Latefa Noorzai

Born 1960, Kabul, Afghanistan
Has practiced at Creative Growth since 2012

Latefa Noorzai, a native Farsi speaker and immigrant to the United States, quickly established her studio practice at Creative Growth despite obstacles of communication and cultural navigation. Noorzai’s tenacity is demonstrated in her bold portrait paintings inspired by a plethora of source material. Her strong and stark outlines, rendered with immediacy, provide loose structure for the heavy and confident brush strokes that permeate her figures with dynamic expression and presence. A master of color, Noorzai paints figures that are, like herself, bright, mercurial, and undaunted by the gaze of others. Noorzai’s work is included in Hannah Rieger’s permanent Art Brut Collection and was nominated for Outsider Art Fair’s Art Absolument Award in 2019.

Latefa Noorzai, hablante nativa de farsi e inmigrante en los Estados Unidos, rápidamente estableció su práctica de estudio en Creative Growth a pesar de los obstáculos de comunicación y navegación cultural. La tenacidad de Noorzai se demuestra en sus atrevidos retratos inspirados en una gran cantidad de material de origen. Sus contornos fuertes y marcados, representados con inmediatez, brindan una estructura suelta para las pinceladas pesadas y seguras que impregnan sus figuras con expresión y presencia dinámica. Maestra del color, Noorzai pinta figuras que, como ella misma, son brillantes, volubles y no se desaniman ante la mirada de los demás. El trabajo de Noorzai está incluido en la Colección Art Brut permanente de Hannah Rieger y fue nominada para el Premio Art Absolument de la Feria de Arte Marginal en 2019.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2022
Outsider Art Fair, New York

2021
4x8-bridges, online exhibition, 8-bridges
Vibrant, Nina Johnson Gallery, Miami
Can’t Beat California, Golestani Gallery, Düsseldorf

2020
Outsider Art Fair, New York
Art Brut Global, Outsider Art Fair, online exhibition

2019  
Outsider Art Fair, New York 
Outsider Art Fair, Paris

2018  
Outsider Art Fair New York
D’Dessin Art Fair, Paris
Outsider Art Fair, Paris
Issue 3, Good Luck Gallery, Los Angeles

2017  
Outsider Art Fair, Paris
Everyday Visionaries, Target, New York

2016  
Common Threads, 836M, San Francisco