Pantea Karimi About the Artist

Pantea Karimi lives and works in San Jose, CA. She earned her MFA in printmaking and painting from San Jose State University in 2009. She also holds a Diploma in printmaking from Hastings College of Arts and Technology in England and an MFA in graphic design from Art University in Tehran, Iran. Karimi's works have been exhibited in various venues in Iran, England, and America and her fine art and graphic works have been featured in several publications in Iran, Italy, England and America. She is the recipient of the 2010 Distinguished Artist Award by the City of Cupertino Fine Arts Commission, and the 2011 1st ACT Silicon Valley’s Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) fellowship in San Jose, CA.

Karimi has been also teaching art and design courses and writing lesson plans for both youths and adults for the past eighteen years. Karimi taught private art classes and worked for several graphic companies in Iran, and while residing in England, 2001-2005, she taught fine arts and computer graphics programs to Hastings’ youth community for Education Action Zone (EAZ), a K-12 educational innovation and technology information based organization. In America, she taught courses at San Jose State University as both Teaching Associate and Teaching Assistant between 2007 and 2010. In spring 2011 she was the Leading Teaching Artist at Nimitz Elementary School for a collaborative installation project, We Are Socially Networked, installed at the Euphrat Museum of Art in Cupertino, which the project invited the youth to look at the intersection of art, technology and life in Silicon Valley. She was Co-Lead of Curriculum Development; part of a team designing a student collaborative design project and writing lesson plans, Slot Shelters, partnering with Zero 1 Biennial, in San Jose, CA, between May and Sep 2011.

Presently, Karimi teaches visual art classes and silkscreen techniques at the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) in Mountain View, for the Euphrat Museum of Art at De Anza College in Cupertino and at the TechShop in San Jose, CA.

My early career was formed by studying Persian calligraphy and the layout and content of early twentieth century Iranian published media, which were often saturated with the juxtaposition of Western themes and Iranian subjects. As a result, my work is informed by how contemporary social and political issues and messages are captured and delivered to the world at large through text and image. Narratives in my scenes are not restricted by geographical boundaries or time constraints but rather offer a culmination of past and present occurrences. Social and political events and contemporary technology advances have symbiotic relationships. The Iran’s 2009 “Green Revolution” whose images and video-clips were promptly uploaded and circulated via social-media outlets inspired a new ongoing body of work and my exploration into the world of digital gadgets, communication technologies, social networking applications and their impact on our behavior, and physical environments. I take photographs of sites, buildings, and people that I visit. For each series of work, using computer graphics programs, I appropriate and manipulate my own images to create a new locale, to suggest a new relationship and to develop narratives, where protagonists float in volatile environments with a sense of wonder, curiosity and bewilderment. My pieces also include invented calligraphic forms that are derived from Persian scripts; all recognizable, but not legible and in some works, these illegible texts are accompanied by iconic media images, symbols and made-up characters.

My art process and content directly speak to my life experience both as an immigrant and artist; scenes in my works visualize concepts from global to local, and I include current and relevant events, while preserving a connection to the past through rendering layered imageries. My aim is to be evocative and I invite viewers to explore, and to re-think intersections, and contradictions, where events overlap and disperse at the same time.

Education:
2011 1st ACT Silicon Valley’s Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative Fellowship: Organizational skills and knowledge, participation in
community-wide forums, initiatives and task forces.
2009 Masters of Fine Arts: Printmaking and Painting, with honors
San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2004 BTEC National Diploma in Art and Design: Printmaking, Painting and Glass, with distinction
Hastings College of Arts and Technology, Hastings, UK
1999 Masters of Design: Graphic Design
Art University, Tehran, Iran
1996 Bachelor of Design: Graphic Design
Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran

Solo Exhibitions:
2010 Mediated Senses, Mohr Gallery, Finn Center, Mountain View, CA

2012
DYAD, Art Ark Gallery, San Jose, CA, Feb 2012
A Bridge Beyond Borders (Innovations in Contemporary Printmaking), Galeria Ajolote, Guadalajara, Mexico-Jan 2012
A Bridge Beyond Borders (Innovations in Contemporary Printmaking), Monterey Peninsula Art Gallery and Cabrillo Gallery, Monterey-Aptos, CA- Fall 2012
directly indirect, Kriewall-Haehl Gallery, Portola Valley, CA, Jan 2012

2011
Land Art, installation on the farm's land, Willowside Ranch, Psecadero, CA
Summer in the City, Branch Gallery, Oakland, CA
Secret Closet, print installation in the gallery's wall closet space, ArtPad SF, Phoenix Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Spring Group Show, Artik Art and Architecture Gallery, San Jose, CA
Fiesta Night Gala, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Night Market, Artist Reading Room, West Oakland, CA
The Collector’s Room, Togonon Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Small and High Quality, Art Ark, San Jose, CA
Visual Territory, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS
Works on Paper, Community School of Music and Arts Gala Art Auction, Menlo Park, CA

2010
Illusion, Climate Theater Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Mid-Spring Evening Gala,Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Monotype Marathon 2010, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), San Jose, CA
Works on Paper, Community School of Music and Arts Gala Art Auction, Menlo Park, CA

2009 Traces of Being, Morono Kiang Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Warhol Now and Then, Wilsey Court, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Lift Off, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), San Jose, CA
Unseen Unsaid, Climate Theater, San Francisco, CA
Works on Paper, Community School of Music and Arts Gala Art Auction, Menlo Park, CA

2008
Local Color, Art Ark Center, San Jose, CA
Works on Paper, Community School of Music and Arts Gala Art Auction, Menlo Park, CA
Works on Paper, Orchard Commercial ART Space, San Jose, CA
Winter Art Exhibition, Sobrato Center, Milpitas, CA
Works/San Jose's Art Auction,Works, San Jose, CA

2007 Iranian Alliances Across Borders, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, VA
SJSU Art Exhibit, Art Ark Center, San Jose, CA

2006 San Francisco Open Studios, Gate House, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Art Show, SomArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2001-2003 Visual Art Exhibition, Pier Gallery, Hastings, UK
Challenge the Nail, Salon Des Arts, London, UK
Summer Art Exhibition, New Riviera Gallery, Hastings, UK
Fourteen Annual Conference of the Iranian Women’s Studies Foundation,
The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK
Spring Art Exhibition, New Riviera Gallery, Hastings, UK
Human Rain, Lauderdale House, London, UK
Challenge the Nail, Salon Des Arts, London, UK
Visual Art Exhibition, Conquest Hospital Gallery, Hastings, UK

1994-1999, Tehran, Iran
Forms and Shadows, Xorshid Gallery
Fifth Annual Exhibition of Iranian Women Artists, Niavaran Art Center
Fourth Annual Exhibition of Iranian Women Artists, Niavaran Art Center
Visual Art Exhibition, Haft Samar Gallery
Third Annual Exhibition of Iranian Women Artists, Niavaran Art Center
Third Annual Exhibition of Graphic Design Works, Museum of Contemporary Art

2012 Artist Pantea Karimi's Political Mad-Libs, San Jose, Sociecity, Interview.
2012 Art galleries are popping up everywhere in Silicon Valley, including business offices, San Jose Mercury News, Curator's Art Review.

2011 Modernity, Sexuality, and Ideology in Iran: The Life and Legacy of Popular Female Artists, Syracuse University Press, Book Cover.

2010 The Artist in a Cyber-World, ARTSHIFT San José, Art Review.
2010 Turning Words into Arts Earns Local Artist Top Honors, Cupertino Courier, Interview/Article.
2010 Visitors at Triton’s Gala Watch Artists Create, Santa Clara Weekly, Art Review/Interview.

2009 Iran on My Mind, Exhibition Catalog, Los Angeles, Art Review.
2009 Traces of Being: Iran In The Passage of Memories, Los Angeles Times, Art Review.
2009 MFA Students, Spartan Daily, San Jose, Interview.
2009 The Artists as Nexus, Exhibition Catalog, San Jose, Art Review.

2008 Here Come the Candidates: ATC offers some Promising Previews of the MFA Candidates, ARTSHIFT San José, Art Review.
2007 Looking at Printmaking/Part II: Exploring a Personal, Political and Psychological History through Printmaking, ARTSHIFT SanJosé, Interview.

2003 The Local Rag, Hastings, UK, Art Review.
2001 Iran Rivoluzionarie In Conrnice, Iodonna Speciale Gioielli, Italy, Art & Design Review.

1999 Manifestation of Feeling, a selection of paintings by Iranian female artists, Catalog.
1997 Manifestation of Feeling, a selection of paintings by Iranian female artists, Catalog.
1995 Iranian Women Exhibition, Iran Journal, Art Review.

2010 Distinguished Artist Award, Fine Arts Commission, Cupertino, CA
Creative Capacity Fund Grant, San Francisco, CA

2008 Orchard Commercial North First ArtSPACE Award, San Jose, CA
School of Art and Design TA Scholarship, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

2011 TechShop, San Jose, CA: Instructor; Silkscreen Techniques
June-July 2010 De Anza College, Cupertino, CA: The 2010 Extended Year Summer Enrichment Program
June 2008- 2010 De Anza College and Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino, CA: Teaching Artist; Art Tours and Lectures
2008-present Quinlan Community Center, Cupertino, CA: Onsite Art Classes; Euphrat Museum of Art Arts & Education Program
2008- 2010 San Jose Christian Assembly Center, Milpitas, CA: Youth Programs, Onsite Art Classes
2006-present Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA), Finn Center, Mountain View, CA: Teacher;Onsite Art Classes, Art Camps
2006 Art in Action, Menlo Park, CA: Teacher; Youth Programs, Summer Art Classes
2001-2002 Kid’s Galore Center, Hastings, UK: Teacher; Youth Programs, Onsite Art Classes
2002-2003 Education Action Zone, Hastings, UK: Teacher; Art Programs, Internet Applications and Computer Graphics Programs
1993-2001 Private Art Lessons and Public Schools, Tehran, Iran: Teacher and Exhibition Curator; Adults and Youth Programs

Teaching Experience at San Jose State University, San Jose, CA:
2010 Co-Teaching, Silkscreen Techniques
2009   Teaching Assistant, Color
Teaching Assistant, Beginning Painting
2008   Teaching Associate, Two-Dimensional Design Concepts
Teaching Assistant, Two-Dimensional Design Concepts
2007   Teaching Assistant, Representational Drawing
Teaching Assistant, Two-Dimensional Design Concepts

Professional and Design Experience:
2009 Graphic Designer and Art Director, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA: the 2009 issue of Lift Off, a 72- page Masters of Fine Arts exhibition catalog published by San Jose State University School of Art and Design.

2006 Graphic Designer, MIT, Boston, MA: the fall 2006 issue of thresholds: ACCESS, a 120- page bi- annual critical journal of architecture, art, media and culture published by the Department of Architecture at MIT.

2006 Program Specialist, Children’s Discovery Museum, San Jose, CA: Responsible for facilitating programmatic activities and educational projects in the Art Studio and the Art Loft.

2001-2003 Artist Assistant and Studio Manager, Alan Rankle Fine Art Studio, Hastings, UK: Murals, large format easel paintings, studio/project management, and gallery administration.

1998-2001 Graphic Designer, Tehran, Iran: logo, catalog, poster, brochure and commercial advertisement at Bamdad Emruz Advertising Agency, Arc Design Firm and Bolour Shisheh Kavveh-Savveh Jaam Glassware Manufacturing.

Project:
2011 Co-Lead of Curriculum Development, Slot Shelters, a student collabrative design project, San Jose, CA
2011 Interviewer, Interview 5, an interview project for Artshift San Jose (online arts and culture publication), San Jose, CA
2011 Lead Teaching Artist, We are socially Networked, a student collaborative wall installation in form of a social network diagram, Euphrat Museum of Art, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA
2009 K-5 grade Exhibition Curator and Lead Teaching Artist, art exhibition of students' works; paintings, clay sculptures, prints, and mixed-media, at the gallery space in Finn Center, Mountain View, CA
2007 Artist’s Book, two unique illustrated handbound books, poems by Leila Farjami, Los Angeles/San Jose, CA
2002 Artist and Assistant, Alan Rankle Fine Art Studio, collaborative mural/installation, private residence, London, UK

Presentation:
Dec 2010      Visiting Artist Lecturer, Printmaking, California College of the Arts (CCA), Oakland, CA
Nov 2009      Visiting Artist Lecturer, Postmodernism/Postcolonialism, San Jose State University (SJSU), San Jose, CA
Oct 2009      Presenter, panel discussion, Traces of Being exhibition, Morono Kiang gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Related Experience:
2011 Board Member, Artshift San Jose, online arts and culture publication, San Jose, CA
2008 Member of Judging Panel, Euphrat Museum, De Anza College Students’ Art Exhibition, Cupertino, CA
2007 Member of Judging Panel, San Jose Downtown Doors art project, San Jose, CA
Member of Judging Panel, students’ art exhibition, Branham High School, San Jose, CA
2001-2002 Volunteer Play Specialist Assistant: painting, drawing, and crafts, Conquest Hospital, Children’s Ward, Hastings, UK
1989-1997 Musician: classical guitar, xylophone, and flute recorder
1995-1997 Volunteer Music Instructor: Orff Music Institute, Tehran, Iran