SubversivePress is an independent press and a platform for disseminating work by Gita Hashemi and invited collaborators. It was established in 2004 by artists Haleh Niazmand and Gita Hashemi and designer Daniel Ellis as a collaborative platform for critical thinking through creation, publication and dissemination of independent arts-driven projects with a political twist. The platform took its name after Gallery Subversive, artist Haleh Niazmand’s independent gallery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. SubversivePress collaborations resulted in the publication of Locating Afghanistan and In Contact in Iraq, both drawing on photography by Babak Salari.
When life intervened and Niazmand and Ellis had to pursue other directions, SubversivePress went dormant for some years. In 2012 Hashemi revived the concept of an autonomous press as a site for ad hoc collaborations and dissemination of critical art with the project The Book of Illumination. Since then, the site functions as a meta domain for multi-part and/or multi-platform projects.
The original logo designed by Daniel Ellis was retired in 2024. The current logo is designed by Gita Hashemi.- - see projects