{{short description|Iranian-born American artist (born 1976)}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Sara Rahbar <!-- include middle initial, if not specified in birth_name --> | honorific_suffix = | image = Sara Rahbar 2019.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1976}} | birth_place = Tehran, Imperial State of Iran | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | nationality = | education = {{ubl|Fashion Institute of Technology|Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design}} | alma_mater = | known_for = Mixed media art | notable_works = The Flag Series (2005–2019) | style = assemblage | movement = | spouse = | awards = <!-- {{awd|award|year|title|role|name}} (optional) --> | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = {{URL|http://www.sararahbar.com}} | module = | native_name = سارا رهبر | native_name_lang = farsi }}
'''Sara Rahbar''' (born 1976) is an Iranian-born contemporary visual artist. Her work ranges from photography to sculpture to installation, all of which reveal and transform the artist's personal experiences and are intimately autobiographical. Her work explores concepts of nationalism, separation and belonging - driven by central ideas of pain, violence and the complexity of the human condition. Compelled by an instinctual obsession to piece together and dissect, her approach is reflective of her need to deconstruct her emotions and memories. She is based in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Art Pieces by Sara Rahbar: On Tolerance |url=http://www.payvand.com/news/08/mar/1299.html |access-date=2020-01-04 |website=Payvand.com |archive-date=2020-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115125828/http://www.payvand.com/news/08/mar/1299.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Biography == Rahbar was born in 1976 in Tehran, Iran.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dallascontemporary.org/sara-rahbar-carry-me-home.html|title=Past Exhibitions - Sara Rahbar: Carry Me Home|last=|first=|date=2018|website=Dallas Contemporary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102061452/http://www.dallascontemporary.org/sara-rahbar-carry-me-home.html|archive-date=2020-01-02|access-date=2020-01-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1982, Rahbar and her family left Iran in the beginning of the Iranian Revolution and the early stages of the Iran-Iraq War,<ref name="ArtAsiaPacific">{{Cite web|url=http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/71/PersonalHistorySaraRahbar|title=Personal History Sara Rahbar|website=ArtAsiaPacific|access-date=2016-03-20|quote=true story of Sara Rahbar, her father, mother and baby brother as they fled Iran in 1982. In the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and during the early stages of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), Rahbar’s parents decided to escape.|archive-date=2016-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327170414/http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/71/PersonalHistorySaraRahbar|url-status=dead}}</ref> These experiences left many traumatic memories that have influenced her work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-lifestyle/art/sara-rahbars-latest-works-delve-into-the-hard-facts-of-life-and-love|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503124521/http://www.thenational.ae/arts-lifestyle/art/sara-rahbars-latest-works-delve-into-the-hard-facts-of-life-and-love|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 3, 2015|title=Sara Rahbar's latest works delve into the hard facts of life and love|website=The National|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guernicamag.com/features/baker_6_15_10/|title=Fighting Flags|last=Baker|first=Tamzin|date=2010-06-15|website=Guernica Magazine of Art & Politics|language=en-US|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref>
Rahbar studied at Fashion Institute of Technology<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/71/PersonalHistorySaraRahbar|title=ArtAsiaPacific: Personal History Sara Rahbar|last=Albertz|first=Thorsten|date=2010-11-01|website=artasiapacific.com|access-date=2017-06-20|quote="Rahbar studied design at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and in 2004 she continued her studies at London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London."|archive-date=2016-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327170414/http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/71/PersonalHistorySaraRahbar|url-status=dead}}</ref> from 1996 until 2000<ref name=":2" /> and in 2004 she continued her education at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.<ref name="ArtAsiaPacific" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/sara-rahbar/biography|title=Sara Rahbar Biography|website=ArtNet.com|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref>
The first body of work that created international recognition for the artist was the Flag Series (2005–2019), 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/iranian-artist-sara-rahbar-featured-at-dubais-carbon-12-gallery|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130114172539/http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/iranian-artist-sara-rahbar-featured-at-dubais-carbon-12-gallery|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 14, 2013|title=Iranian artist Sara Rahbar featured at Dubai's Carbon 12 gallery|website=The National|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-11-09 |title=Piecing America Together |url=http://hyperallergic.com/59971/sarah-rahbar-flags/ |access-date=2016-03-20 |website=Hyperallergic |language=en-US}}</ref>
Rahbar's work is in various public museum collections including the Centre Pompidou,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collection.centrepompidou.fr/#/artwork/150000000061052?filters=authors%3ARAHBAR%20Sara%E2%86%B9RAHBAR%20Sara&page=1&layout=grid&sort=by_author|title=Musée national d'art moderne – Centre Pompidou|date=2020-02-25}}</ref> the British Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?people=204771&peoA=204771-2-46|title=Collection Online: Sara Rahbar|last=|first=|date=|website=British Museum|access-date=2020-03-07}}</ref> and at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.berlinartlink.com/2011/11/15/new-sara-rahbar/|title=Studio Visit Sara Rahbar|last=Salazar|first=Monica|date=2011-11-15|website=Berlin Art Link|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref><ref name="OneArt.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oneart.org/biographies/artist/sara-rahbar|title=Biography: Sara Rahbar|website=OneArt.org|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref> among others.
Rahbar was a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship in 2025.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/joan-mitchell-foundation-announce-2025-fellowships-1234733705/|date=August 13, 2025|title= Joan Mitchell Foundation Announces 2025 Fellowships |work=Art Forum}}</ref>
==Solo exhibitions== *2020 – ''The space between us'', Carbon 12, Dubai, United Arab Emirates *2019 – Nada House, Governors Island, New York, United States *2018 – ''Carry me home'', Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, Texas, United States<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://glasstire.com/events/2018/04/02/sara-rahbar-carry-me-home/|title=Sara Rahbar: Carry me home|date=2018-04-02|website=Glasstire|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-18}}</ref> *2017 – ''Salvation,'' Carbon 12, Dubai, United Arab Emirates<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://gulfnews.com/culture/arts/feeling-the-anguish-of-the-common-man-1.2018049|title=Feeling the anguish of the common man|last=Kalsi|first=Jyoti|date=2017-04-27|work=GulfNews|access-date=2017-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/art/exhibitions/what-to-see-this-weekend-in-dubai|title=What To See This Weekend In Dubai|work=Harper's BAZAAR Arabia|access-date=2017-06-20|language=en}}</ref> *2014 – ''Swarming'', Carbon 12, Dubai, United Arab Emirates<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/artist/sara-rahbar/shows|title=Shows, Sara Rahbar|website=Artsy|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref> *2012 – ''Restless Violence'', Carbon 12, Dubai, United Arab Emirates<ref name=":1" /> *2011 – ''I have no faith left for the devil to take, Sara Rahbar'', Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, Austria<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.art-agenda.com/shows/sara-rahbar%25E2%2580%2599s-i-have-no-faith-left-for-the-devil-to-take-at-galerie-hilger-contemporary/|title=Sara Rahbar's I have no faith left for the devil to take at Galerie Hilger contemporary|website=Art Agenda|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref> *2010 – ''Whatever we had to lose we lost, and in a moonless sky we marched, Sara Rahbar'', Carbon 12, Dubai, United Arab Emirates<ref name="OneArt.org" /> *2009 – ''Contradicting Realities: Recent works by Sara Rahbar'', Tyler Art Gallery at SUNY Oswego, New York, United States<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oswego.edu/news/index.php/site/news_story/exploring_realities|title='Contradicting Realities' to examine notions of identity|last=|first=|date=2009-01-14|website=State University of New York at Oswego|publisher=|access-date=2016-03-20|archive-date=2016-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401100525/http://www.oswego.edu/news/index.php/site/news_story/exploring_realities|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Group exhibitions==
*2016 – ''2050 A Brief History of the Future'', Palazzo Reale, Milano, Italy<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://myartguides.com/exhibitions/2050-a-brief-history-of-the-future/|title=2050. A Brief History of the Future {{!}} My Art Guides|website=myartguides.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-21}}</ref> The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Belgium and the National Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.moc.gov.tw/en/information_197_81849.html |title = Ministry of Culture-Taiwan Exhibitions| date=9 May 2018 }}</ref> *2015 – 56th Venice Biennale, Iran Pavilion, Venice, Italy<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/bien/venice_biennale/2015/pavilions|title=56th Venice Biennale 2015: National Participations|last=|first=|website=Universes in Universe|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref> *2014 – ''The Shade of the Moon'', Changwon Sculpture Biennial, Korea<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://antennakyoto.com/|title=Antenna公式ウェブサイト|date=2014-10-06|website=Antenna|language=Japanese|access-date=2017-06-21}}</ref> *2013 – ''Aya Haidar, Huda Lutfi, Sara Rahbar'', bischoff/weiss gallery, London, England<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arablondon.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/group-exhibition-of-works-by-aya-haidar-huda-lutfi-sara-rahbar/|title=Group exhibition of works by Aya Haidar, Huda Lutfi, Sara Rahbar|website=ArabLondon|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref> *2013 – ''Sharjah Biennial 11, Re:emerge Towards a New Cultural Cartography'', Sharjah, United Arab Emirates<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.photography-now.com/artist/sara-rahbar|title=Sara Rahbar - artist, news & exhibitions|website=PhotographyNow|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.sararahbar.com/ Official website] * Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPTVGUQ64QY Sara Rahbar's BBC Interview (in English)] from 2014
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahbar, Sara}} Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Iranian artists Category:21st-century Iranian women artists Category:Alumni of Central Saint Martins Category:American artists of Iranian descent Category:American contemporary artists Category:American sculptors Category:Artists from Tehran Category:Artists from New York City Category:Assemblage artists Category:Fashion Institute of Technology alumni Category:Iranian emigrants to the United States Category:Iranian contemporary artists Category:Iranian sculptors