SubversivePress is a platform for disseminating critical art by Gita Hashemi. 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. In 2012 Hashemi, who maintained the domain from the beginning, revived the concept of an autonomous press as a site for collaborations and dissemination of critical art with the project The Book of Illumination. Since then, the site functions as a meta domain for Hashemi’s projects. The logo appearing here was designed by Daniel Ellis for the original site. - - see projects