Saif Azzuz (b. 1987) is a Libyan-Yurok artist who resides in Pacifica, CA. Azzuz’s paintings straddle abstraction and surrealism in their sweeping use of color, sensual movement, and evocation of the natural world. 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 the importance of a holistic connection with the land, while simultaneously confronting the history of colonialism and manifest destiny. You can see how he translated his style into a coloring book page in Between the Lines: An RxART Coloring Book by Contemporary Artists – Volume 9.
He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Painting and Drawing from the California College of the Arts in 2013. Azzuz 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; Galerie Julien Cadet, Paris, FR; Pt.2 Gallery, Oakland, CA; Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco, CA; NIAD, Oakland, CA; Rule Gallery, Denver, CO; Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY and forthcoming group exhibitions in 2023 at Jack Barrett, New York, 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 Rennie Museum, de Young Museum – Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Facebook, North Carolina Museum of Art, University of St. Thomas, Stanford Health Care Art Collection and UBS Art Collection.