about
Bonny Nahmias was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel. She moved to the United States in 2006 at the age of eighteen in protest of Israel’s mandatory military service. Nahmias first lived in Brooklyn, NY, where she explored performance art and the theatrical world. She later moved to San Francisco and received her BFA from California College of the Arts in sculpture and visual studies in 2016. She has maintained involvement in arts organizations in New York and San Francisco and exhibited her work at Root Division, Heron Arts, Hubbell Street Galleries, Southern Exposure, SOMArts, and Asian Art Museum. Through a broad range of media that includes sculpture, performance and video, Nahmias examines human conflicts and sociopolitical subjects that relate to her background and upbringing in Israel. Torn between the desire to reach for and reject her birthplace, the results of her work can be seen as satirical love letters to her past and present.
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Born and raised in Israel, currently based in the woods of Northern California
Contact:
bonnynahmias@gmail.com
Education
2016 California College of the Arts, BFA Sculpture and Visual Studies
Solo Exhibition
2021 Shirat Ha’yam, FRANK-RATCHYE PROJECT SPACE, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2020 To Hold Space, Ground Level Platform, Chicago, IL
2017 Analog Kisses, One+One+Two, San Francisco, CA
2016 Making My Way Back Home, College Avenue Galleries, Oakland, CA
The Landscapes of Her Body, A21, Oakland, CA
Group Exhibitions
2022 The Shmita Year, Peninsula JCC and Osher Marin JCC, Foster City and San Rafael, CA
2020 Family Matters, Root Division, San Francisco, CA (online exhibition)
RD Makes 2020, Root Division, San Francisco, CA (online exhibition)
Action 2020, Root Division, San Francisco, CA (online exhibition)
“What Are You Currently Making?”, Borderline Art Collective, World-Wide (online exhibition)
2019 RD Makes 2019, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Action 2019, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
While I Am Waiting, curated by Think Make Tank, Code and Canvas, San Francisco, CA
Taste 2019, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Taste, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2018 **Optimism**, Endless Biennal, Endless Editions, New York, NY
Introductions 2018, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Betweenscapes, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
2017 The Call, (performance collaboration with MENA members: Priya Assal Gheysari, Atoosa Maleki, and
Sarah Farahat), Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Finding My Freedom, 3rd Street Village Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Meet "Them", 100 Days Action, Hubbell Street Galleries, San Francisco, CA
2016 Me & You & This Other Thing, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Alma Mater, Hubbell Street Galleries, San Francisco, CA
Real People Perform(s) Real People, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
Back Porch, Heron Arts, San Francisco, CA
Baccalaureate Exhibition, Campus Center Galleries, San Francisco, CA
Lysistrata Syndicate, A21, Oakland, CA
2015 As Above So Below, College Avenue Galleries, Oakland, CA
Blasé - The Life of Hans and Barrios, collaboration with Hannah Volckmann, College Avenue Galleries, Oakland, CA
Community Art Project (Curated by Hang Art), Clyde & Co. LLP, San Francisco, CA
Urban Boundaries, Main Campus Galleries, San Francisco, CA
2014 Transformed Desires, Isabelle Percy West Gallery, Oakland, CA
2013 Accreditate This! City College Ocean Avenue Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Annual Juried Show, City College Ocean Avenue Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Public Art
2021 Window Installation at Cumaica cafe, This Bird Had Flown II, by ARTSPAN, San Francisco, CA
2020 Mural, La Oración De La Nona, by Sutter Health, San Francisco, CA
Mural, Ask And You Shall Receive, by 100 Days Actions, San Francisco, CA
Residencies and Fellowships
2024 LABA BAY, visual artist fellow, Firehouse, San Francisco, CA, USA
2020 Artist in residence, Root Division Artist Studio Program, San Francisco, CA, USA
2019 Participating artist, Bay Area Jewish Artists Retreat, Asylum Arts, Mill Valley, CA, USA
Artist in residense, ACRE, Steuben, WI, USA
Participating artist, Immersion 3.0, School of Making Thinking (hosted by Cucalorus), Wilmington, NC, USA
2018 Participating artist, Visions, Asylum Arts and Repair The World, Detroit, MI, USA
Artist member, Open Windows Cooperative, San Francisco, CA, USA
2017 Artist in residence, One+One+Two, San Francisco, CA, USA
Artist in residence, AADK (Aktuelle Architektur Der Kultur), Centro Negro, Spain
2016 Artist member and organizer, MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Art Group, SF/OAK, CA, USA
Grants and Awards
2021 Excelsior Art Initiative Grant, ARTSPAN
Asylum Arts Collaborative Production Grant
2020 Asylum Arts Small Grants
2016 Graduated with High Distinctions, California College of the Arts
2015 Student Travel Award, California College of the Arts
Clyde & Co. Community Art Prize Award
Clyde & Co. Honorarium
Mentionable Honor, California College of the Arts All College Honors
2014 Jewish Family and Children Services Grant Award
Books, Press, Publications & Conferences
2022 One Another’s Guarantors: Made in Contact and the Art of Mutual Responsibility, Image Journal, No. 113
Asylum Arts: A Shelter For Jewish Artists by Lonnie Firestone, Canvas
2021 Made in Contact by Bonny Nahmias and Gabriella Willenz, Asylum Arts News
Made In Contact, co produced by Gabriella Willenz and Bonny Nahmias, E-book
Shared Dreams Of The Sea // by Leora Fridman, Variable West
2020 The Racket: Quarantine Journal No. 4
2018 The Other Iron Dome, Jewish Currents
Introduction 2018 by Bonny Nahmias, Asylum Arts News
2016 Representing Israel/Palestine, Thesis Presenter, California College of the Arts
Glance Magazine, Spring Biannual
Visual Studies Spring Symposium, Thesis Presenter, California College of the Arts
2015 Urban Boundaries, Multiculturalism
2014 Humble Pie, Fall
Humble Pie, Spring
2012 The Guardsman