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Sara Madandar is an Iranian multi-disciplinary artist and educator based in New Orleans. She received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and her BA in painting from Azad University of Art and Architecture in Tehran. Through a range of media such as painting, video, installation, and performance, Madandar explores migration and the human experience of living between cultures, using the aesthetics of language, architecture, clothing, and bodies to study the complexities of cross-cultural experiences. Most recently, she was in residency at Joan Mitchell Center and Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI). Sara is also a co-founder of the Parlour Gallery and Camp Street Studios, an artist-run space in the heart of New Orleans' downtown art district.  Some of her accolades include an award from the Texas Visual Artists Association (TVAA) and an award from the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) for work presented in an exhibition curated by Jessica Beck of the Andy Warhol Museum. Sara’s work has been featured at New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans Contemporary Art Center, Austin City Hall, Elisabeth Ney Museum, Elga Wimmer PCC (NYC), and many others. 

BIO

2011 - 2014

Master in Fine Arts | The University of Texas at Austin
Studio Art specializing in painting, with a secondary focus on Performance and Video Art

2004 - 2009

Bachelor of Arts | Azad University of Tehran, Iran
Specialization in painting

EDUCATION

2024

Impact: Figurative Group Show” group show, New Orleans —  LA

2024

Solo show“Through the Window”, The Parlour Gallery, New Orleans —  LA

2024

Curating “The Birds Shall Return”, curator, Art Conscious  — New Orleans, LA

2023

Group show "Echoes and Shadows" at The Parlour gallery — New Orleans, LA

2023

Group show ““Faculty Exhibition”  at New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts — New Orleans, LA

2023

Group show “Anonymous Iran” at Culture Lab LIC — New York, NY

2023

Solo show "Let Us Believe in The Beginning of The Cold Season” at New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts — New Orleans, LA

2023

Group show “Shadow and Echoes” at Parlour Gallery — New Orleans, LA

2023

Group show "Faculty Exhibition" at New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts — New Orleans, LA

2023

Group show “Peep Into” at Parlour Gallery  — New Orleans, LA

2022

Group show “Revolution” at Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI) gallery —  Santa Fe, NM

2022

Group show  “Summer Reading” at  Caroll gallery— New Orleans, LA

2022

Group show “24 HOURS OF WONDER” at Eisenwunderwelt gallery — Berlin, Germany

2022

Solo show “My Body Is My Home” at The Southeastern Louisiana University Contemporary Art gallery — Hammond, LA

2022

Group show “Artists Respond: Post-Roe Louisiana” at Tulane University Caroll Gallery — New Orleans, LA

2021

Group show “Imbolc” at The Front gallery — New Orleans, LA

2021

Solo show“Let Us Believe In…” at The Front Gallery — New Orleans, LA

2021

Group show “Nothing Toulouse” at The Front gallery — New Orleans, LA

2021

Virtual group show at 13Project Exhibition.

2021

Solo show “Let Us Believe In…” at The Front gallery — New Orleans, LA

2020-2021

Group show ““14th Annual Louisiana Fine Art Showcase” at Southeastern Louisiana University Contemporary Art Gallery — Hammond, LA

2020

Group show “Form, Line, Shape and Space” at Todd Art Gallery (MTSU) — Murfreesboro, TN

2020

Group show “Emotional Numbness: The impact of war on the human psyche and ecosystems” at Platform Gallery — Tehran, IRAN

2019

Solo show “A Land with no Name” at Co-Lab Project Gallery — Austin, TX

2019

Solo show “Pink Dreams in A Land with no Name” at Elga Wimmer Gallery — New York, NY

2019

Group show “And Another Thing…” at Barrister’s Gallery — New Orleans, LA

2019

Solo show “In Memory of Aziz” at Aquarium Gallery — New Orleans, LA

2018-2019

Public art project, 3D installation “The Dwelling” at 20th Annual Art on the Streets — Colorado Springs, CO

2018-2019

Group show “Ear to the Ground” at New Orleans Museum of Art — New Orleans, LA

2018

Group show “B4 Peace” at The New Orleans Arts Center — New Orleans, LA

2018

Solo show “My Body Is My Home” at ArtEgg Studios— New Orleans, LA

2018

Group show ““Peace” at New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts— New Orleans, LA

2017

Group show “Eleventh Annual Louisiana Fine Art Showcase” at Southeastern Louisiana University Contemporary Art Gallery — Hammond, LA

2017

Group show “Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series” at LeMieux Gallery — New Orleans, LA

2017

Group show ““Ephemera Obscura” at Contemporary Art Center — New Orleans, LA

2017

Group show “6th Annual Juried International Exhibition of Contemporary Islamic Art” at Irving Arts Center — Irving, TX

2017

Group show “Selfies & Self-Portraits: 21st C Artists See Themselves” at Viridian Artists Inc — New York, NY

GALLERY SHOWS

2022

Participatory performance “My Body Is My Home” at The Southeastern Louisiana University Contemporary Art gallery — Hammond, LA

2018

Participatory performance “My Body Is My Home” at SFAI gallery — Santa Fe, NM

2018

Participatory performance “My Body Is My Home” at ArtEgg Studios — New Orleans, LA

2014

Stage performance “Being/With Others” at the Theater Lab — Austin, TX

2013

Street performance “Behind the Black Veil” — Austin, TX

2013

Collaboration in the public performance “Beauty” by Wura-Natasha Ogunji — Austin, TX

2012

Public-Participatory performance “The Void” — Austin, TX

PERFORMANCE ART

2023

“Aliens”, Society for Science, Literature and Art Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ

2022

Visiting artist "Women's work", Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC /MCCCD) — Chandler, AZ

2022

Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University — Grand Rapids, MI

2022

Artist talk "My Body Is My Home" The Southeastern Louisiana University — Hammond, LA

2021

Visiting artist "Window", California Institute of The Arts — Valencia, CA

2020

Artist talk part of Photo Nola Festival "Let Us Believe In..."— New Orleans, LA

2020

Visit/lecture at Columbus State University — Columbus, GA

2020

Visit/lecture at The University of Texas at Austin — Austin, TX

2019

Artist talk at New Orleans Museum of Art — New Orleans, LA

2018

10th Annual Peace Conference “Feminity and Creativity” at Loyola University— New Orleans, LA

2018

Part of ArtEgg Studio’s Lecture Series “My Body Is My Home” — New Orleans, LA 

2018

The 32nd Annual Conference of Society for Science, Literature and Art (SLSA) “Out of Mind” — Toronto, Canada

2017

Society for Science, Literature and Art (SLSA) Annual Conference “Space, Time, and Body in Modern and Contemporary Art” — phoenix, AZ

SELECTED CONFERENCE

& ARTIST TALK

2023

New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund — New Orleans, LA

2023

Saatchi Art's  23 Artists selection to Watch in 2023 campaign

2023

Workshop Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought and Amistad Research Center — New Orleans, LA

2022

Puffin Foundation grant — Teaneck, NJ

2022

Co-founder of Camp Street Studios and Parlour gallery — New Orleans, LA

2021

PHF (Persian Heritage Foundation) grant regarding Ardeshir Mohassess exhibition — New Orleans, LA

2017-2018

Residency at Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI)”Equal Justice” — Santa Fe, NM

2017

Cultures Alive grant for The Dwelling project— Austin, TX

2016

TVAA (Texas visual arts association), second place, Curated by Andrea Karnes the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth — Dallas, TX

2015

SECAC member show, second place, curated by Jessica Beck of the Andy Warhol museum — Pittsburgh, PA

2013-2014

Marshal F. Wells Fellowship and Scholarship Endowment — Austin, TX

2013

Quaid-E-Azam Scholarship at the University of Texas at Austin —Austin, TX

2013

Residency at Vermont Studio Center — Johnson, VT

2012-2013

Marshal F. Wells Fellowship and Scholarship Endowment — Austin, TX

2011

William and Betty Newlin Presidential Exhibition — Austin, TX

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS

& RESIDENCIES

2023

Video installation “Prayer Cloak” at The Parlour gallery — Hammond, LA

2022

Video installation “Obscene Bodies” at The Southeastern Louisiana University Contemporary Art gallery — Hammond, LA

2017

Video installation “My Body is My Home” at Brooklyn Studio for Dance — Brooklyn, NY

2016

Video installation “The Sidewalk” at Asian American Resource Center (AARC) — Austin, TX

2015

“30 Seconds” at MOM gallery- Austin, TX

2014

Video installation “Obscene Bodies” at Visual Arts Center — Austin, TX

2014

“The Prayer” at Co-Lab Project gallery — Austin, TX

2013

Video installation “The Sidewalk” at Co-Lab Project gallery — Austin, TX

2013

“Counting the Moments” at Fine Arts department, UT — Austin, TX

VIDEO ART

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