Azadeh Tajpour is a multidisciplinary, research-based artist and archivist, born in Tehran and based in Boston.
Her research focuses on the portrayal of Iranian women in early photography, critically examining the orientalist and colonial perspectives embedded in the photographic practices of the time. This historical research was inspired by Tajpour’s work as an archivist for the “Women’s Worlds in Qajar Iran” Archive. The research informs her broader exploration of how we receive and perceive information, particularly the lenses through which we view "the other." She is especially invested in exploring the gray areas, the shifting borders and arbitrary boundaries that separate "us" and "them."
Tajpour's studio practice involves creating immersive multimedia installations that incorporate archival and found images, spanning subjects such as the treatment of detainees by occupying forces in Iraq and Palestine, citizen journalists' videos of protests in Iran, and personal footage of an encounter with a border patrol officer at the U.S.-Canada border. These works reflect the fragmentation of our assumed realities and the layers of mediation through which we experience events happening “elsewhere,” showcasing our positionality as observers whose perceptions of reality are often distorted or erased.
She has received awards such as the Mass Cultural Council’s Artist Fellowship, and the A.R.T. Fund award from Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and others. Tajpour has participated in residencies at The Studios at Mass MoCA, Boston Center for the Arts, Virginia Center for the Arts, Art Omi, and others. She was the co-curator of Gender Politics in Iran and the Last Forty Years: Eleven Stories in Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies in 2020, which featured art, creative writing, and essays. Tajpour’s documentary, Gazing through a Lens—ʿAli Khan Documents 19th-Century Iran, was screened at the Harvard Art Museums and the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT.
Awards and Residencies
2025
MacDowell Residency, Peterborough, NH
2021-2024
Boston Center for the Arts Studio Residency, Boston, MA
2024
VCCA’s e Moulin à Nef Residency, Auvillar, France
Cambridge Art Association’s Emergency Fund for Visual Artists
2023
Mass Cultural Council’s Cultural Sector Grants
2022
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, VA
2021
The Artist Resource Trust (A.R.T) Fund Award from Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
2017
The Studios at MASS MoCA Artist Residency, North Adams, MA
The Karen Shea and Gabe Silverman Endowed Fellowship for Virginia Center for the Arts Residency
2016
Playa Residency, Summerlake, Oregon
2014
Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowships Award
2013
Boston Center for the Arts Artist Residency Program, Boston, MA
The 31st International Symposium of Contemporary Art of Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec, Canada
2012
Somerville Art Council Grant, Somerville, MA
2011
Art Omi International Artists Residency, NY
Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Fellowship
2009
Armory Center for the Arts Fellowship for Artists, Pasadena, CA
CE & Bertha Harsh Fellowship
CGU Art Fellowship
Iranian American Scholarship Fund
2008
CSULA Art Department Memorial Fund Scholarship
Exhibitions/Screenings/Curations (selected)
SOLO SHOWS
2022
Project Room No.2, Mills Gallery, BCA, Boston
2016
Remediation, Hollister Gallery, Babson College, Boston, MA
2013
Shifting Context, ASB Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts
2010
The Observer Effect: MFA Thesis Exhibition, East Gallery, CGU, Claremont, CA
GROUP SHOWS
2024
Aura, Juried (by Tessa Bachi Haas), Kathryn Schultz Gallery (Cambridge Art Association), Cambridge, MA
Bent & Borrowed: A Juried Online Exhibition, Juried by Conor Moynihan, Gallery 263, Boston
Fire in the Basement: A Group Show of Thirty-Three Artists from Boston Center for the Arts, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA
2022
Snapshot: BCA Student Residency Exhibition, Mills gallery, Boston, MA
2016
Feldman Fellowship Finalist Group Show (Juried), The Walter Feldman Gallery at the Arts & Business Council, Boston, MA
Othering: Berkshire Art Association Biennial (Juried), Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield, MA
2015
State of Emergency, Winslow Garage, Los Angeles
2015
Here, Without, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University
2014
MCC Artist Fellows & Finalists in Painting, New Art Center, Boston, MA
2013
The Open West, Newark Park and Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum Gloucester, UK
2012
Church of Peace Show-the Group Show No.1, Church of Peace, Los Angeles, CA
2010
Greater Los Angeles Master of Fine Arts Exhibition (GLAMFA), Cal State University, Long Beach, CA
Fresh: The Armory’s Teaching Artist Fellows Exhibition, One Colorado, Armory Center for The Art, Pasadena, CA
Harmony Reverberates Optimism (touring exhibition):
McNish Gallery, Oxnard College, Oxnard, CA
Jaus Gallery, Los Angeles
La Casa Del Tunel Art Center, Tijuana, Mexico
Made in California, City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA
2009
Making Out, Nook Installation Space, CGU, Claremont, CA
Fly with the Cage, Lennox Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2008
Gray Area, East and Peggy Phelps Galleries, CGU, Claremont, CA
2007
Open Show 2007 (Juried), LAAA/Gallery 825, Los Angeles
PUBLIC ARTS
2012
Switchbox Project, Davis Square, Somerville, MA
SCREENINGS
2021
Pendar International Film Festival: Iran Today, University of Virginia
2018
Film and Discussion, The Islamic Civilizations and Societies Programs, Boston College
Film and Discussion, Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT
2017
Film and Discussion, Harvard Arts Museum, Cambridge, MA
CURATIONS
2020
Co-curator, Gender Politics in Iran and the Last Forty Years: Eleven Stories. Online special issue: Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, which included art, creative writings, and essays.
2013
Co-curator, Shifting Borders: A Round Table, Boston Center for the Arts, MA
Education
2010
MFA in Studio Art, Claremont Graduate University (CGU), Claremont, CA
2008
MA in Art History, California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), CA
2001
BS in Physics, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran