Chantal Zakari

Artist Statement

In my work, I access contemporary social issues by making connections with personal narratives, history, and popular culture. I am inspired by social phenomena and position myself in relationship to a public. I freely combine research methodologies and artistic strategies from various disciplines such as photography, documentary, graphic design, performance, storytelling, installation, and social interventions.

As I approach my work from a conceptual frame, the form is wide ranging; from fabric banners, to ceramic plates, oil paintings produced in factories, resin cast sculptures and news media ads. Text and language is an inherent part of my work; interviews, personal narrative, found text, all have the potential to contextualize the imagery. ​

My work is project based. I draw from academic research as much as intuitive explorations in the graphic arts. As I explore projects over the span of several years the work can transform into exhibitions, installations, publications, performances and street happenings. Designing and re-designing, the work into different contexts brings me a greater understanding of the ideas, and makes it more accessible to different groups of audiences.

Artist Bio

Chantal Zakari is an artist, designer and educator; a Turkish-Levantine now residing in the Boston area. With her husband and studio partner Mike Mandel she has self-published several artist's books under the imprint Eighteen Publications: The Turk & The Jew (1997), webAffairs (2005), Taxi Rides (2009), The State of Ata (2010), They Came to Baghdad (2012), and most recently Lockdown Archive (2015). Her work is represented in: Yale University Art of the Book Collection, Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Getty Research Institute Library, The Kinsey Institute Library, Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam and the Addison Gallery of American Art. Chantal has also had solo shows in Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Los Angeles as well as Izmir and Ankara, Turkey. She has been invited to speak nationally and internationally in Canada, the Netherlands, U.K. and Turkey. She is currently a professor of the Practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston at Tufts University.

Work available on Artsy