Tirtzah Bassel was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1979. She studied drawing and painting at the Jerusalem Studio School and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Boston University. 

Bassel is a Brooklyn-based visual artist whose work encompasses figurative paintings and site-responsive installations. Her artistic practice critically examines the perceived neutrality of commonplace spaces, such as airports and supermarkets. In her acclaimed series "Canon in Drag," Bassel reinterprets iconic artworks, subverting the authority of these canonical images through innovative gender flipping and the reconstruction of narratives.

Recent projects include exhibitions in 2024 such as "The Invention of Truth" at 601 Gallery, New York, NY; "Sacré" at RX&Slag, Paris, France; "The Rule of Five" at Slag&RX, New York; and "From the Eyes of Her" at Port Authority and New York City and Culture Club, New York, NY. In 2023, she participated in "Milk Tongue" at Martin-Mullen Gallery, SUNY Oneonta, NY. Prior exhibitions include Kunstverein Viernheim, Germany (2017), BRIC Arts Media Center, Brooklyn, NY (2016), FOR-SITE Foundation, California (2018), The Visual Arts Center, New Jersey (2015), and Open Source Gallery, Brooklyn (2015).

Her work has been reviewed in prominent publications such as Frieze Magazine, Hyperallergic, The Boston Globe, KQED, San Francisco Chronicle, The Art Newspaper, Huffington Post, Arts in Bushwick, Le Monde Diplomatique, Artspiel, Lilith Magazine, Al Jazeera English, and BBC Radio 4: Front Row, among others.