Sam Samiee

Sam Samiee, born in Tehran, Iran in 1988, is a multi-talented artist, essayist, and psychoanalyst in training, currently based in Berlin and Tehran. He completed his painting education at the University of Arts in Tehran, ArtEZ University of Arts and Design in 2013, and Rijksakademie residency in 2015. He was also a lecturer of painting at ArtEZ University of Arts and Design until 2020. From 2020 to 2024, he serves as a jury member of the Dutch Royal Painting Prize, which he was also awarded in 2016.

Through his extensive research on art history, Persian poetry, and psychoanalytic theories, Samiee integrates his ideas into his artwork, which spans across multiple mediums such as oil paintings, iPad paintings, figuration, abstraction, and text usage. He creates extended paintings, breaking away from the traditional flat paintings, and representing three-dimensional spaces in the space of painting as a metaphor for a set of ideas. His works have been exhibited in several international presentations, including the 10th Berlin Biennale, Kunstmuseum, the Hague, Parasol unit Foundation, Manchester Art Gallery, Hong Kong, and Liste Art Fair. His monograph, Footnotes to Life, awarded as a part of the Wolvecamp Prize for painting in 2018, has won the Best Dutch Book Design in 2020.