Tamar Halpern:
B. Los Angeles, CA. 1979
Halpern earned their BFA at the College of Santa Fe, NM and their MFA at Columbia University (graduating in 2005). Tamar has held solo exhibitions at galleries around the world, including Tennis Elbow at The Journal Gallery in NYC; they and Eileen Quinlan mounted BITCHES TALKIN (2019) a collaborative installation at Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY; and Nino Mier showed their work in Los Angeles in an exhibition titled Playback (2016). They had numerous exhibitions with Office Baroque Gallery in Belgium, On Stellar Rays and D’Amelio gallery in New-York City. Their work was included in institutional exhibitions such as Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA organized by John Connelly 2022, Greater NY at PS1/MOMA(2010) and The Sculpture Center in NY(2010). Halpern’s work has been reviewed and written about in Interview magazine, the New-Yorker, Artforum, The New York Times and others. Currently Halpern lives and works in Brooklyn, New-York.
The fragmented images, texts, and materials that I use to make work reflect my relationship to my gender and my identity. Recognizable artifacts like silk, hands, and feet - are splayed apart, hinting at my ritual, and the depth between layers provides insight into my lived experience, an inherent reference to duration and the stillness of transition. Making artwork slows the process of defining myself and the societal pressure to resolve who I am. While it's not an option for me to wait for my identity to be resolved, mirroring my studio practice with my daily life validates and affirms my existence while contributing to an art world where output defines legacy.