Saif Azzuz Libyan-Yurok, b. 1987
Overview
Saif Azzuz, Gathering Ferns, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 203.2 x 152.4 cm.
Azzuz’s paintings straddle abstraction and surrealism in their sweeping use of color, sensual
movement, and evocation of the natural world. The paintings are full and alive, pressing their
power up to the very edges of the canvas, resisting their frames. The shapes he makes are like
liquid leaves-stretching, reaching, pulling, pushing, almost vibrating with the cycles of the
seasons. Azzuz uses a series of personal gestural marks and an iconography derived from the
traditions and native land of his peoples.
movement, and evocation of the natural world. The paintings are full and alive, pressing their
power up to the very edges of the canvas, resisting their frames. The shapes he makes are like
liquid leaves-stretching, reaching, pulling, pushing, almost vibrating with the cycles of the
seasons. Azzuz uses a series of personal gestural marks and an iconography derived from the
traditions and native land of his peoples.
His work reflects the resilience of Indigenous cultures and our collective need to view nature as an extension of us, rather than a resource to be extracted. For Azzuz, the land is a marker of space in a time of fleeting ecologies and environmental catastrophe. Traditionally, settlers view the land as something to be conquered, while indigenous peoples view the land as a relative to be nurtured and protected. Azzuz’s artworks are portraits of living beings rather than depictions of a landscape that exists outside of us.
The ghostly images of plants that cover Saif Azzuz’s canvases and paintings on paper are
created by spraying various pigments (spray paint, dyes, inks) on top of native and invasive
plant species which have been laid on top of the surface, thus incorporating the land into each
painting. Azzuz's color palettes are taken from the drought and fire maps from California.
His work revolves around the de-contextualization of Yurok and Arab imagery. Starting with
stories by, of, and for family members, Azzuz constructs spaces utilizing colorful ink and acrylic paint on tapestry-like canvas imbuing the work with the washy luminosity and gentle disquiet of dreams. The titles for his pieces are conversational and often include Yurok language, further highlighting traditional and contemporary culture side-by-side, and asserting Yurok people’s deep, ongoing commitment to land stewardship. Through self-defined symbolism communicating ideas such as movement, energy and time, Azzuz works to acknowledge and validate generational trauma, resilience, land and story.
Biography
Portrait of Saif Azzuz. Photography by Chris Grunder.
Saif Azzuz (b. 1987) is a Libyan-Yurok artist who resides in Pacifica, CA. He received a
Bachelor’s Degree in Painting and Drawing from the California College of the Arts in 2013.
Azzuz has a forthcoming solo exhibition at Blaffer Art Museum in Houston, TX in 2025 and has exhibited widely in the bay area including exhibitions at 1599dt Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Adobe Books, San Francisco, CA; Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA; CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA; de Young Museum - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; Galerie Julien Cadet, Paris, FR; ICA SF, San Francisco, CA; Pt.2 Gallery, Oakland, CA; Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco, CA; Kadist, San Francisco, CA; PRAX, Oregon State University, OR; NIAD, Oakland, CA; Rule Gallery, Denver, CO; Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY; Jack Barrett, New York, NY; Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY and K Art, Buffalo, NY. Azzuz is a 2022 SFMOMA SECA Award finalist and has participated in the Clarion Alley Mural Project and the Facebook Artist in Residence program.
Selected public collections include de Young Museum - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA; Facebook, Menlo Park, CA; Gochman Family Collection, NY; KADIST, San
Francisco, CA; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Rennie Museum, Vancouver,
Canada; Stanford Health Care Art Collection, Menlo Park, CA; UBS Art Collection, New York,
NY; and University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, MN.