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
Group show “Contemporary Chronicles” at Flavio Dolce Art Projects — New Orleans, LA
2023-2024
Group show "Louisiana Contemporary" at Ogden Museum of Southern Art — 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
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