Ala Ebtekar

Ebtekar’s recent investigations have created liminal experiences to longer notions of scientific duration beyond human timelines, and explore the phenomenology of light. These projects bring forth sculptural and photographic possibilities of the universe gazing back through endless collapses of time and physical reworking of centuries old processes of image making. Ebtekar’s practice extends how our contemporary moments both live together as minuscule and paramount.

He has been awarded residencies at ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe in Germany, Cité internationale des arts in Paris, Sazmanab in Tehran, Iran, the San Francisco Center for the Book, and 18th Street Art Center in Los Angeles through the VIsions from the New California Award, a project of the Alliance of Artist Communities in partnership with the James Irvine Foundation.

The Huffington Post featured and mentioned Ala Ebtekar as one of the "17 Visual Artists You Should Know in 2016".

Significant group exhibitions include "The 2006 California Biennial" at the Orange County Museum of Art (Newport Beach, CA); travelling exhibition "One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” (2006–2008), curated by Melissa Chiu, Director and Curator of Contemporary Asian Art at the Asia Society Museum, Karin Higa, Senior Curator of Art at the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, and Susette S. Min, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies and Art History at the University of California, Davis and exhibited at Asia Society and Museum (New York, NY), Blaffer Gallery at University of Houston (Houston, TX), Berkeley Art Museum (Berkeley, CA), Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA), and Honolulu Academy of Arts (Honolulu, HI); "Bay Area Now 5" (2008) at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA), organized by Kate Eilertsen, Acting Director of Visual Arts and Berin Golonu, Associate Visual Arts Curator; and "The Global Contemporary. Art Worlds after 1989" (2011) at Museum of Contemporary Art (Karlsruhe, Germany), curated by Andrea Buddensieg and Peter Weibel. In May 2005, Ebtekar had a two-person exhibition at Lisa Dent Gallery in San Francisco with artist Jeong-Im Yi.

Ebtekar's work has been included in over 70 group exhibitions, 5 two-person exhibitions, and 12 solo exhibitions. Significant solo exhibitions include "Elemental" (2004) at Intersection for the Arts (San Francisco, CA); "Ala Ebtekar" (2007) at Gallery Paule Anglim (San Francisco, CA); "1388" (2009) at The Third Line (Dubai, United Arab Emirates); "Indelible Whispers of the Sun" (2010) at Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); "Elsewhen" (2012) at The Third Line (Dubai, United Arab Emirates); and "Absent Arrival" (2012) at Gallery Paule Anglim (San Francisco, CA).

Following studying traditional painting in Iran with Mohammad Farahani, Ebtekar went on to pursue a formal education in fine arts. In 2002, he received his B.F.A. degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, followed by an M.F.A from Stanford University in 2006. He served as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Art Practice at the University of California at Berkeley from 2007 to 2008, and has served as visiting faculty in the Department of Art and Art History at Stanford University since 2009.

He started drawing at an early age, and by his adolescent years he began to focus his energies on music. In 1992, at age 13, he went through DJ training at KALX 90.7 FM, the radio station of the University of California at Berkeley. This experience with music eventually led Ebtekar to the world of graffiti and ultimately back to an interest in visual art. In 1998 he was chosen to participate in a workshop at Zeum Art and Technology Center (now Children's Creativity Museum) with New York–based artist Tim Rollins and K.O.S. (Kids of Survival) to create work for the center's inaugural exhibition. Ebtekar, along with several other young artists from the San Francisco Bay Area, came to form the core unit for a short lived West Coast chapter of KOS. One year later, Ebtekar traveled to Tehran, Iran to visit extended family which led him to return several months later to study art.

Ala Ebtekar (born 1978) is a contemporary artist who works between his native San Francisco Bay Area and Tehran, Iran. Ebtekar is known primarily for his work in painting, drawing, illumination, and installation that explores the juncture between history and myth, forging a multi-faceted project.