Siri Kaur


Siri Kaur is an artist/photographer who lives and works in Los Angeles, where she also serves as associate professor at Otis College of Art and Design. She received an MFA in photography from California Institute of the Arts in 2007, an MA in Italian studies in 2001 from Smith College/Universita’ di Firenze, Florence, Italy, and BA in comparative literature from Smith College in 1998. Kaur was the recipient of the Portland Museum of Art Biennial Purchase Prize in 2011. She regularly exhibits and has had solo shows at Blythe Projects and USC's 3001 galleries in Los Angeles, and group shows at the Torrance Museum of Art, California Institute of Technology, and UCLA’s Wight Biennial. Her work has been reviewed in Artforum, art ltd., The L.A. Times, and The Washington Post, and is housed in the permanent collections of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the University of Maine.

Solo exhibitions

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  • Field Trip, 3001 Gallery, Roski School of Art, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2013.
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  • I too was in Arcadia, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA, 2008
  • Cruiserweight, D300 Gallery, California Institute of The Arts, Valencia, CA, 2007.
  • The Collectors, L-Shape Gallery, California Institute of The Arts, Valencia, CA, 2006.

Selected group exhibitions

2022
2021
2020
2019Every Woman Biennial, Bendix Building, Los Angeles
2018Covers, The Bloke, Pasadena, CA
2017Greetings From, The Art Barge, Amagansett, NY
2016INFOCUS: Second Triennial of Self-Published Photobooks, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZThe Last Four Years, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CATo Whom it May Concern, 99¢ Plus, New York, NY
2015Directors’ Cut: Selections from Maine Art Museums, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
2014INFOCUS: Self-Published Photobooks, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZOf the Afternoon, Darnley Gallery, London, UK99¢ Plus!, 99¢ Plus, New York, NY24/7, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CAA Forest: Cathy Ackers, Annie Buckley, Anita Bunn, Siri Kaur, 2A Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • From Her, El Pueblo Historical Monument, Los Angeles, CA
2013Influenced by the Sun, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Staking Claim: The California Triennial of Photography, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA Falling From Great Heights: Siri Kaur, John Knuth, Heather Rasmussen, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CAOut of Thin Air, LAX, Los Angeles, CA
2012
2011Pissed Elegance, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CACosmic Prom, Vortex Immersion Dome, Los Angeles, CAToo True, POST, Los Angeles, CA Nuove Opere, U-Skill Gallery, Rome, ItalyThe Series, The Standard Hotel, Los Angeles, CAPlay Time, See Line Gallery at the Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, CASing Me to Sleep, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles, CACurious Silence, Brand Library Gallery, Glendale, CA 2011 Biennial, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
2010trait Revealed, RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, CASee-Thru, Gallery 825 and The Icon, Los Angeles, CA
  • Altimetry, curated by Mark Steven Greenfield, LAX and Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • Contemporary Art RUHR Projects, Ruhr, Germany
  • Outside the Project, curated by Jess Minckley, RAID Projects and Light & Wire Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • Curious Silence, curated by Renee Martin & Heather Rasmussen, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA
  • Perspective, curated by Paula Tognarelli, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
  • More with Less, curated by Kristina Newhouse & Robert Brander Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2008
  • Truth or Dare, curated by Craig Krull, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
  • In the Bedroom, curated by Marty Weiss, Meter Gallery, New York, NY
  • Members Only, curated by Keith Carter, Dishman Art Museum, Beaumont, TX
  • Everyone’s a Curator, Telic Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • Conventions and Attitudes, curated by Karen Atkinson, Trade & Row, Los Angeles, CA
  • Projection, curated by Maria Jenson, Salon Oblique, Santa Monica, CA
2007
  • All In, curated by Lorraine Molina, Torrance Museum of Art, Torrance, CA
  • My Buddy, UCLA Wight Biennial, curated by Russell Ferguson, UCLA Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • You are Beautiful, Hayworth Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • For Ever, curated by Eungie Joo, 915 Mateo, Los Angeles, CA
  • Making Meaning, curated by Howard Fox, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2006
2006
  • NOW, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY
2005
  • Nothing to See Here, curated by Walead Beshty, Art 2102, Los Angeles, CA
  • New Photography, Riverside Metropolitan Art Museum, Riverside, CA
  • Beauty, Women in Photography International, New York, NY
  • In Focus: Photography Techniques and Trends, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  • Photography Now, Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, OR
  • The Image is the Message, DreamBox Photo Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • National Women’s Show, Washington Gallery of Photography, Bethesda, MD
2004
  • Virtual*Visual, Women in Photography International, New York, NY/ Los Angeles, CA

Collections

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Awards and grants

  • Charcoal Publishing Prize, 2020
  • COLA Grant Artist Portraits, 12 portraits for COLA grants catalog, 2012
  • Center for Cultural Innovation/ Durfee Grant, 2011
  • Portland Museum of Art Biennial Purchase Prize, 2006
  • California Institute of the Arts Merit Scholarship, 2006
  • Critical Mass Publishing Prize Finalist, 2005

Residencies

  • The Arctic Circle, Svalbard, Greenland, 2023
  • Bonfire, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2022
  • Bakery Photographic Collective, Westbrook, ME, 2009

Publications as author

  • “Tanja Hollander: A Photographer’s Attempt to Photograph 687 Facebook Friends,” Feature Shoot, June 20, 2013
  • “Heather Rasmussen: Photographer Recreates Disasters and Accidents Involving Shipping Containers,” Feature Shoot, June 24, 2013
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  • “Siri Kaur,” in 2011 Portland Museum of Art Biennial, Mark Bessire, ed., : 64–65
  • “Do You Want to Make a Picture Book?,” Words Without Pictures, Alex Klein, ed. : 172–174
  • “Il Sogno del Paradiso Terrestre: Il Poema Pastorale e il Giardino nel Rinascimento Italiano,”

Academic appointments

  • 2021–2022 Visiting faculty, School of Arts and Architecture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2014–2018 Associate professor, Fine Arts and Foundation Programs, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2010–2014 Assistant professor, Fine Arts and Foundation Programs, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2007–2010 Visiting lecturer, Fine Art and Foundation Programs, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2005–2007 Teaching assistant, Foundation Photography, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA