Biography

Taner Paşamehmetoğlu is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose work blends storytelling, environmental urgency, and cultural identity. Rooted in both tradition and experimentation, his practice incorporates painting, photography, and mixed media —often using upcycled materials and natural elements—to examine themes of sustainability and consumerism.

Born in the U.S. to parents from Turkiye, Paşamehmetoğlu grew up in a home where making art was part of everyday life. Both of his parents are also painters. Drawing, painting, and photography were constant. His interest in photography deepened during family trips to Türkiye, where he co-opted the family camera to document landscapes, people, and daily moments. These early experiences shaped his long-term interest in using images to tell stories.

He earned a degree in Strategic Communication from the University of Utah, where he worked as a photojournalist and Photo Editor for the Daily Utah Chronicle. From 2013 to 2019, he was part of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake game-day photography team, developing from an intern into a trusted contributor. Over seven seasons, he focused on capturing the emotional and human side of the team, work that was widely used by the club and players alike.

In addition to his work in sports media, Paşamehmetoğlu developed a parallel career in creative advertising, contributing to high-profile campaigns for Fortune 500 clients such as Microsoft and Subway Restaurants. He also worked on several public safety and environmental initiatives for the Utah Highway Safety Office and Utah Department of Natural Resources. In 2018, he collaborated on Shattered Lives Tree, a sculpture of a Christmas Tree made from broken alcohol bottles and car parts addressing drunk driving. The piece received regional recognition from the American Advertising Federation. Projects like this underscored his growing awareness of the power of art.

Despite his success in commercial environments, Paşamehmetoğlu began to feel a growing tension between his values and the consumerist nature of the industry he was working in. He began dedicating evenings and weekends to his own creative practice, treating his studio as a space to interrogate the systems he helped promote. His work became increasingly personal, drawing from his experiences as a Turkish-American navigating cultural hybridity and reflecting on questions of purpose, belonging, and identity. These inquiries naturally led him to the broader concept of the “American Dream”—its promises, its failures, and its environmental costs.

Relocating to California in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paşamehmetoğlu found renewed inspiration in the natural world. Settling in Sacramento, he began experimenting more intentionally with environmentally-conscious processes: using salvaged wood, broken electronics, and repurposed packaging as canvases or sculptural components, and even inviting natural forces like wind, rain, and heat to shape the outcome of his pieces. This approach helped blur the line between artist and environment, process and product.

In 2023, he was selected for a one-year artist residency with the City of Sacramento’s Office of Climate Action and Sustainability. Through this residency, Paşamehmetoğlu used his art practice to engage communities in conversations about climate change, particularly the impacts of extreme heat in disinvested neighborhoods. The culminating project of this residency, titled Make Your Mark, invited over 100 residents from across Sacramento to participate in a collaborative abstract-expressionist mural. By democratizing the creative process, the work helped participants explore artistic expression as a tool for civic engagement and learn more about climate change. Make Your Mark now hangs at the Joe Mims, Jr. Hagginwood Community Center as part of the City’s Art in Public Places Collection.

Paşamehmetoğlu’s fine art practice has been steadily gaining recognition. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions across California, including the 2023 Axis Gallery National Juried Exhibition and the 2023 Magnum Opus Juried Exhibition at Sacramento Fine Arts Center, where he won second place. His painting The American Dream was recently featured in circiulum for the Advanced Painting: Reconsidering the Portrait and Figure course at the University of California, Berkeley, introducing his exploration of cultural identity into academic discourse.

Today, Paşamehmetoğlu continues his practice from his home studio in Sacramento. He is a member artist at Axis Gallery and Atrium 916. Whether working solo in his studio, co-creating with nature, or engaging community members through participatory art, Paşamehmetoğlu remains driven by a desire to make work that sparks conversation and invites reflection—on who we are, what we consume, and the world we hope to leave behind.

CV/Resume

 Solo Exhibitions

• May 2026, Palimpsest, Arthouse on R, Sacramento CA

• January 2026, Buy Now, Axis Gallery, Sacramento CA

• January 2025-March 2025, Featured Artist, Fort Sutter Hotel, Sacramento, CA

Duo Exhibitions

• June-July 2024, "Chasing the Raft of the Medusa", Chico Arts Center, Chico, CA

Group Exhibitions

• 2026 - Joy as Resistance, Demo Spot, Sacramento, CA

• 2026 - Tekhne, Panama Art Factory, Sacramento, CA

• 2026 - Jest Fest, Red Museum, Sacramento, CA

• 2025 - Noche Oscura, Red Museum, Sacramento CA

• 2025 - Rhythm, Repetition, Ritual, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA

• 2025 - New Wave, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA

• 2025 - Altered State, E Street Gallery, Sacramento, CA 

• 2025 - Rie-Imagine, Atrium 916, Sacramento, CA

• 2025 - Digital Souls Unfolding, Virtual Group Show curated by Ruben Reveles, Sacramento, CA

• 2024, ECO Art II, E Street Gallery, Sacramento, CA

• 2024, Politically Charged, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA

• 2024, Pure Imagination, The Mills Station Arts & Culture Center, Rancho Cordova, CA

• 2023, Abstract Makes the City, The Gallery 916, Sacramento, CA

• 2023, In Limbo - 18th National Juried Exhibition, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA

• 2023, Abstractly Speaking - Juried Group Show, Elk Grove Fine Arts Center, Elk Grove, CA 

• 2023, Magnum Opus - Juried Group Show, Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Sacramento, CA

• 2023, "Climate Changing", Las Lagunas Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

Residencies

• Dec 2025-Present, ARxSac, Sacramento, CA

• July-Sep 2025, Capital Dance Project - Behind the Barre, Sacramento, CA

• Sep 2023-June 2024, Capital Region Creative Corps - The Office of Climate Action and Sustainability, Sacramento, CA

• 2013-2019, Real Salt Lake Game Day Photographer, Salt Lake City, UT

Special Projects

• Live painter for Midtown Association during Second Saturday's in Midtown Sacramento, July-October 2023, 2024

• Commissioned to create logo and branding elements for "Bread Riot Bakehouse", a local bakery in Salt Lake City, UT 2016

• Commissioned to create logo for "Pepper Jo Farms", a local farm in Delta, CO 2023

Awards & Honors

• "The American Dream" featured in lectures and exercises by Professor Chris Christion, Art History Professor/Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 2024

• Audience Award Selection, "The American Dream", Blue Line Arts, Politically Charged, Roseville, CA, 2024

• Second Place, "Photosyntehsis", Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Magnum Opus Juried Group Show, Sacramento, CA, 2023

• Silver Addy Award, "Shattered Lives Tree" The American Advertising Federation - Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 2018

• Region 9 Mark of Excellence Awards - Third Place for Feature Photography, Society of Professional Journalists, Salt Lake City, UT, 2011

Representation

• 2025 - Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA

• 2025 - Atrium 916, Sacramento, CA

Professional Appointments/Residencies

• July-Sep 2025 - Capital Dance Project: Behind the Barre Collaborating Artist, Sacramento, CA

• Sep 2023-2024 - Artist in Residence, City of Sacramento - The Office of Climate Action and Sustainability

• 2013-2019 - Gameday Photographer, Real Salt Lake

Work History

• 2024-Present - Ten Gun Design, Edmonds, WA (Remote) - Content Manager

• 2018-2022 - Clearlink, Salt Lake City, UT (Remote)  - Content Strategist, Marketing Manager

• 2017-2018 - R&R Partners, Salt Lake City, UT - Senior Brand Manager

• 2013-2017 - The Summit Group, Salt Lake City, UT - Advertising Account Manager

• 2010-2012 - The Daily Utah Chronicle, Salt Lake City, UT - Staff Photographer, Photo Editor

Awards & Honors

• Audience Award Selection for The American Dream, Blue Line Arts, Politically Charged, Roseville, CA, 2024

• Second Place for Photosynthesis, Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Magnum Opus - Juried Group Show, Sacramento, CA, 2023

• Silver Addy Award for Shattered Lives Tree, The American Advertising Federation, Salt Lake City, UT, 2018

• Third Place in Feature Photography for Disappointed Fans, Region 9 Mark of Excellence Awards - Society of Professional Journalists, Salt Lake City, UT, 2011

Academia

• The American Dream is a featured piece in a lesson plan for Professor Chris Christion’s class: Advanced Painting: Reconsidering the Portrait & Figure, University of California, Berkely, CA, 2025

Events 

• 2023-2024 - Featured Artist for Midtown Association’s Second Saturday Art Walks: Pop-up galleries and live demonstration painting, Sacramento, CA

Public Collections

• Make Your Mark, City of Sacramento Art in Public Places Collection, 2024

Commissions

• 2022 - All Lakes are Craters, Large mixed media painting, Private Collector, Boise, ID

• 2022 - Logo design, PepperJo Farms, Delta, CO

• 2021 - Kindred Dancers, Large painting, Private Collector, Salt Lake City, UT

• 2017 - Logo design, Bread Riot Bakehouse, Salt Lake City, UT

• 2017 - Aum, Large painting, Private Collector, Salt Lake City, UT

• 2014 - The White Knight, Book cover, Author: Derek Alan Siddoway, Salt Lake City, UT

Publications

• Cover photo and photos used throughout The Sacramento Urban Forest Plan, City of Sacramento, 2024

• Photo Spread for Sports programs are much more than summer-time fun for aspiring youth athletes, Utah Business Magazine, 2017

• Photo feature for Written in the Stars, Salt Lake City Weekly, 2013

• Photo features for Red Rocks are off and flying, Deseret News, 2010

Professional Affiliations

• 2024 - DEI Committee Member, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, CA

Artist Talks/Speaking Engagements

• 2024 - Q&A with the Artists - Chasing the Raft of the Medusa, Chico Art Center, Chico, CA

• 2024 - Artist Talk - Dedication for “Make Your Mark”, Sacramento, CA

• 2024 - Presented on my residency to The Sacramento Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Commission, Sacramento, CA