Sonia Balassanian

"The many worlds of Sonia Balassanian, an Iranian American political artist of Armenian descent who came to renown in the 1980s and early 1990s. 'Imagine Otherwise' is an anthology of books on queer, non-binary, or female-identifying artists who have produced a substantial body of work but may have no publication concerning their art or life in print at the time of commissioning. The overall proposition, to "imagine" a world "otherwise," stems from the desire to find a different way of looking, writing, and reading about art. Can art be examined unreservedly, unburdened of the limits imposed by any perceived "dominant hand" of hegemony? In the first volume of the series, author Dr. Omar Kholeif reveals a deeply personal portrait of Iranian Armenian American artist Sonia Balassanian. Weaving through poetry, memoir, and historical anecdote, Kholeif explodes the edges of the New York art world, tracing the contours of Balassanian's world."