violence, Carbon 12, Dubai
- 2011 – I have no faith left for the devil to take, Sara Rahbar, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna
- 2010 – Whatever we had to lose we lost, and in a moonless sky we marched, Sara Rahbar, Carbon 12, Dubai
- 2009 – Contradicting Realities: Recent works by Sara Rahbar, Tyler Art Gallery at SUNY Oswego, New York
Selected Group Exhibition
2016
- 2050 A Brief History of the Future, Palazzo Reale, Milano, Italy
- 2050 A brief history of the future, The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Belgium
- A History, Art, Architecture,Design from the 80's to now, Musee National D'Art Moderne, Paris
2015
- 56th Venice Biennale, Iran Pavilion, Venice
- A History, Art, Architecture,Design from the 80's to now, Musee National D'Art Moderne, Paris
2014
- The Shade of the moon,Changwon Sculpture Biennia,Korea
- A History, Art, Architecture,Design from the 80's to now, Musee National D'Art Moderne, Paris
- Sharja Art Foundation, SAF Art Spaces, Sharja, United Arab Emerites
2013
- Aya Haidar, Huda Lutfi, Sara Rahbar, bischoff/weiss gallery, London
- Cut Teeth, The Great Jones Space, New York
- Global Warming, MannheiMer Kunstverein, Germany
- Tales of Another Identity, LARM galleri, Copenhagen
- Sharjah Biennial 11, Re:emerge Towards a New Cultural Cartography, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- Salazar, Monica (2011-11-15). "Studio Visit Sara Rahbar". Berlin Art Link. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- "Biography: Sara Rahbar". OneArt.org. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- ^ "Shows, Sara Rahbar". Artsy. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- "Sara Rahbar's I have no faith left for the devil to take at Galerie Hilger contemporary". Art Agenda. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- "'Contradicting Realities' to examine notions of identity". State University of New York at Oswego. 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- "56th Venice Biennale 2015: National Participations". Universes in Universe. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- "Group exhibition of works by Aya Haidar, Huda Lutfi, Sara Rahbar". ArabLondon. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- "Sara Rahbar - artist, news & exhibitions". PhotographyNow. Retrieved 2016-03-20.