Artist Biography:

Naomi Friedman, a non-binary visual artist based in Brooklyn, works primarily through the mediums of analog collage and mixed media art. Through their involvement with social justice and arts organizations, Friedman merges their passion for prison activism, queer advocacy, and a commitment to emergent political and artistic praxis. In 2022, they co-founded Boyz With Apple Artist Collective LLC, an initiative that combines their skills in visual arts with physical theatre. Central to Friedman’s creative practice is the use of found object art and community testimony to interrogate creative processes in our modern Age of Surveillance.

In their practice, Friedman explores the line between space and place, using repetition and pattern to play with scale. Inspired by the vibrant colors and whimsical textures of nature, Friedman often works in a warm-toned, primary color palette. Their maximalist style allows them to create intricate narratives, challenging binaries of genre and medium. Just as achieving trans gender euphoria and non-binary identity demands a courageous reconfiguration of self, collage allows for the fantastical reimagination of seemingly mundane, disconnected images. In Friedman’s work, emergent reimagination defies gravity, bending the laws of space and time to question prevailing binaries in society: reason/nature, male/female, guilty/innocent, good/evil.

Exhibition History:

• 2024: Group Exhibition, Galeria Azur, Berlin

• 2024: Group Exhibition, Montserrat Contemporary Art Gallery, New York

• 2024: Solo Exhibition, Clio Art Fair, New York

• 2024: Awarded International Prize Botticelli, Effeto Arte Foundation, Florence

• 2023: Solo Exhibition, Florence Biennale XIV: I Am You, Florence

• 2023: Group Exhibition, International Kolaj Fest, New Orleans