Samira Yamin’s multi-disciplinary practice takes the form of a critique of the way in which images are used to narrate what she terms “a nebulous middle-east” as a place of perceived conflict. Yamin’s paper and photographic works take on western visual culture–specifically news media representations of the Middle Eastern socio-political landscape for U.S and Anglo European consumption. Holding space within the spillage between actual historical occurrences and the interpretation of such within news media, Yamin considers how the published image counters on context, and the role of the image within political and personal narrative.

CURRICULUM VITAE
Born 1983, Evanston, IL
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA

EDUCATION
2011 M.F.A., Studio Art, University of California, Irvine
2006 B.A., Studio Art, University of California, Los Angeles; B.A., Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2023
Memory Formations, Penumbra Foundation, New York, NY

2021
All the Skies Over Syria, PATRON Gallery, Chicago, IL

2020
To View a Plastic Flower: Passing Obliquely from One Medium Into Another, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2018
Passing Obliquely From One Medium Into Another, PATRON Gallery, Chicago, IL

2014
Displacements: The Craft Practices of Golnar Adili and Samira Yamin, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA

2013
We Will Not Fail, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA

2011
Geometries, University Art Gallery, UCI, Irvine, CA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Day Pages, Chen Gallery, Claremont, CA
Errata, PATRON, Chicago, IL

2023
Work, Ladies Room, Los Angeles, CA, 

2021
the body is a blade (that sharpens by cutting),Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

2020
Yesterday’s Tomorrow: Selections from the Rose Collection, 1933–2018, The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

2019
Made in Asian America, Art Salon Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA

2018
Names Printed in Black, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
Mis (Missing) Information, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) 2018, Skylight Clarkson Square, New York, NY

2017
Static, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
In Accuracy, UnSmoke Systems Artspace, Braddock, PA
ELEMENTAL | Marking Time, Sturt Haaga Gallery at Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA
We: Visual Reflections of the American Experiment, Darling Library, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA
Focus Group, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Paratextual, Samuel Freeman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Mashrabiya: The Art of Looking Back, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Presence: Reflections on the Middle East, Metropolitan State University of Denver Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO

2016
Anthony Lepore | Samira Yamin, Chan Gallery, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
Aftermath: Resonance of War, Displacement and Loss, SAC Arts at the Santora Building, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA
9/11: 15 Years, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA

2015
The Promise of Something and Nothing, Sonce Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2014
Attunement, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
Object Object!!, Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
The Cartographer, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
I see in the sea nothing except the sea… Camera Club of New York, New York, NY
Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Machine Project, Los Angeles, CA

2013
MENA/Viceroy, Levantine Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
BiennaleOnline, Global Grid Curated By Jan Hoet, biennaleonline.com
The Violent Bear it Away, Biola University Art Gallery, Biola University, La Mirada, CA

2012
Meticulosity, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College, Los Angeles, CA

2011
Vertigo, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
Nothing Comes From Nothing, Las Cienegas Projects, Los Angeles, CA
MFA 2011 Thesis Exhibition: Geometries, University Art Gallery, UCI, Irvine, CA

2010
Ground Control, University Art Gallery, UCI, Irvine, CA

2007
18th Annual Iranian Women’s Studies Foundation Conference Exhibition, University of Maryland, MD
transform/nation, Ellipse Art Center, Washington D.C.

2006
Does Religion Kill?, 18th Street Arts Complex, Santa Monica, CA
Stomping Ground: Young Women of Color Explore Homeland, Lucy Florence Cultural Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA
Boroughs of Los Angeles, William Grant Still Center, Los Angeles, CA
Kinross High, New White Gallery, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

BIBLIOGRAPHY
2021
Zoldan, Sharón, “Shares her Art Basel in Miami Beach Finds,” Whitewall, review

2020
Rodriguez, Jasmine, ‘LAMAG: To View A Plastic Flower,” Flaunt, review

2018
Davis, Genie, “LACE Emerging Curators Program: Names Printed in Black,” Art and Cake, review

2017
Seikaly, Roula, “At SFSU, Looking and Truly Seeing the Middle East Through Art,” KQED Arts, review
Curiel, Jonathan, “Windows on the World,” SFWeekly, review
Paglia, Michael, “Presence: Reflections on the Middle East Takes You Over There,” westword.com, review
Jenkins, Rupert, “At CVA: Beyond the news bubble, a personal kind of Mid East politics,” OneGoodEyeOnline.com, review
Froyd, Susan, “Presence: Reflections on the Middle East Blends Beauty and Culture Shock at CVA,” Westword.com, review
Vaccerelli, Joe, “Timliness, art collide at Metro State exhibit about the Middle East,” Denver Post, review
Smarr, Mady, “Photo Exhibit Explores Middle East Culture,” The Metropolitan, review

2015
Harezlak, Ann, The Promise of Something and Nothing, exhibition catalog
O’Brien, Heather, i see in the sea nothing except the sea. i don’t see a shore. i don’t see a dove, exhibition publication
Axelsson, Sophie, “A Heart-felt Interview About Art and Politics,” Journal 282

2014
“Scotoma,” Mockingbird Magazine, Issue 3
“Scotoma,” Secret Behavior Magazine Issue 02
Zappas, Lindsay Preston,“Sacred Geometry,” LA Canvas Magazine, editorial
“Samira Yamin,” B|Ta’arof Magazine, Issue 3, contributor
Ahn, Abe, “Meditations in Longing,” Hyperallergic.com, review
Senn, Evan, “Samira Yamin and The Craft of Consciousness,” KCET ArtBound, editorial

2013
Rau, Jeff, The Violent Bear it Away: 12 Artists Consider Violence, exhibition catalog
Sykes, Stephanie, “Samira Yamin: We Will Not Fail,” Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia, review
“Highlights From Canvas Guide: Santa Monica,” Canvas Magazine, review
“Samira Yamin: We Will Not Fail,” The Week Magazine, review
Winant, Carmen, Artforum Critic’s Pick: Los Angeles, ArtForum.com, review
Knight, Christopher, “We Will Not Fail’ Meticulously Upends Mass Media Imagery,” Los Angeles Times, review

2012
Grattan, Nikki and Klea McKenna “Samira Yamin,” inthemake.com
Meticulosity, Otis College of Art and Design, exhibition catalog
Ollman, Leah, “’Meticulosity’ Aims to Reconnect the Conceptual, Visual,” Los Angeles Times, review
Brown, Betty Ann, “‘Meticulosity’ at Otis College of Art and Design,” Art Ltd., review

2011
Carson, Juli, “What Remains,” Nothing Comes From Nothing exhibition catalog essay

2010
Aranda, Rebecca, “Ground Control,” The New University, review
Bahrampour, Tara, “Iranian Artists Bridge Cultures,” The Washington Post, review
Anderson, John James, “Transform/Nation: Ellipse Arts Center,” DCist, review
Sloan, Willona, “Iranian Art Exhibit Aims to Defy Stereotypes,” Northern Virginia Magazine, review
“The Art of Resistance: Palestinian Public Art,” Clamor Magazine, Toledo, OH, contributor

PUBLIC TALKS/ INTERVIEWS
2019
Artist in Residence Presentation, Penumbra Foundation, New York, NY
Visiting Artist Lecture, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

2018
Conversation with Yasmine Diaz, Women’s Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles, CA
Memory + Erasure, exhibiting artists panel, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhbitions, Los Angeles, CA

2017
Conversation with Umar Rashid, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Visiting Artist Lecture, Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA
Visiting Artist Lecture, Loyola College, Chicago, IL
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of California, Irvine, CA
“Breaking News: Arpad Kovasc and Rebecca Morse in Coversation with Carter Mull and Samira Yamin,” Photo LA, Los Angeles, CA, panelist

2016
Visiting Artist Lecture, California State University Fullerton, CA
Conversation with Gina Osterloh, The People Radio, Los Angeles, CA
Artist Talk, Analog Dissident, Los Angeles, CA
Thrive on Live with Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani, HuffPostLive
Visiting Artist Lecture, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Exhibiting Artist Panel Discussion, Camera Club Of New York, NY, panelist
Politicized Aesthetics in the Work of Contemporary Iranian Artists, Iranian Studies Conference, SJSU, San Jose, CA, panelist
Artist talk, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
SWANA Collective with Sejal Patel, KPFK, radio interview

2013
Artist Talk, Biola University, La Mirada, CA
“Pattern and Perception: Peter Shire, Samira Yamin and the Work of Miriam Wosk,” Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA, panelist

2012
Artist Talk, Headlands Center for the Arts
“Intervening on War Photography as a Means of Interrogating the Historical Document,” Middle East Studies Conference, CSUF, Fresno, CA, panelist
Radio Intifada, KPFK, Studio City, CA, radio interview

2009
Social Activism and the Post Revolution Iranian Diaspora: Engaging the Global Landscape (Part II), CSU East Bay Conference on Afghan and Iranian Diaspora, CSUEB, Hayward, CA, panelist

2006
Uprising with Sonali Kolhatkar, KPFK, Studio City, CA, radio interview

RESIDENCIES
2019
Penumbra Foundation Work Space Program | United States

2017
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Alumni Residency | Captiva, FL

2015
Djerassi Resident Artists Program | Woodside, CA

2014
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation | Captiva, FL

2012
Headlands Center for the Arts | Sausalito, CA

AWARDS
2017- California Community Foundation | Visual Artist Fellowship
2016 - Joan Mitchell Foundation | Painters and Sculptors Grant

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Rose Art Musuem, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Lens Acquisition, LACMA, Los Angeles, CA