Negar Ahkami's paintings and mixed media work have examined Orientalist imagery in art history and pop culture. Her work has grappled with painfully cartoonish depictions as well as the seductive, universal escapism of Orientalist exotica. Ahkami's work also turns a gaze on Western appropriation of the art of Iran and its neighbors —a region often lumped together and skipped over, despite its cultural influence. She explores different facets of these overarching themes through a wide, psychological, symbolic visual vocabulary.

Ahkami's paintings have shimmering, bas-relief surfaces inspired by Iranian lusterware ceramics and Ancient Near Eastern reliefs.  Her art is intentionally maximalist, like the richly patterned Iranian art and flamboyant humanity that inspire her. Her work emphasizes an expressive hand and dynamic movement. In all her work, Persian art influences blend with global art histories and popular culture, to celebrate the relevance and interconnectivity of the art histories of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and other neighbors.

Negar Ahkami (b. 1971 Baltimore, MD) attended the Art Students League of New York in her youth, received her BA from Columbia University and an MFA in Fine Arts from School of Visual Arts. Ahkami is an alumnae of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the LMCC Workspace and Governors Island Residencies, Ahkami has had solo exhibitions and group exhibitions, nationally and internationally, in venues such as the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, The North Carolina Museum of Art, the Walters Museum of Art, the Benton Museum of Art, the Chelsea Art Museum, Bronx Museum of Art, Queens Museum of Art, Rutgers University, Princeton University, Arlington Arts Center, Cody Gallery at Marymount University, Leila Heller Gallery, Stefan Stux Gallery, Kravets Wehby Gallery, Marvelli Gallery, and David Zwirner Gallery. Her work is represented nationally and internationally in public, corporate and private art collections, such as The New Britain Museum of American Art, Depaul University Art Museum, Wellington Management, the Farjam Collection (UAE), and the Mahmoud Afkhami Collection (UAE). Her work has featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, ArtNews and in art books, for example, Talin Grigor, Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio (Reaktion, 2014), Different Sames, New Perspectives in Contemporary Iranian Art (Thames & Hudson 2009). Ahkami currently lives in Arlington, VA and is a Longterm Artist Residency at Arlington Arts Center.