Bio


Ala Ebtekar is a visual artist whose work encompasses painting, drawing, alternative photographic processes, installation, and ceramic. His practice explores the intersections of light, time, history, and the cosmos, often bringing distant temporalities into the present and considering the ways we look at the universe—and how it gazes back at us.

His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in public and private collections including the British Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, de Young museum, Berkeley Art Museum, San Francisco International Airport, and Devi Art Foundation, among others.

Ebtekar is the founder and director of Art, Social Space and Public Discourse, a Stanford-based initiative he established in 2016 that investigates the shifting meanings of public space through art, conversation, cultural production, and intellectual exchange.

He has taught at Stanford University since 2009 in the Department of Art & Art History. Over the years, he has also lectured and taught in Comparative Literature, ITALIC, the Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity, and Stanford Global Studies.

Academic Appointments


  • Lecturer, Art & Art History

Projects


  • Art, Social Space and Public Discourse, Stanford University (11/3/2016 - Present)

    "Art, Social Space and Public Discourse" is a global initiative on art that investigates the multiple contexts that shift and define changing ideas of public space. This ongoing critical framework of conversations, newly issued art projects, and exploration of various cultural productions and intellectual traditions looks at recent transformations of civic life.

    Location

    Stanford University

    For More Information:

2026-27 Courses