NEW YORK, NY.- Sargent's Daughters announced representation of Yaron Michael Hakim, following his recent solo exhibition at Sargent's Daughters West.

Hakim considers identity through the lens of speciation, disrupting the established order of self and other, human and more-than-human. Embedded in Los Angeles' ecology and culture, Hakim offers a new approach to understanding hybrid identities; his camouflaged self-portraits often blend his features with those of the non-native, wild parrots that fly over his East LA home. His latest series investigates the exchange of flora across continents.

His forthcoming artist book, Yaron Michael Hakim: Psittaciformes will be published with Grand Central Art Center and X Artists’ Books in September 2023, with an essay by John Spiak (Director/Chief Curator at Grand Central Art Center), text by poet Amy Gerstler, and a conversation with José Luis Blondet (Senior Curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles).

Yaron Michael Hakim (b. 1980 Bogotá, Colombia) lives and works in Los Angeles. Hakim received an MFA from the University of California (Irvine, CA) in 2013 and a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, MD) in 2002. Hakim has had recent solo exhibitions at Sargent’s Daughters (Los Angeles, CA), California State University (Sacramento, CA), Grand Central Art Center (Santa Ana, CA), Herrnando’s Hideaway (Miami, FL) and LAXART (Los Angeles, CA). His work has been included in group exhibitions at California State University (San Francisco, CA), Praz-Delavallade (Los Angeles, CA), Art+Chateau (Ladoix-Serrigny, France), BBQLA (Los Angeles, CA); and at The Box (Los Angeles, CA), among others.

Hakim currently teaches painting at Otis College of Art and Design and the University of Southern California. He is represented by Sargent’s Daughters.

Yaron Michael Hakim: Psittaciformes is a 104-page publication published in conjunction with an exhibition curated by John D. Spiak at Grand Central Art Center (GCAC), California State University, Fullerton, Santa Ana, California (September 4, 2021–January 9, 2022) and a companion project by the artist presented with artist Elliott Hundley in his Los Angeles-based studio (October 30, 2021–January 14, 2022).

The publication will include a foreword by John D. Spiak, GCAC Director/Chief Curator, text by poet Amy Gerstler, and a conversation between artist Yaron Michael Hakim and MoCA Senior Curator José Luis Blondet.

Stephen Serrato designed the publication for ELLA with assistance from Gabrielle Pulgar, edited by John D. Spiak, text edited by John Farmer, photographed by Ruben Diaz, and color corrections by Tony Manzella and his team at Echelon.

Distribution of the publication will be in partnership with X Artists’ Books, Los Angeles, printed in Hong Kong by Permanent Printing LTD.