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| Tanya Bonakdar | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tanya Bonakdar |
| Birth place | Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Art dealer, gallerist |
| Known for | Tanya Bonakdar Gallery |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
Tanya Bonakdar
Tanya Bonakdar is an American art dealer and gallerist known for founding and directing a contemporary art gallery with locations in New York City and Los Angeles. Her career bridges contemporary art markets, curatorial practice, and institutional collaborations, engaging with artists working in sculpture, installation, painting, performance, and digital media. Bonakdar has played a role in presenting artists at major museums, biennials, and international art fairs, influencing discourse across the contemporary art world.
Bonakdar was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Southern California, where she developed an early interest in art through exposure to regional institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. She pursued undergraduate studies at a California college and later undertook graduate work in art history and museum studies, engaging with programs associated with institutions like Columbia University and the New York University community during her move to the East Coast. Her formative years included internships and positions at galleries and museums connected to figures from the New York and Los Angeles art scenes, linking her to networks that included curators and collectors active in exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Guggenheim Museum.
Bonakdar opened her first gallery in New York City in the early 1990s, establishing a platform that would expand through the 2000s and 2010s to include a second space in Los Angeles. The gallery became known for representing artists across multiple generations and media and for participating in leading art fairs such as Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair, The Armory Show, TEFAF, and the FIAC program. Bonakdar’s professional activities have involved collaborations with curators and institutions including the Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Hammer Museum, as well as advisory roles with private and public collections associated with foundations like the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and cultural entities such as the New Museum.
Her curatorial approach frequently emphasizes large-scale installation and site-responsive projects, engaging with contemporaries from institutional circuits including the Venice Biennale, the São Paulo Biennial, and the Kunsthalle Basel program. Bonakdar has contributed to the international circulation of work by artists who have shown at the Documenta exhibitions and who participate in scholarly conferences at universities like Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University.
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery represents a roster of contemporary artists who work in sculpture, installation, time-based media, and painting. The gallery’s program has included artists with exhibitions at major institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The roster has featured practitioners who have participated in curated projects at the Serpentine Galleries, the Fondation Beyeler, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Bonakdar’s practice situates gallery artists in dialogue with curators from organizations including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, and the Walker Art Center.
The gallery has supported emerging and mid-career artists in residencies and public commissions linked to programs run by entities like the Dia Art Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Through placement of works into collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the gallery has facilitated acquisitions and institutional loans that integrate represented artists into broader museum narratives.
Bonakdar has organized solo and group exhibitions that have toured or informed projects at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Biennial. The gallery mounted projects that intersect with public art initiatives and city commissions similar to those administered by the Public Art Fund and large-scale collaborations with curators from the New Museum and the Hammer Museum. Bonakdar-led exhibitions have been shown alongside programming at international fairs and biennials such as Art Basel Miami Beach and the Istanbul Biennial, and have contributed to scholarship circulated through symposiums at institutions like the Courtauld Institute of Art and the European Graduate School.
The gallery’s exhibition history includes ambitious installation work and multimedia presentations that were later featured in museum retrospectives and catalogues produced by publishers collaborating with the Ringier imprint and academic presses tied to the University of California Press.
Bonakdar has been recognized by art-world organizations and peers for contributions to contemporary art presentation and market development. She has served on juries and advisory committees for awards and programs such as those administered by the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Fellows Program panels in art-related categories, and curatorial prizes connected to institutions like the Venice Biennale selection committees. Her gallery has been cited in industry listings and reports compiled by entities like Artforum, ARTnews, and The Art Newspaper, and she has been profiled in publications associated with cultural critics from outlets linked to the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
Bonakdar has been active in philanthropic efforts that support contemporary art initiatives and cultural institutions, contributing to organizations such as the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Frick Collection fundraising efforts, and regional arts endowments in New York and Los Angeles. She participates in advisory councils and board activities with museums and arts organizations including the New Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and university art programs at institutions like Columbia University and Yale School of Art. Her philanthropy and civic engagement extend to scholarships, residency patronage, and funding for public-facing programs coordinated with nonprofit organizations such as the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Category:American art dealers Category:People from Los Angeles