A T E L I E R B A B A N
T A N I A B A B A N
photo by Jim Natal
Tania Baban is a Los Angeles-based book artist and graphic designer. Born in Baghdad, Baban lived in Beirut and Geneva before moving to Los Angeles in 1981 to attend Otis College of Art & Design. She worked for 13 years at the National Football League’s Creative Services Division as a graphic designer. Her artist’s books are held in many private, museum, and library collections. Along with establishing Atelier Baban, a design studio, she also co-founded Conflux Press, an independent publishing company.
In 2013 she embarked on a new creative journey of painting/mixed media. Her vision is marrying book arts with painting in a new approach that envisions the concept that the book and the canvas can engage in a dialogue with each other. Her ultimate goal is an exhibit/installation—a conversation—that merges the artist “book” and “canvas,” where the book content inspires and shapes the paintings. Her work ultimately addresses environmental, political, and social issues while weaving the influence of culture and heritage in a thought-provoking way.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design, Otis College
of Arts and Design Los Angeles, 1981-1985
COLLECTIONS
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Brown University, Hay Library, Providence, Rhode Island
Columbia University Libraries, New York
George Mason University, Fenwick Library, Fairfax, Virginia
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California
Herron Art Library of IUPUI, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University, Telavi, Georgia
Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
Oberlin College Library, Oberlin, Ohio
Otis College of Art & Design, Los Angeles
San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco
Scripps College, Ella Strong Denison Library, Claremont, California
University of Southern California, Doheny Library, Los Angeles
University of California, Santa Cruz, McHenry Library, Santa Cruz, California
University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of Western England, Bristol, United Kingdom
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts
TEACHING and PRESENTATIONS
Antioch University, Los Angeles, California
ASU Artist Book Coalition, ABAA, Phoenix, Arizona
Atelier Genevois de Gravure, Geneva, Switzerland
BookArtsLA, Los Angeles
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California
Hiromi International Paper, Culver City, California
House of Lebanon, Los Angeles
Idyllwild Arts, Idyllwild, California
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles
Los Angeles Book Arts Center, Los Angeles
The Ruskin Art Club, Los Angeles
Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland
Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona
CORPORATE DESIGN EXPERIENCE
Graphic Designer, National Football League, Creative Services Division,
Los Angeles, 1989-2002
SMALL PRESS PUBLISHING
Co-founder (with Jim Natal), Conflux Press, an independent press, 2004-present
VOLUNTEER WORK
Board member, BookArtsLA, Los Angeles, California, 2011-2019
Board member, Los Angeles Book Arts Center, 2003-2007