Nazar Yahya was born in Baghdad in 1963. He rst started working as an artist while still in high school, working as an illustrator for a children’s magazine in the early 1980s. He majored in art while in college, graduating from the Painting department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1987. In 2008, he moved to Houston, Texas with his family. Nazar Yahya’s artwork has been exhibit extensively in the Middle East in Beirut , Bahrain, Amman, Dubai, and Qatar. His artwork has also been exhibited beyond the Middle East in London, Norway, Bangladesh, and the United States. Yahya’s artwork was included in the book Art in Iraq Today that was published by Skira and Meem Editions. The British Museum, London; the Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar; and the Station Museum in Houston, Texas have collected his work.
Born in Baghdad, 1963
1987 BA in Painting, Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad University, Baghdad
1994 Graphic Expiation, Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad
2000 French Cultural Centre, Amman
2001 French Cultural Cnetre, Doha
2002 Steel and Asphalt Memory, French Cultural Centre, Doha
2004 Blocks, Orfali Gallery, Amman
2007 Beard Land, Karmin Gallery, Amman
2008 Beard Code, Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
2011 Yusuf, Al Bareh Art Gallery, Bahrain
2012 Rosewater, Wade Wilson Art Gallery, Houston
2014 The Truth, Wade Wilson Art Gallery, Houston
2015 Reconquista , Meem Art Gallery , Dubai
1985 Fredrickstad Biennale, Fredrickstad
1997 Environment and Surroundings in Iraqi Art, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman Homage to Jawad Selim, Athar Gallery, Baghdad
1999 Three Iraqi Artists, Agial Gallery, Beirut Fifty Years of Iraqi Graphics, Darat Al Funun, Amman
2000 Fredrickstad Triennial, Fredrickstad
2002 Asian Art Biennale, Dhaka
2003 Five Contemporary Artists from Iraq, Green Art Gallery, Dubai
2005 Improvisation: Seven Iraqi Artists, Bissan Gallery, Doha; Al-Riwaq Gallery, Bahrain; 4 Walls Gallery, Amman. Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, University of North Texas, Houston,Texas Iraqi Arists, Musèe du Montparnasse, Paris
2006 Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota; University of Texas, El Paso, Texas; Daura Gallery, Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Virginia World Into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East, British Museum, London
2007 Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, The Centre for Book Arts, New York; Minneapolis Athenaeum, Minneapolis, Minnesota; NIU Art Museum, DeKalb, Illinois; The Jaffe Centre for Book Arts, Boca Raton, Florida Negative Positive to Iraqi Artists, Albareh Gallery, Manama
2008 Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, Denison University, Granville, Ohio Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai
2010 A Chair and Painting, Albareh Gallery, Bahrain My Home Land, Art Sawa Gallery, Dubai Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha Art in Iraq Today: Part II, Meem Gallery, Dubai
2011 Art In Iraq Today: Conclusion, Meem Gallery, Dubai On the Edge of New, Wade Wilson Art Gallery, Houston
2012 Artifactul Realities, Station Museum, Houston Impressions,Wade Wilson Art Gallery, Houston
1997 Homage to Jawad Salim, received three artistic awards
2004 First Prize in Painting, Emaar, Dubai
Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha British Museum, London / Kinda Foundation, Saudi Arabia Touch@Art, London
Station Museum, Houston