About

 

Rebecca Youssef is a mixed media artist with a special focus on the use of repurposed materials. Raised on the north shore of O’ahu, Hawaii, she currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Galvanized by the sustainability movement to protect our planet, Rebecca employs a broad range of experimental processes to give new life to discarded paper, boxes, and bags, immortalizing them in art, and thus honoring their journey from tree to canvas.

A cultivator of native California oak trees, her family’s acorn project has seen over 25,000 acorns planted in the Santa Monica Mountains over the past ten years. Her love of trees and nature is reflected in her work as she strives to only use recycled, second-hand paper products.

Rebecca received her BFA from the University of Arizona in Tucson before moving to Los Angeles to pursue her MA in Art Education at Loyola Marymount University. Following her graduation, Rebecca taught art at various schools across Los Angeles. Her work has been supported by several grants and awards including the Brand 51 Works on Paper Associates Award (2023), the Art of Recovery Grant (2022 & 2024), and the We Rise Grant (2021), among others. She has been featured in Artforum, Hyperallergic, Thrillist, and Los Angeles Magazine, among other publications.

 

Email: hello[at]rebeccayoussef.com

Featured In:

Rebecca-Youssef-Art-in-the-studio.jpg

EXHIBITIONS

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 We Can Grow A Forest, Slipstream Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2023 Endangered, Art At The Airport, Santa Monica, CA

SELECTED TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2022 Dropped: Drop Cloths Reimagined, Slipstream Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

NATIONAL GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 Nature’s Pulse, Art Share LA, Los Angeles, CA, curator Baha Denesh
2024 National Collage Society, Meyerhoff Gallery @ MICA, Baltimore, MD, jurors David Adix, Jennifer Bates & Nikki Woods
2024 WHIPLASH, Propeller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA curators April Banks, Rebecca Youssef & Alexandra Dillon
2024 Tree Stories, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
2024 Blackout, Ashton Gallery, San Diego, CA2024 Ready Go, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2024 A Ball Court, Crocodiles, I Like Your Work Winter Exhibition, curator Jenny Wu
2024 Small Time, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Volume 6: Emergent Artists, Contemporary Art Chronicle virtual exhibit
2023 Small Works, Slipstream Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2023 Brand 51, The Brand Library & Art Center, Glendale, CA, curator Ara Oshagan
2023 Transient Bodies, Roaring Artist Gallery virtual exhibit, curator Inge Flinte
2022 Art At The Airport, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
2022 Red Dot Miami, Jen Tough Gallery, Miami, FL
2022 Notions of Beauty, I Like Your Work Winter Exhibition, curator Eric Hibit
2022 Art Expo Dallas, Jen Tough Gallery, Dallas, TX
2022 Undisclosed Location, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2022 The Other Art Fair, Santa Monica, CA
2022 Choice, Jen Tough Gallery, Artsy.net
2022 Radical Propagations, Propeller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, curator Maru Garcia
2022 Dreams, Artist Alliance Community online exhibit, curator Jen Tough
2022 Collective Acts of Peace, Slipstream Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, curator Frida Cano
2022 Interior/Exterior, Artist Alliance Community online exhibit, curator Jen Tough
2022 Women In Art 2022, Las Lagunas Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2022 Green, The Artist Alliance, ArtistAlliance Community, curator Jen Tough
2022 Regulated Garbage, ShockBoxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA
2021 Open Show, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA, curator Peter Frank
2021 Drawn To Paper: Fresh Perspectives in Mixed Media, Brea Gallery, Brea, CA
2021 Nexus, The Artists Council, Palm Desert, CA
2021 The Other Art Fair, Santa Monica, CA
2021 NOMAD, The Torrance Museum of Art Pop Up Art Fair, Torrance, CA, curator Max Presneill
2021 Upcycle, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA, curator Elizabeth East
2021 Surfing The Pacific Rim, Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA, curators Phil Roberts and Rick Rietveld
2021 Yesterday, Today, Every Day, ArtMumsUnited.com
2021 Landscapes, Light Space & Time Online Gallery
2021 Geographics, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA, curator Chris Davies
2021 Recovery Justice: Being Well, 18th St. Art Center, Santa Monica, CA, curator Frida Cano
2021 Women In Art 2021, Las Lagunas Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2021 Reflections 20/20, Artists Council, Palm Springs, CA
2021 All Painting/Drawing, CAGO Gallery, Annapolis, MD
2020 Aurora, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Facing Darkness, The North Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, curator Frida Cano
2020 De-Fence Art, Santa Monica Airport, Santa Monica, CA
2020 Art In The Time Of Corona, Dab Art Co., Los Angeles, CA
2020 Gleaming Apollo, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Small Works, Big Talent, Las Lagunas Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2020 Made In California, The Brea Gallery, Brea, CA
2020 Drawing Connections, The North Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2020 PhotoSpiva 2020, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, MO
2020 February Exhibition, Jones Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2019 Transformations, 18th St. @ The Airport Hallway Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, curator Frida Cano
2019 Estimated Time Of Arrival, Arena One Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2019 Seascapes, Light Space & Time Online Gallery
2018 Works On Paper, Hangar Gallery North, Santa Monica, CA
2018 Tides & Currents, Santa Monica Art Studios, Santa Monica, CA
2017 Beneath The Surface, Hangar Gallery South, Santa Monica, CA
2017 The Santa Monica Airport Art Walk, Santa Monica, CA
2006 Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, The Laband Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, curators Chris Scoates and Tyler Stallings
2006 Altered Books: Identity Portraits, St. Robert’s Hall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1996 A Stitch In Time, The Gross Gallery, Tucson, AZ1996 Ways Of Seeing, The Union Gallery, Tucson, AZ

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2024 Co-Curator, WHIPLASH: Art in the Ever-Changing Now, Propeller Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Founder of SoCal Crits
2022 Founder of Art At The Airport, funded by the City of Santa Monica
2019 18th Street Arts Center Artist-in-Residence
2006-07 Santa Monica High School Painting and Drawing Student Teacher
2006 Artsmart Artist Mentor at various middle schools in Los Angeles

AWARDS

2024 City of Santa Monica’s Department of Cultural Affairs curatorial grant
2023 Brand 51 Works on Paper Associate’s Award
2022 Art of Recovery Grant Recipient, City of Santa Monica
2021 We Rise Grant Recipient
2006 Adele Vercoe Grant Recipient
2006 Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition Honorable Mention, curators Chris Scoates and Tyler Stallings

COLLECTIONS

Apple, American Airlines, Aritzia, Fairmont Hotel Banff, HBO


PUBLICATIONS

Artforum
Hyperallergic
Los Angeles Magazine
Thrillist.com
All She Makes Magazine
The Huts Magazine, Issue #3
Contemporary Artists, Issue 1
I Like Your Work Magazine
The Huts Magazine, Issue #4
Arts To Hearts Magazine, Issue #2

 

PODCASTS

The Aart Podcast, 2023
The Flying Fruitbowl, 2023
Humanitarian Entrepreneur, 2022


EDUCATION

2006 MA, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA.
Concentration: Art Education

2006 California Clear Single Subject Teaching Credential in the Visual Arts

1996 BFA, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Major Concentration: Painting and Ceramics
Minor Studies: Art History and Spanish

1996 Servicio Voluntario Internacional, Murcia, Spain

Person assembling painted cardboard pieces on a canvas in an art studio.
Art materials on trays, including colorful paper scraps, a paint swatch, and handmade paper.
A woman in a green jumpsuit kneeling on the floor, engaged in a craft project involving a rectangular frame and a plastic container. The setting appears to be an art studio with various supplies in the background.
Artist sitting on a pile of cardboard in an art studio with abstract paintings on the wall.
Stack of assorted colored paper and fabric scraps on a table.
Artist painting on canvas in studio with art supplies and colorful paintings around.