CV and Portfolio
Maryam (Mary) Takalou is a multidisciplinary artist. Born in Tehran, she is currently based in Texas. Takalou graduated with an MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University in 2022. She is a Ph.D. Candidate in Visual and Performing Art at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her focus in both her art practices and research is on the role of the body and its status based on the power context. She also works with the idea of defamiliarization and restructuring the landscape by examining it as visually constructed phenomena rather than objective realities. Takalou, through her works, encourages her audiences to actively reconsider their preconceptions and engage with landscapes in a transformative way.
EDUCATION
2022 Ph.D. Candidate, Philosophy of Visual Art and Performance at University of Texas at Dallas.
2019-2022 MFA Studio Art, Fine Art Department at Florida State University.
2011-2014 MA degree in Visual Art / painting, Fine Art Department, University of Tehran, Iran.
2004-2008 BA degree in Painting, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Central Campus, Iran.
1999–2001 Associate degree in Graphic design, Shariati Technical College, Tehran, Iran.
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS/ EMPLOYMENTS
2022-Present Teaching Associate, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas.
2023-March Visiting Artist, Printmaking Workshop, Episcopal School of Dallas.
2020-2022
2016-2018 Instructor, Foundation Drawing, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Instructor, Printmaking, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2015-2016 Instructor, Drawing, Jahad Daneshgahi, University of Tehran, Iran.
2013-2017 Adjunct, Drawing, Machine Printing, Geometry and landscape, Fundamental of Visual Arts, Islamic Azad University, Islamshahr, Iran.
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO:
2023 2021 I sprout someday, ATC Gallery, UT Dallas University, Texas. In-Here Out-There, WMC Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida.
2014 Ophelia, Elahe Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2012 Tools, Hoor Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
GROUP: 2024 2024 2024 Foreign Affairs, Curated by John Pomara, Site 131 Gallery, Dallas, June-August 2024.
Video Installation, Dallas Contemporary Media, Spring 2024.
Blink, Performance show directed by Laura Kim and Thomas Riccio, UTD Theater Spring 2024.
Small Talk, Curated by Laura Kim and Sv Randal at the SPN Gallery, Dallas, Spring 2024.
Group show at Art District Gallery Curated by Pegasus Media Project. Texas Sculpture Symposium, Texas Tech University Art Gallery, Lubbock, Texas
Hold for Discussion, 621 Gallery, Juror 621 Gallery and Quinn Dukes, Tallahassee, Florida.
The Women, Life, Freedom, Irving Art center Gallery, Curated by Greg Metz, Pegasus Media Project. Irving, Texas
Group show, Fort Worth Art Gallery, Curated by Greg Metz, Pegasus Media Project. Fort Worth, Texas
Bodies of Meanings, Mofa (Museum of Florida Art), MFA Candidates show, Tallahassee, Florida.
The Shape of Care, William Johnston Gallery, Curated by Grace Aneiza Ali, Kristen Dowell & Museum Object Class Students, Tallahassee, Florida.
Thresholds, WMC Gallery, Curated by Shelby Hubbard, Tallahassee, Florida.
2021 High Level Structure, WMC Gallery, Curated by Alex Adkinson, Tallahassee, Florida.
2020 Slips, Trips and Falls, Tallahassee, Florida.
2018 Flower group Exhibition, Negar Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2016 The 3rd printmaking exchange annual exhibition, Laleh Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2015 Nowruzaneh Exhibition at Tehran University, to the benefit of unsupervised children with a group of students at University of Tehran.
2014 The other, painting group exhibition, Shirin Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2014 No borderline, Touch Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts.
2013-2015 Painting group exhibition of numerous Iranian painters’ generations, Laleh Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2013 War, painting group exhibition, Ahvaz contemporary art museum, Ahvaz, Iran.
2013 Haft Negah Exhibition, Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran.
2013 Iranian Contemporary Artist’s group exhibition, Laleh Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2012 Small works, Aria Galley, Tehran, Iran.
2012 Tehran Expo, Vahdat Hall, Tehran, Iran.
2012 Process, Printmaking Exhibition, East Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2012 Event, Dey Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2009 ILMONDO FANTASTICO DIROSTAM, Illustrazioni di artist iraniani, Florence, Italy.
2006 King of Book Illustration, Laleh Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2005 Drawing group exhibition, Behzad Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2007 Afarinesh Festival, first prize for drawing, Curating by Islamic Azad University.
2006 Selected for Young Art Festival, Tehran, Iran.
PUBLICATIONS / CONFRENCES
2016
SECAC Conference, “Expanded Site / Material Fracture,” Atlanta, 2024.
Takalou, Maryam; RAW (research, Art, and Writing) Conference, “Body usage as a textual ground in two Diaspora artists’ Artworks Shirin Neshat and Wafaa Bilal”
Moderator: Heidi Cooley, University of Texas at Dallas.
Takalou, Maryam; De Valencia, Laura; Heinemann, Makenzie; RAW (research, Art, and Writing) Conference, Moderator: Roger Malina, University of Texas at Dallas.
Shaker, Vahid; Takalou, Maryam; (2016), “Studying the important factors in purchase the paintings in Tehran”, Lecture in 6th International Conference on Economics Management, 15 January 2016, Belgium: Brussels.
2015 Takalou, Maryam; Goudarzi, Mostafa; (2015), “The diverse benefits of painting in Video Art”, Mehre Norouz Publication, Tehran, Iran.
2015
2014
Shaker, Vahid; Takalou, Maryam; “The Role of Private sector in Iran visual arts market in 80s” The 1st International conference on Science and Engineering, 1st December 2015, UAE: Dubai.
Shaker, Vahid; Takalou, Maryam; Khalili, Hossein (2014), “The role of artists ‘personal studios in selling the visual artworks in Iran” (case study: Tehran city), an abstract of Economy of Iranian Art’s conference, efforts by Mohammadreza Moridi, Tehran: Farhangestan Honor Publication.
SCHOLARSHIP / PRIZE
Robert Plant Armstrong Endowed Scholarship, 2024
UTD Scholarship, 2022.
Candidate for Dedalus Foundation Scholarship, Florida State University, 2022
Multiple Scholarships, Florida State University, 2020-2022
FSU Scholarship, 2019
First Prize for Drawing, Afarinesh Festival, University of Tehran and Contemporary Art Museum of Tehran
Beyond the Nets, 2021– 23
Fabrics, Metal, hair, wire, glue, video
Pictures from different shows at Art distinct Dallas,(with a projecting video inside the piece) Dallas 2023, Art Fort Worth 2023. The video available on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/795104632
Printmaking, Clay, Acrylic Color on torn clothes, glue, sewing. 9ft. 10in. x 9ft. 10in., 2022- 23 Installation pictures from different shows in Irving Art Center, Art Fort Worth, MOFA (Museum of Fine Art at
Exploded Nets
Mesh Wire, Torn Chador and Scarves Clay, Glue, Gold leaf sheets 89x90 inches, 2022
, ATC gallery, Performance, Video and Installation with bricks made from torn clothes of my mother, molded with FGR, and embedded with family pictures. Seeds planted in the bricks have begun to sprout over time.
Forgetting or Remembering 2023-24
From series of Self-Documentation / Traversing Memories.
A performance and video by Maryam Takalou, Spring 2023.
(Top) Photos from a live performance at UTD; (Bottom) Screenshots from the video available on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/926039904. In this project, the artist wears a dress inspired by the form of a body bag, adorned with withered flowers referencing Khavaran Cemetery and Persian Gardens. The performance involves the ritualistic act of knocking stones, creating cracks, and planting seeds, symbolizing the cultural practice of remembering the dead buried in the land.
This is my screaming at painful volume the names that we missed in silence.
The video available on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/926039904 https://vimeo.com/926040793
The Forgotten Garden, 2022-2023, 6 in 6.5 feet Oil and acrylic on canvas, featuring a body bag pattern inspired by the Khavaran Cemetery site. Accompanied by a suspended sculptural piece in front of the canvas.
in Persian Painting.
Positional status, Details of installation and video projection. Top-right: process documentation of making, planting, and growing seeds on the bodies. Their growth and transformation were documented daily.