Amir H. Fallah, Hyphenated Americans, 2021; Hand-Embellished, Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Print

LA-based artist Amir H. Fallah creates paintings, sculptures, and installations that utilize personal history as an entry point to discuss race, representation, the body, and the memories of cultures and countries left behind. He uses inspiration such as florals, children’s book illustrations and cartoons, Persian miniatures, photorealistic snapshots, and various textile and decorative motifs. 

Fallah’s eclectic visual and narrative sources are culled from his own childhood memories of Iran, his family’s move to the U.S. during his youth, the good and evil which he subsequently discovered in American culture, and a mindfulness toward how cultural values pass between generations. His work asks how is identity formed? How do you become a person? What influences do you absorb, what lessons do you take away? How do you define personhood outside the confines of one’s image? “The big thing missing in our society is empathy,” he says, “[will my art make people care about others?] I don’t know,” he says. “That’s my desire.”

Fallah recently had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson and his work is in the permanent collections at the SMART Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, McEvoy Foundation For The Arts, San Francisco, Neuman Museum, Kansas City, The Microsoft Collection, Plattsburgh State Art Museum, Plattsburgh, NY, Cerritos College Public Art Collection, Norwalk, CA and Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, UAE. 

Hyphenated Americans was commissioned especially for ART FOR CHANGE to benefit Artadia. Fallah was selected as the 2020 Los Angeles Artadia Awardee. “Artadia has made an incredible impact on the careers of artists including my own. They not only provide financial support for artists but also create a community that provides valuable opportunities to awardees for years to come.”