Shadi Yousefian is an artist whose mixed media practice addresses universal themes of loss, dislocation, alienation, and reinvention. She received both her Bachelor of Fine Arts (2003) and Master of Fine Arts (2006) in photography from San Francisco State University.
Her work engages with personal and social issues of contemporary life, with a particular focus on cultural identity and the immigrant experience. Yousefian has been the recipient of several awards, including the Best of Photography Award at the 13th Annual Stillwell Show, the International Photo Awards (IPA, 2004 and 2005), the Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship in the Fine Arts, and the International Photography Competition (Latitude Life).
Her work has been acquired by the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She currently lives and works in Berkeley, California.
Shadi Yousefian CV
EDUCATION
2006 MFA, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2003 BFA, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Memory in Layers, Queretaro Museum of Art, Queretaro, Mexico
2024 Obscured by Colors, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2021 Transformation, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2017 Solo Exhibition, The Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2013 Letters, Shirin Gallery, New York, NY, USA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Portraiture Now: Iranian Contemporary, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2024 Estructura Ausente, Queretaro Museum of Art, Queretaro, Mexico
2024 Art Iran: Falling into Language, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2022 Inspired by Woman Life Freedom, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2022 Iranian Mint: A Contemporary Art + NFT Exhibition, ADVOCARTSY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2022 Art of Iran, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, USA
2020 Imagine Freedom: Art Works for Abolition, Critical Resistance Virtual Benefit Auction
2020 Photo LA, The Historic Barker Hangar, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2019 Once at Present, Minnesota Street Project Galleries, San Francisco, CA, USA
2018 Art Brief IV: Iranian Contemporary San Francisco, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
2018 Re:Home – A For Freedoms Exhibition, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA, USA
2017 Art Brief III: The (Un)Draped Woman, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
2016 Number Six, MIM Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2016 Art Brief II: Iranian Contemporary North America, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
2014 The Photography Show, Site 109 / AKArt, New York, NY, USA
2014 Vienna Fair, Vienna, Austria
2014 Alwan, Shirin Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2014 London’s Global Art Fair, Olympia, London, UK
2013 Vienna Fair, Vienna, Austria
2013 Art Basel, Miami, FL, USA
2011 Overruled (performance in Shirin Neshat’s play, Performa 11), Cedar Lake, New York, NY, USA
2008 East of the West, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2008 After the Revolution: Contemporary Photography from California and Tehran, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, City Hall, San Francisco, CA, USA
2008 Theory of Survival, The Lab, San Francisco, CA, USA
2007 Celluloid: Film & Photography Exhibition, Gallery One, San Francisco, CA, USA
2006 Moving Mountains, Red Ink Studios, San Francisco, CA, USA
2006 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, CA, USA
2005 Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship Award Exhibition, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2005 rePRESENT, Oliver Arts Center, California College of Arts, Oakland, CA, USA
2005 Of Past and Present: A Collaborative Exchange, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA
2005 Celebrating the Works of Courbet, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA, USA
2004 15th Annual Stillwell Show, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, CA, USA
2004 The Beginning, Art People Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2004 Self-Portraits, SOAS Library, London, UK
2004 The 30th Annual Juried Competition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA, USA
2004 Emergence, Student Center Art Gallery, San Francisco State University, CA, USA
2004 One World, Many Faiths, SOMArts Bay Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2003 Figuratively Speaking, Fulton Street Gallery, Troy, NY, USA
2003 Zydeco: Tributoa Jean-Michel Basquiat, Art-Cubic, Barcelona, Spain
2002 Intervention: A Cause for Action, Student Center Art Gallery, San Francisco State University, CA, USA
2002 13th Annual Stillwell Show, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, CA, USA
AWARDS
2005 Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship in the Fine Arts
2005 International Photo Awards (Lucie Award), Third Place, Nude Category, New York, NY, USA
2004 International Photo Awards (Lucie Award), Third Place, Portrait Category, New York, NY, USA
2002 Best of Photography Award, 13th Annual Stillwell Show, San Francisco, CA, USA
COLLECTIONS
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) — Letters 3 (from the Letters series)
San Diego Museum of Art — Fading Memories (20-piece installation, Edition 1/2)
San Diego Museum of Art — Fading Memories Negatives, Set 2
San Diego Museum of Art — Fading Memories LightBox 2
San Diego Museum of Art — Fading Memories LightBox 4
