Amir H Fallah (b.1979 in Tehran, Iran) based in Los Angeles, USA received his Bachlor in Fine Art / Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA and his Master’s in Fine Art Painting from the University of California, Los Angeles, USA in 2005. Fallah works across painting, installation, drawing and sculpture in order to create political works that discuss basic human values, racism, abuses of power, greed, xenophobia and climate change. Fallah’s technique deconstructs the concept of art historical portraiture by allowing objects, and not figures, to tell the narrative of the subject. Drawing inspiration from Islamic art, western graffiti, Dutch and Flemish Golden Age and others, Fallah’s approach to portraiture is a remix of elements that have appeared throughout Art History into the modern age. Much like a DJ samples music across genres, Fallah mixes imagery from a cross section of cultural and historical references. Through this, he creates maximalist and socially engaging work that explores race and identity.
Solo exhibitions include The Fallacy of Borders, Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2023); A War on Mars, Shulamit, Nazarian Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2023); A Natural Selection, Dio Horia Gallery, Athens, Greece (2022); Joy As An Act of Resistance, Denny Dimin Gallery, Hong Kong, China (2022); An Anthem for Uncertain Times, Centre of International Contemporary Art, Vancouver, BC, Canada (2022); You Can’t Teach What You Don’t Know, Dio Horia, Athens, Greece (2022); Amir H. Fallah, Lux Art Institute Encinitas, USA (2021); Symbols, Ringel Gallery, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA (2021); Better A Cruel Truth Than A Comfortable Delusion, Denny Dimin Gallery, NY, USA (2021); The Facade Project, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, USA (2020); Remember My Child..., Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, USA (2020); Scatter My Ashes On Foreign Lands, MOCA Tucson, Tucson, USA (2020); What It Means To Be An American, South Dakota Museum Of Art, Brookings, South Dakota, USA (2019); Worlds Apart, Dio Horia, Mykonos, Greece (2019); A Hybrid Heart, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel (2019); How Far We’ve Come, Denny Dimin Gallery, NYC USA (2018); A Stranger In Your Home, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, USA (2017); Unknown Voyage, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon, USA (2017); Almost Home, The Third Line, Dubai, United Arab Emirates USA (2017); Faded, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, USA (2017); Wild Frontiers, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel (2017); Embedded Memories, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2016); Corner, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, USA (2016); All Experience Is An Arch, Hap Gallery, Portland, USA (2016).
Group exhibitions include Where the Wild Roses Grow, Schloss Görne, Germany (2023); Twentysomethings, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, USA (2023); Light Play, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL, USA (2023); The Devil’s in the Details, Contemporary Art Matters, Columbus, USA (2023); 10 Years, Shulamit Nazarian Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2023); Grand Opening, Galerie Droste, Paris, France (2023); Horror Vacui, TOA Presents, Minneapolis, USA (2023); Foresight Prevents Blindness, Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Arkansas, USA (2023); It’s Not Just A Portrait, Badr El Jundi Gallery, Malaga, Spain (2022); Intervention: Fresh Perspectives After 50 Years, USC Pacific Asian Museum, Pasadena, USA (2022); Evocations · Celebrating the Museum’s Collection, Nerman Museum Of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, USA (2022); Next To You, McEvoy Foundation For The Arts,San Francisco, USA (2022); Chronicles 3, Galerie Droste, Berlin, Germany (2022); Intersecting Selves, Shulamit Nazarian Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2022); New Iconography: Artists Raising Children, The Landing, Los Angeles, USA (2022); A Boundless Drop To A Boundless Ocean, Orlando Museum Of Art, Orlando, USA (2022); Set In Motion, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, USA (2022); LA Views, Maki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2020); True Likeness, Van Every Smith Galleries, Davidson College, Davidson, USA (2020); There Is Fiction In The Space Between, The Third Line, Dubai, U.A.E (2020); We Used To Gather, Library Street Collective, Detroit, USA (2020); Khroma, El Jundi Gallery, Marbella, Spain (2020); Friends Non Show, Dio Horia, Athens, Greece (2020); Embody, Mandeville Gallery, Union college, Schenectady, USA (2019); LA Painting, Museum Of Art and History, Lancaster, USA (2019); The Project Room, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, USA (2019); Chronicles, Galerie Droste, Wuppertal, Germany (2019); Gardens, Last Projects, Los Angeles, USA (2019); 20th Anniversary Show, Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery, New York, USA (2019); Yin/Yang, 0-0 LA , Los Angeles, USA (2019); Highlight: Gramercy, The National Arts Club, New York, USA (2019); Horizon, Sharjah Museum Of art, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2018); Blessed Be: Mysticism, Spirituality and the Occult in Contemporary Art, MOCA, Tucson, Tucson, USA (2018); Curio, Brunswig Square, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Opening The Trap, Interface Gallery, Oakland, USA (2018); Art Is Where The Heart Is, Galerie Droste, Paris, France (2018); Identity Document, Gallery Bergen, Bergen Community College, Paramus, USA (2017); LA Painting: Formalism to Street Art, Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, USA (2017); Unhomely, Denny Gallery, New York, USA (2017); One Another, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, USA (2017); Human Condition, The Hospital, Los Angeles, USA (2016); Stars And Stripes, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel (2016);
Highlights and Awards
Amir H Fallah has been awarded with various prestigious prizes including 2022 San Jose Light Rail, Valley Transit Authority and the City of San Jose, San Jose, USA; the 2021 Vermont Corridor Public Sculpture Commission, LA Arts Commission, Los Angeles, USA; the 2021 Cerritos College Mural, Cerritos College, Cerritos, USA; the 2020 Artadia Award Los Angeles; the 2020 COLA Artist Fellowship; the 2019 Site-specific mural, Facebook Artist In Residence, Facebook LAX Headquarters, Los Angeles, CA 2019 Site-specific mural, 18th Street Art Center Public Art Program, Los Angeles, USA; the 2018 Site- specific mural, Pow Wow Antelope Valley, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, USA; the 2018 Northern Trust Purchase Prize, Expo Chicago, Chicago, USA; the 2018 Site- specific mural, Museum Of Contemporary Art, Tucson, USA; the 2001 Ovissi Gallery & Evolving Perceptions Iranian Artist Scholarship; the 2000–2001 Maryland Institute, College of Art / New York Studio Program; the 1998 Maryland Institute, College of Art Trustee Award and Presidents Scholarships. In 2009, the artist was chosen to participate in the 9th Sharjah Biennial. In 2015, Fallah received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. In 2019, Fallah’s painting Calling On The Past received the Northern Trust Purchase Prize at EXPO Chicago. In 2020, Fallah was awarded the COLA Individual Artist Fellowship and the Artadia grant. In addition, the artist had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, accompanied by a catalogue, and a year-long installation at the ICA San Jose. In 2023 UCLA’s Fowler Museum presented a survey spanning Fallah’s career to date.
Amir H Fallah can be found in many private and public collections including the De Young Museum, San Francisco, USA ; Los Angeles County Museum Of Art, Los Angeles, USA ; Albright Knox Art Museum, Buffalo, NY; Pitzer College Galleries, Claremont, USA; Birmingham Museum Of Art, Birmingham, USA; Deste Foundation For Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; Francisco Carolinum Linz Museum, Linz, Austria Xiao Museum Of Contemporary Art, Rizhao, China; Miguel Angel Capriles Collection, Caracas, Venezuela Museum Of Art And History, Lancaster, USA; Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College, Davidson, USA; Lonsford Collection, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA; Davis Museum, Wellesley, USA; Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami, USA; McEvoy Foundation For The Arts, San Francisco, USA; Plattsburgh State Art Museum, Plattsburgh, USA; Cerritos College Public Art Collection, Norwalk, USA; Smart Museum Of Art, Chicago, USA; The Microsoft Art Collection, Redmond, USA; Nerman Museum Of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, USA; Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, UAE.