Samira ABBASSSY (b. 1965) is an Iranian-born, New York-based artist best known for her distinctive figurative oil and gesso paintings that explore the human figure, animals, and scenes of war. Her work draws on a unique visual language that merges European and Iranian-Persian artistic traditions, Christian iconography, Persian and Indian miniature painting, Chinese painting, and Qajar court painting. Deeply influenced by Jungian psychoanalysis and her matriarchal lineage, Abbassy’s practice navigates the intersection of the physical and metaphysical self, tracing connections between individual memory and collective history.

Born in Iran, Abbassy moved to London in 1967 at the age of two. She studied at Canterbury College of Art, graduating in 1987. Shortly thereafter, she relocated to New York, where she founded the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Studio Program—a public charity that supports artists across disciplines by providing studio space and a creative community.

Her work has been exhibited internationally and featured in major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Rubin Museum, the Grey Art Gallery at New York University, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, and the 26th Venice Biennale. Notable exhibitions include Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art of the Middle East and Beyond at LACMA (2023), Reflections: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa at the British Museum (2021), and Bazm and Razm: Feast and Fight in Persian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2015).

Abbassy’s work is held in numerous private and public collections, including the British Government Art Collection, the Burger Collection, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Farjam Collection, the Devi Foundation, the Omid Foundation, the Afkhami Collection, and the Brattleboro Museum.