Tatiana Vahan is an artist living in Los Angeles. Since graduating with her BFA in 2009 she has been exploring how to financially survive as an artist. She makes work that both critiques and manipulates the economic constructs of the art industry in an effort to create financial or symbolic value for herself and others, simultaneously reconfiguring the power dynamics typical to the industry.

Vahan received her MA in Aesthetics and Politics from CalArts in 2014. She has exhibited at 356 Mission Road, MDC Museum of Art + Design, the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Art Museum (now called PAMM), and Monte Vista Projects among other spaces. She is the founder and organizer of bar-fund, an experimental public art project and artist-run initiative whose mission is to provide more financial opportunities for Los Angeles-based artists outside of the commercial gallery and private grant systems. Along with bar-fund, she is currently organizing the Los Angeles Artist Census, a socially engaged art research project that involves collecting basic financial data on LA-based artists to gain a better understanding of need versus resources available to artists in the city. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Born in Miami, FL.
Lives in Los Angeles, CA.

 

EDUCATION
The Mountain School of Arts^
MA: California Institute of the Arts, Aesthetics and Politics
BFA: New World School of the Arts, Visual Art

 

CURATORIAL

2017
An Ephemeral History of High Desert Test Sites, co curated with Andrea Zittel, Aram Moshayedi, and Sohrab Mohebbi, High Desert Test Sites 2017, Joshua Tree, CA

2016
Full Body, featuring work by Alyse Emdur, Barbara T. Smith, Dan Bustillo, Jules Gimbrone, Julia Kouneski, Lygia Clark, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya, CalArts REEF Residency, Los Angeles, CA.

The Mountain School of Arts: The First Ten Years, produced, edited, and published with Agnes Bolt and Piero Golia, The Mountain School of Arts^ and Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles, CA.

2015
Toggle, an internet browser plugin that functions as an international fellowship program and platform for research, communication, and projects. Created with neverhitsend. Inaugural fellows are: Anthony McCann, Cannibal Facts, Cassie McQuarter, Georgie and Min, Jennifer Moon, Leah Beeferman, Marii Nyrop, Micol Hebron, Vanessa Sioufi, Woofer Ten, and Zoya Sardashti. 221a and International Symposium for Electronic Arts, Vancouver BC

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2015
The Promise of Something and Nothing, Sonce Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

2014
A Narrative of An Artist Exploring Capitalism, MDC Museum of Art + Design, Miami, FL.
Post Private, Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, CA.

2013
neverhitsend, 356 Mission Road, Los Angeles, CA.
Artist books exhibition, Ooga Booga #2, Los Angeles, CA.

2012
Cashier, Garage Pizza, Los Angeles, CA.
Vacation Rental Advisor, Vacation Rental Homes Made Easy, Los Angeles, CA.
Office and Studio Assistant, A-Z West, Joshua Tree, CA.
Intern, François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Phone Operator, Department of Social Services, Los Angeles, CA.
Yardman, Department of Public Works Streets Services, Los Angeles, CA.
Parade Coordinator, West of Rome (Trespass Parade), Los Angeles, CA.
Barrista, The Coffee Pot, Los Angeles, CA.
Massage Therapist, Delano, Miami Beach, FL.

2011
Studio Sale Show, Fountainhead Studios, Miami, FL.
Open Process, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL.
Inside/Outside, Little River Yacht Club, Miami, FL.
Mission Impossible, Little River Yacht Club, Miami, FL.
Home: Dream Home, Praxis International Art, Miami, FL.

2010
Myself As a Storefront Window, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL.
Littlest Sister, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL.
The New Frontier, Christopher Miro Gallery, Miami, FL.
New Work Miami, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL.
Home Videos (1986 -1991), American Airlines Arena Jumbotron, Miami, FL.
Home Videos (1986 -1991), Gansevoort Hotel, Miami Beach, FL.

2009
Art Basel 2010, The Yard @ Casa Lin, Miami, FL.
Littlest Sister, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL.
Smash and Grab, Locust Projects, Miami, FL.
AAEC Exhibition, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL.
Drawing and Painting Show, ArtSeen, Miami, FL.
How to Make a Gallery a Home, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL.
BFA, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, FL.
Sentimental Garage Sale, my mom’s yard, Miami, FL.

2008
The Art of Women, Roxcy ONeal Bolton Women’s History Gallery, Miami, FL.
Marks and Strokes, New World Gallery, Miami, FL.

2007
Progressions, New World Gallery, Miami FL.

2006
NWSA, Espiritos Santos Gallery, Miami, FL
Rising Stars, New World Gallery, Miami, FL

 

 TALKS

2018
Los Angeles Artist Census, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles, CA.

2017
bar-fund and Community Fundraising Open Discussion II, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles, CA.
bar-fund and Community Funded Artist Grants Open Discussion Series, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles, CA.

2010
Ponzi Schemes, The End/Spring Break, Miami ,FL.

 

GRANTS/RESIDENCIES

2016
Artist in Residence, CalArts REEF Residency, Los Angeles, CA.

2015
Media Artist Grant, British Columbia Arts Council, sponsored by 221a, Vancouver, BC.
Curatorial Residency, 221a, Vancouver, BC.
Participant, International Symposium on Electronic Art, ISEA, Vancouver, BC.

2014
Scholarship, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2010-2011
Grant Nominee recipient, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL.

2009
Special Project Grant, Bass Museum of Art and Miami Beach Arts Trust, Miami Beach, FL.

2005
Frances Wolfson Endowed Visual Arts Scholarship, New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL.

2004-2009
Full Tuition Scholarship, New World School of the Arts and University of Florida, Miami, FL.

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marissa Gluck. “Here’s Why You Should Tip the Bartender Next Time You’re at an Art Opening,” Los Angeles Magazine. 24 April 2018

Karen Archey. “Art & New Age: Who Cares?,” Frieze. 16 Feb 2017.

Braithwaite, Hunter. “Tatiana Vahan, A Narrative of an Artist Exploring Capitalism,” Miami Rail. Summer 2014.

Eler, Alicia. “Living in a Post-Private World,” Hyperallergic. 20 March 2014.

Parker, Allyson. “neverhitsend: A Conversation with LA Based Arts & Technology Collective,” ArtSlant. 8 February 2014.

Carlos Suarez De Jesus. “Ones to Watch: Eight Up-and-Coming Miami Artists,” Miami New Times. 24 March 2012.

Carlos Suarez De Jesus, “Miami’s MOCA celebrates its quinceanera,” Miami New Times. 17 March 2011

Denis Scholl, “Miami’s Emerging Artists: Who’s Next?,” Knight Foundation. 4 March 2011.

 

CONTACT

tatianavahan at gmail.com

IG: tateevee