Over several decades, Oakland-based multimedia artist Ali Dadgar has explored universal themes of censorship, colonization, “otherness,” and identity, filtered through his own Iranian and American experiences. Working across multiple mediums and series simultaneously, Dadgar’s ideas take shape through performance and two-dimensional mixed media art.
Deeply familiar with the conventions of printmaking and formal Western approaches to art, he absorbs and upturns these traditions through his practice. By layering historical symbols, handwritten notes, photographs, self-portraits, and found materials ranging from rugs to maps, Dadgar’s work maintains an undercurrent of dark humor that seeks to recontextualize the unexpected. These elements are manipulated either digitally or manually through painting and drawing, forming a new visual language rooted in redaction, remapping, and erasure.
Through autobiography and self-deprecation, Dadgar summons figures of otherness within a space shaped by tradition, history, humor, and paradox.
Dadgar (b. 1962) received his BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland in 1989, followed by an MFA in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007. He served as a lecturer in the Department of Art Practice at UC Berkeley from 2006 to 2009 and is the recipient of multiple awards, including the UC Berkeley Outstanding GSI Award in 2007. His work is held in prominent private and public collections, including the University of California, Berkeley Morrison Library.
Ali Dadgar CV
EDUCATION
2007 MFA, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
1989 BFA, California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA, USA
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Disoriental, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2019–2020 Additions / Redactions, Desai Matta Gallery, California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, CA, USA
2012 Radiant States: Reflections on Solidarity, California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, CA, USA
2011 Unbelievablybelievable, Martina Johnston Gallery, Berkeley, CA, USA
2007 Disappearing, Townsend Center for the Humanities, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
2005 Effacements, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
Found Faces, Artship Windows Project, Oakland, CA, USA
2004 Recent Antiquities, Articultural Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2000 New Works, Darvag Art Foundation Gallery, Berkeley, CA, USA
1997 Ali Dadgar, The Warehouse Gallery, Long Beach, CA, USA
1989 My Horses, Ronald J. Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Portraiture NOW: Iranian Contemporary, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2024 Far Out Yet Within Reach, Exit Now Gallery, Richmond, CA, USA
Vintage Modern, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
One Last Round, Round Weather Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
2023 Resilience, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
The Other Side of Time, Round Weather Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
2022 Iranian Mint: Contemporary Art & NFT, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2021 Once Upon a Time, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Exchange the Experience, Round Weather Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
2020 Invincible California, Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
2019 Summer Bash, The Space by ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2018 Art Brief IV, ADVOCARTSY / SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2014 Fabrication, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA, USA
2013 Resistance, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2012 DocumentO (Unofficial Satellite of documenta 13), Krowswork, Oakland, CA, USA
MENA Experimental (collaboration with Azin Seraj), ATA, San Francisco, CA, USA
In the Currents: Bay Area Iranian-American Art Today, Asian Resource Center Gallery (KSW), Oakland, CA, USA
The Big Return Project (part of Disrupture), Ictus Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2009 Deadpan Exchange IV, K2 Gallery, Izmir, Turkey
Strange Hope, Galería de la Raza, San Francisco, CA, USA
Faculty Show 2009, Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
2008 Freedom of Expression: Art in an Age of Uncertainty, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, CA, USA
Aperture 10, KSW, San Francisco, CA, USA
International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, Hafriyat Karaköy, Istanbul, Turkey; Berlin, Germany; Belgrade, Serbia
PaperWorks, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA, USA
East of the West, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Theory of Survival (collaboration with Taraneh Hemami), The Lab, San Francisco, CA, USA
Make the Art You Need, Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Artists Insight: Phase II, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA
Points of Convergence, Gallery at UTA, University of Texas at Arlington, TX, USA
Selections, di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, Napa, CA, USA
2007 Before & After (collaboration with Kristin Lucas), Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Aperture 9, KSW, San Francisco, CA, USA
Paper Cuts 3, Fetterly Gallery, Vallejo, CA, USA
Artists Insight: Phase I, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA
The Most Curatorial Biennial of the Universe, Apexart, New York, NY, USA
Next New, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), San Jose, CA, USA
Fermata (MFA Exhibition), UC Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA, USA
2006 Write, Read: Contemporary Iranian-American Calligraphy Art, City College of San Francisco Library, San Francisco, CA, USA
2006 Dirty Light, Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, CA
The Paper Nest Project, The Luggage Store Gallery Annex, San Francisco, CA
Virus, Lobot Gallery, Oakland, CA; State of the Nation, Intersection for the Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 RePresent, Cross Connections, Oliver Art Center, Oakland, CA
Cross Connections, Intersection for the Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Shared Passions, Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino, CA
2004 Pachanga 2004, Galería de la Raza, San Francisco, CA
The Bellarmine Forum, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
Angels & Demons, Peninsula Museum of Art, Belmont, CA
Chico–Iranian Project, Galería de la Raza, San Francisco, CA
Day of the Dead, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Somewhere–Elsewhere, Worth Ryder Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Windows & Chairs, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
On Paper, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA
2003 Bringing Light to the Darkness, Day of the Dead Exhibit, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Go Figure, Articultural Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Benefit Exhibition & Auction, Persian Center, Berkeley, CA
Three Individual Artists, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA
The Quilt of Many Colors Project, Richmond Health Center, Richmond, CA
Celebration of Art & the Art of Celebration, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
17 Bay Area Artists, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA
Three’s a Charm, Frank Bette Center for the Arts, Alameda, CA
Bay Area Currents, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
Printmaking, Danville Fine Art Gallery, Danville, CA
Artists Working, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Defiance, Prop Gallery, New York, NY
Extreme Art, Chartreuse Muse Gallery, Modesto, CA
2002 Oakland Portraits: Then & Now, 1852–2002, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
New Visions, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
R X D, Intersection for the Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 Ruminations, Cell Space, San Francisco, CA
1999 Group Show, Wier Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1997 The Group Show, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
1994 NOAPS Exhibit ’94, NOAPS Gallery, Osage Beach, MO
Labyrinth of Exile, UCLA Fowler Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Nude, Wier Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1993 Iranian Artists in the Bay Area, Iranian Community Center Gallery, San Jose, CA
Generation Images, Linda Bermerman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1992 Black & White, The Warehouse Gallery, Long Beach, CA
The Vision, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
1991 20 Artists of the Bay Area, Kaiser Center Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
New Works, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1990 Small Works, California Museum of Art at the Luther Burbank Center, Santa Rosa, CA
Iranian Artists, Hourian Fine Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Printed Page, Village Theatre Gallery, Danville, CA
The Image of the Horse, Redding Museum & Art Gallery, Redding, CA
1989 Animals & Urban Environment, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA
The Project, CCAC Gallery, Oakland, CA
1988 Iranian Collective Artists, Ackerman Hall Gallery, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco Mission Project, Back to the Picture Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987 Madam Chevaux, Isabel Percy West Gallery at CCAC, Oakland, CA
1986 Iranian Artists in California, Koan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1984 Portraits, Fran Miller Gallery, San Francisco, CA
AWARDS
2007 J. Ruth Kelsey Traveling Fellowship; UC Berkeley Outstanding GSI Award
2005 Marian Hahn Simpson Fellowship in Art; Susan B. Irwin Scholarship in the Visual Arts
2004–2005 Individual Artist Grant, City of Oakland Cultural Arts Department
2003–2004 Residency & Publication Award, Darvag Art Foundation
1988 Charles Hank Hine Award
TEACHING
2006–2009 Lecturer, Department of Art Practice, University of California, Berkeley, CA
2002–2003 Painting & Drama Workshop, Albany Farsi School, Albany & Oakland, CA
2001–2002 Youth Outreach Program: Banners & Signs, Darvag Art Foundation, Berkeley & Oakland, CA
1997–2001 Printmaking Workshops, Darvag Art Foundation, Oakland & Berkeley, CA
1993–1996 Mural & Drawing Workshops, City of Oakland Youth Outreach Program, Oakland, CA
1994 Silk-Screening Workshops, California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA
PERFORMANCE
2018 Chicarainian Project, Central Stage, Richmond, CA
Borderline, Central Stage, Richmond, CA
2014 Disruption and Organized Chaos, Fabrication, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Disruption and Organized Chaos, Creative Production Meets Political Imagination, CIIS, San Francisco, CA
2011 Five Minutes of Infinite Solidarity, Martina Johnston Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2009 Chicarainian Project: Two Bald Chicarainians Taking a Bath, Woody Woodman Finger Palace, Berkeley, CA
2004 Death of Yazdgerd by Bahram Beyzaie, Darvag Theatre Company, Berkeley, CA
2003–2004 Four Springs Translation Project, Ballet Afsaneh & ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA
2003 Karima’s City by Yousef Al Gundi; Baggage by Fateh Azzam
Eye by Jay Levin, Golden Thread Production / The Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2002–2003 Haroun & the Sea Stories (Understudy) by Salman Rushdie
Homebody Kabul (Understudy) by Tony Kushner
Apocalypse Mañana with Guillermo Gómez-Peña
Emigrants by Solovomir Morzhek, Berkeley Repertory Theatre / Ballazo Gallery / Iran Theatre Association & Live Oak Theatre, Berkeley & San Francisco, CA
2001 Opera of 3 Wise Piglets in 5 Minutes by Roham Sheikhani, Darvag Theatre Company, Oakland, CA
2000 The Seventh Veil (Salome) by Oscar Wilde, Shotgun Players, Oakland, CA
Victim by Mario Fretti, Darvag Theatre Company, Oakland, CA
1999 Publicly Resting by Torange Yegyazarian; I Am Not a Serial Killer by Kaveh Zahedi
No Problem! by David Aies; A Woman’s Story by Manijeh Mohamedi, Golden Thread Production, Oakland, CA
1998 The Eight Voyages of Sindbad by Bahram Beyzaie, Shotgun Players / Darvag, Oakland, CA
The Lower Depth by Maxim Gorky, Daedalus Theatre Co. & Dance Mission, San Francisco, CA
1997 Mexterminator with Guillermo Gómez-Peña and La Pocha Nostra, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
Richard III by William Shakespeare; The Odyssey by Homer, Shotgun Players, Oakland, CA
1996 Ebliess (The Devil) by Roham Sheikhani
The Butterfly by Bijan Mofid, Darvag Theatre Company, Berkeley & Oakland, CA
1995 Lysistrata by Aristophanes, Golden Thread Production, Oakland, CA
Hungry Tree by Sydney Carson, Night Letter Theatre, San Francisco, CA
The Last Supper by Farhad Aiesh, Darvag Theatre Company, Berkeley, CA
1994 Seven Nights in New York with a Stranger by Farhad Aiesh; Image Is Everything by Roham Sheikhani (dir. Jim Cave)
What Is Fatemeh Going to Do with Her Hair? by Gita Tahmasebi, Darvag Theatre, Berkeley & San Francisco, CA
1993 Opera of the Three Wise Piglets by Roham Sheikhani, Darvag Theatre Company, Berkeley, CA
1992 Theatre of Theatre by Farhad Aiesh, Darvag Theatre Company, Berkeley, CA
FILM
2009–2010 Embrace of the Irrational, John Herschend, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2004 Try Again, Full Time Films, Oakland, CA
2003 The Maltese Curse, Punctured Camel, San Francisco, CA
I Am a Sex Addict, Kaveh Zahedi, San Francisco, CA
Why Do You Dance Like a Black Boy?, Robert Karimi, Kaotic Good Productions, Fremont, CA
1996 Walls of Sand, Ginger Productions, San Francisco, CA
1992 Death of Half an Ass Poet, Farahi Productions, Los Angeles, CA
1989 Mud Travelers, Sydney Carson, Oakland, CA
1988 Homeless, Tiger Lilly Productions, Oakland, CA
PRESS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020 Minimalism & Maximalism of Ali Dadgar, Jonathan Curiel, SF Weekly, January
2008 East of the West: Middle East Artists, Mary Elsenhart, SF Chronicle (96 Hours), San Francisco, May 15, p. G-25
SWEE(T)ART, Lexa Walsh, Issue Nine, Spring, Oakland, CA
2007 SoFA Sight, Michael S. Gant, Metro Active, San Jose, August 15
2006 Suitcase Examines Shades of Immigrants’ Dislocation, Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle, San Francisco, September 14, p. E5
2005 Iranian Artists Explore a Culture in the Crosshairs, Jonathan Curiel, SF Chronicle, San Francisco, June 11, pp. E1–10; Effacements: On the Wall, David Downs, East Bay Express, Berkeley, April 6–12, p. 162
2004 Somewhere Elsewhere: Diasporic Visions of Space and Subject, Laura J. Kuo, Fuse Magazine, Toronto, Vol. 28, No. 2, p. 41; Chico-Iranian Project, Photo Essay, Lip Magazine, San Francisco, November, p. 23; Arabs. Muslims. How Does the West See Them?, Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook cover story, October 23, pp. E10–11; The King Is Dead, Lisa Drostova, East Bay Express, Berkeley, September 8, p. 34; Royal Pain, Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian, September 1, p. 42; Iranian Americans Put Themselves on World Stage with “Death of Yazdgerd”, Jonathan Curiel, SF Chronicle, San Francisco, August 27, p. E1
2003 ReOrient, Michael Scott Moore, SF Weekly, November, p. 37; Short Plays Shine Light on Facets of Life in the Middle East, Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, November 4, p. D2; ReOrient 2003, Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian, November 12, Vol. 38, No. 7
1994 Art Pick of the Week, Peter Frank, LA Weekly, Los Angeles, September 9, p. 118
Picturing Sensitivity, Marlena Donohue, Rave! Daily Breeze, Los Angeles, August 12, p. K24
Exhibit Explores Iranians in Exile, Nancy Garza, Glendale News Press, August 10, p. A-7
Artists in Exile, Kristopher Kaiyala, Alaska Airlines Magazine, August, p. 17
Passion for Persia, Frederick M. Brown, The Outlook, Los Angeles, June 25, cover
Through the Lens of Iranian Culture, William Wilson, Los Angeles Times, July 2, p. F12
Labyrinth of Exile, Rodney Tanaka, Summer Bruin, Los Angeles, June 27, p. 34
Irangeles, Barbara Hernandez, Daily Bruin, Los Angeles, May 13, p. 30
Faces of Exile, Mathis Chazanoyv, Los Angeles Times (Westside), cover story, May 12, pp. 12–16
