Category Archives: What we dig!

Magazine Launch: The Burnt magazine, Mehrabad Special

The cover of The burnt Magazine : Mehrabad Special

+ Launch of photocopy version of Mehrabad Special in the occasion of the exhibition Control Tower curated by Amirali
Friday April 13th, 2012. from 5 pm at Fravahr Gallery, Tehran
in collaboration with Aksbazi.com and New-Bookz and guest contributions by Shahab Tondar, Peyman Shafieezadeh, Ayeh Rahimi, John Mattavousian, Golrokh Nafisi, Martin Shamounpoor, Delbar Shahbaz, Daryoush Raad, Alyar dastgiri, Hilda Hekmat, Haleh Ghasemi, Marjan Andaroudi, Mojtaba Adibi, Mona Abbaspour, Ghazaleh Bahiraie,  Shilan Borhani, Yashar Lavaei, Mostafa Amini, Alma Sinai, Arash Naimain, Niloufar Nedaie, Anita Esfandiari, Ali Ettehad, Tehran Carnival, Omid Balaghati, Mehrabad Project, Anahita Hekmat,Mahta Saghafi, Hossein Tonfagdar and Amirali Ghasemi

The online version will be launched soon with more pages and more colors, so stay tuned!

Momentgraphy at parkingallery projects

Installation view Parkingallery projects

Momentgraphy A project by Yaxer Brad, poster designed by Amirali Ghasemi

Momentgraphy, a collective photography curated by Yaxer Brad was on view on parkingallery projects from Monday 12th to 24th March 2012. It brought together 137 individual who responded to Brad’s call to capture one moment all at the same time, wherever they are located on the face of the earth and exactly on Saturday, April 16th -2011 sharp at 4:00 pm GMT.

Installation view Parkingallery projects

He writes:

Momentgraphy  is born on Sunday [ 16/4/2011], at 04.00pm GMT, with 137 participated from all over the world. Wherever they were, whatever they were doing.
The idea is based on curiosity, life style and social activities…
Here we are going to exhibit various places, views, activities,at the same moment in different places…!

 

German Language Class, a due-performance at Parkingallery Projects

Teachers at work, Shahab Anousha and Martin Shamoonpour, Friday

Last Friday Parkingallery project was turned into a “German Language Class” which is happening only 2 session each season. Shahab Anousha and Martin Shamoonpour in their clever and hilarious due – performance, were engaging the audience ( aka students ), in many levels, the serious plot which reveals itself in a parallel narration of simultaneous switches between Persian( performed by Shamoonpour) and German ( performed by Anousha ). Yet they aren’t easygoing teachers and aks for constant attention of the crowd, often asking them to repeat the new words with correct pronunciations. The class ended by putting up a caricature Auction of the picture drawings on the walls for relatively lowest prices you can imagine.

Friday Update: Haleh Anvari at AAran Gallery and Mahmoud Bakhshi at Etemad Gallery – Tehran

sara-dolatabadi.com-blue-jewels
Blue-jewels by Sara Dolatabadi, Image courtesy of sara-dolatabadi.com

We’re gonna have a busy Friday ahead, packed with solo shows from established artists whom are known internationally in Private and public. Tt seems that group shows are kept for a bit later early march and the last days before Iranian new year: Apart from Negar Farjiani’s UNDO at Newly opened space Sazmanab and Sara Doulatabadi‘s Silent Blue at Mohsen Gallery and a group drawing show from 4 promising young artists at Siin Gallery, which are on our must-see list, these are the highlights of tomorrow:

Haleh Anvari “ Bar-Baad “. 16x16 mm (Dices)

Haleh Anvari’s “Beautiful Plateau” (ZIBADASHT) is on view on AAran Gallery from Tomorrow 17th February for two weeks, and as its taglin says, features Anvari’s latest video and installation works. The show also includes a 60 piece postcard pack of her photographs titled “Beautiful Plateau”.
The exhibition will end on 07th of March. AAran Art Gallery. Tehran. No 12 dey street. North Kheradmand ave. Tel +9821 88829086- 9 www.aarangallery.com

invitation card of "Recycle" by Mahmoud Bakhshi

“Recycle” is latest solo show by Mahmoud Bakhshi at Etemad Gallery – Tehran  also unveals on Friday Feb. 17, 2012. the show is curated by Mamali Shafahi

Following on from a previous exhibition, Engaged Artist at The Saatchi Gallery London, Recycle brings together previous works and a new installation by Iranian artist, Mahmoud Bakhshi. This solo exhibition concentrates on the new wave of popularity of artists and their role in contemporary society.

The main inspiration for Mahmoud Bakhshi’s works comes from political and social issues in Iran, which he sets up as propositions in his extensive practice of sculpture, mixed media, film and paintings. Bakhshi invites the viewer to seek answers in his works, as he makes connections between present and past histories of his country. Bakhshi’s works are investigations that are highly informed and experiential.

Bakhshi was born on 1977 in Tehran, Iran. Mahmoud Bakhshi has participated in several exhibitions locally and internationally at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Barbican, London, Museum of New Art, Freiburg, Auckland Triennial and Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris. His works are part of the Tate Modern, Devi art Foundation and other private collections.
For more detail and the address click here

UNDO – Negar Farajiani at Sazmanab Projects

Sazmanab Projects hosts the latest solo show by Negar Farajiani from
February 17 to February 23, 4-8 pm, The Opening reception is on Friday, February 17 – 4-8 pm.
For Address and Map Click here

Image courtesy Negar Farajiani, UNDO, 2012 (detail, edited)
Image courtesy Negar Farajiani, UNDO, 2012 (detail, edited)

I delete an image (her/his image), I try to get it back
before saving it I look for Undo
File Edit View History Window Help
Edit
Undo
it’s grayed out

Admission is free!

RSVP required. RSVP at RSVP@sazmanab.org

Sazmanab Project is a non-profit project space in Tehran initiated by artist/curator Sohrab Kashani. Sazmanab Project organizes exhibitions, events, talks, and workshops run projects, and makes collaborations on projects initiated by other project spaces and artist initiatives. Sazmanab Project is comprised of an exhibition space, a studio, a library, and a cafe that hosts Sazmanab’s walk-by cinema, a platform that showcases videos and special programs.

Persianissimo, Iranian Contemporary Posters at Devi Art Foundation

Persianissimo at Devi art Foundation, India Poster designed by Majid Abbasi

Persianissimo
An Iranian Contemporary Poster Exhibition
selected by Majid Abbasi
January 25-May 30, 2012

The Elephant in the Dark is accompanied by a contemporary Iranian poster exhibition called Persianissimo. These thirty-two posters are works of different graphic designers and are selected by Majid Abbasi, member of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society and founder of Neshan, an Iranian Graphic Design Magazine. Persianissimo was first displayed at Colorado State University in 2009, during the 16th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition. Ever since, the exhibition has been traveling and has grown in terms of content.

Persianissimo, an exhibition of Iranian graphic designers’ works, originally was held in Colorado State University as a part of the 16th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition (2009). There, 28 posters by 28 Iranian designers, selected by Majid Abbasi, were displayed in Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition is now part of the permanent collection in Colorado State University and it is to be displayed in other universities and galleries such as Fine Arts Faculty of Marmara University in Istanbul, Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, Faculty of Design and Art at Free University in Bolzano, Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Gallery of Villa Decius in Krakow.

Persianissimo is a group exhibition of 34 designers from the contemporary generation held in different parts of the world. The new generation of the Iranian graphic designers, mostly active after the 1979 revolution and the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), changed the aforementioned graphic design scene in Iran. The audacity and the new ideas of the young graphic designers in using Iranian typography, considering the modern technology, their lyricism as well as searching for new concepts with a new image of the Iran, are a few of their achievements thus far. And now they claim a national graphic design with high standards. Today’s Iranian graphics has become internationally recognized thanks to these designers’ works and their permanent presence in international festivals, biennials and competitions which have won them numerous awards at world-class level.

This exhibition is being updated regularly; more designers are joining in and it is becoming more encompassing as the number of the collection increases.

Persianissimo is a manifestation of Iran’s today poster design. This collection has been exhibited internationally by the cooperation of museums, galleries, art centers, design associations and art and design schools. Presenting this collection will be of great significance in making Iran’s contemporary poster design known internationally.

Persianissimo is a blend of issimo from Italian language which is derived from music and its concept id known all over the world.
Exhibition Website: www.persianissimo.ir

Special thanks: Reza Abedini, Farzad Adibi, Pouya Ahmadi, Tahamtan Aminian, Homa Delvarai, Maryam Enayati, Vahid Erfanian, Siavash Fani, Siamak Feilizadeh, Farhad Fozouni, Amirali Ghasemi, Amirhossein Ghoochibeik, Pedram Harby, Behrouz Hariri, Zeynab Izadyar, Damoon Khanjanzadeh, Ali Khorshidpour, Behrad Javanbakht, Aria Kasaei, Morteza Mahallati, Saed Meshki, Alireza Mostafazadeh, Masoud Nejabati, Kourosh Parsanejad, Peyman Pourhossein, Iman Raad, Mehdi Saeedi, Iman Safai, Bijan Sayfouri, Firouz and Kambiz Shafei, Parisa Tashakori, Mehran Zamani.

About The Curator:

Majid Abbasi born in 1965 in Tehran, where he still lives today, Abbasi graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran in 1996 in visual communication. It was in this same year, having already enjoyed numerous freelance design commissions, that Abbasi set up his prestigious studio, Did Graphics Inc., with partner Firouz Shafei. Also a lecturer at the University of Tehran, following Morteza Momayez’ invitation to join the university’s Faculty of Fine Arts 2003-2007, Abbasi has been a member of the board and treasurer of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society (IGDS) in 2003-2006.
A more recent venture has seen the launch of Neshan, the Iranian graphic design magazine for which Abbasi sits on the editorial board, while he is also a founder of The 5th Color, a collective formed by what he describes as “the new generation of Iranian graphic designers”.
Abbasi’s work has been published in numerous international magazines and books. In addition to this, since 1999, Abbasi has participated in many national and international exhibitions. His works are presented in museums, collections and galleries around the world and he has also received many national and international awards in recent years.
He is a member of Alliance Graphique International (AGI) since 2009.

Devi Art Foundation
Sirpur House, Plot 39, Sector 44
Gurgaon 122003, Haryana, India
Closest metro station: Huda City Centre
Visiting Hours: 11am to 7pm, Tuesday to Sunday
Closed on Mondays and all public holidays
For more information please write to
info@deviartfoundation.org or call +91 124 488 8111
www.deviartfoundation.org

The Elephant in The Dark at Devi Art Foundation, India

THE ELEPHANT IN THE DARK

Curated by Amirali Ghasemi
January 25-May 30, 2012

Reza Aramesh, Action 72, 2009 - Black and White Silver Gelatin Print, 124 x 170 cm
Gohar Dashti, Slow Decay, 2010 - HD Video, Color / No Sound, 6 min 50 sec

Devi Art Foundation presents The Elephant in the Dark curated by Amirali Ghasemi from 25th January to
30th May 2012, which brings together works of fifty-two contemporary Iranian artists from the Lekha and Anupam Poddar Collection.

“An elephant was put in a dark house for display. Crowds of people were asked to identify the object in the dark place by inspection. Each visitor felt with his palm a different part of the animal’s body, and thusdescribed the animal’s physical reality differently.

The palm of one fell on the trunk.
This creature is like a water-spout,’ he said.

The hand of another lighted on the elephant’s ear.
To him the beat was evidently like a fan.

Another rubbed against its leg.
I found the elephant’s shape is like a pillar,’ he said.

Another laid his hand on its back.
Certainly this elephant was like a throne,’ he said.

The sensual eye is just like the palm of the hand.
The palm has not the means of covering the whole of the truth.”

The exhibition borrows its title from a poem by Rumi, which was inspired by an ancient story of The Elephant and the Blind. The poet cleverly changes the dramatic state of blindness into darkness which has a cure, while the poem illustrates how complex it is to evaluate an event, situation or an object by seeing it from a particular angle and not as a whole. It underlines the incapability of human beings to understand various realities (physical and metaphysical), without using all senses and various means of understanding.

Taking Rumi’s poetic tale as a point of departure, the exhibition attempts to display both formal and conceptual practices that Iranian artists have adopted over the past decade, both inside and outside the country, to express their concerns. The vast selection of works in the collection provides a unique opportunity to present a comprehensive narrative of the social and artistic developments that are taking shape among the artists.

This diverse and vibrant collection is explored through two parallel streams, which displays the works of internationally known artists and a selection of upcoming young artists. The exhibition is divided into three sections: in “Departure from Form”, the traditional form is re-contextualized and used for contemporary critical expressions. “Reflection of a Complex Society” questions social issues such as gender representation, a recurring trend in contemporary Iranian art. Finally, “The Politicized Scenery” showcases works that touch upon various conflicts ranging from the battle for oil in the Middle East to moments in Iranian political history with a keen eye on the current events in the last three years.

The Elephant in the Dark is an effort to investigate different contours of Iranian polity and society through contemporary modes of artistic enquires.

The Sleepers and The Walkers by Shirin Sabahi - 2011, Four Color Slides, Light Box, Stand Magnifier

The exhibition includes works by Samira Abbassy, Iman Afsarian, Aksbazi, Shirin Aliabadi, Samira Alikhanzadeh, Afruz Amighi, Mojtaba Amini, Nazgol Ansarinia, Kamrooz Aram, Reza Aramesh, Mehraneh Atashi, Shoja Azari, Mahmoud Bakhshi, Gohar Dashti, Alireza Dayani, Ala Ebtekar, Shirin Fakhim, Golnaz Fathi, Parastou Forouhar, Shadi Ghadirian, Amirali Ghasemi, Bita Ghezelayagh, Barbad Golshiri, Amirali Golriz, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Elham Doost Haghighi, Khosrow Hassanzadeh, Ghazaleh Hedayat, Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Shirazeh Houshiary, Katayoun Karami, Shahram Karimi, Simin Keramati, Abbas Kowsari, Farideh Lashai, Amir Mobed, Masoumeh Mozaffari, Pendar Nabipour, Timo Nasseri, Farah Ossouli, Leila Pazooki, Sara Rahbar, Mohsen Rastani, Shirin Sabahi, Hamed Sahihi, Zeinab Shahidi, Behnoosh Sharifi, Jinoos Taghizadeh, Newsha Tavakolian, Sadegh Tirafkan and Ali Zanjani.
The Elephant in the Dark is accompanied by a contemporary Iranian poster exhibition called Persianissimo. These thirty-two posters are works of different graphic designers and are selected by Majid Abbasi, member of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society and founder of Neshan, an Iranian Graphic Design Magazine. Persianissimo was first displayed at Colorado State University in 2009, during the 16th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition. Ever since, the exhibition has been traveling and has grown in terms of content.

Devi Art Foundation
Sirpur House, Plot 39, Sector 44
Gurgaon 122003, Haryana, India
Closest metro station: Huda City Centre
Visiting Hours: 11am to 7pm, Tuesday to Sunday
Closed on Mondays and all public holidays
For more information please write to
info@deviartfoundation.org or call +91 124 488 8111
www.deviartfoundation.org

Continue reading The Elephant in The Dark at Devi Art Foundation, India

Iran via Video Current at Thomas Erban Gallery, New York

iran-via-video-current video program curated by Sandra Skurvida and Amirali Ghasemi
Poster designed by Parkingallery Studio, Tehran

Iran via Video Current, a project of OtherIS,

curated by Amirali Ghasemi (Tehran) and Sandra Skurvida (New York)

Project space: Raha Raissnia and Behrouz Rae

Curators’ talk at ICI (Independent Curators International),

December 20, 6:30–8 PM,

401 Broadway, Suite 1620, NYC

http://curatorsintl.org/network

December 13 – 17, 2011

Opening Reception: Tuesday, December 13, 6-8:30 pm

Thomas Erben Gallery presents Iran via Video Current, a project of OtherIS.

The main question in transnational art production is who represents whom and for whom? This project engages the problem of representation via an ongoing exchange among participants in Iran and elsewhere, as conveyed in the two distinct, yet co-related video programs focused on Iran — one by Tehran-based artist and curator Amirali Ghasemi and another by New York-based curator and scholar Sandra Skurvida. Both curators started their research from their respective locales, yet both programs include artists who live in Iran and elsewhere around the world.

In her program entitled 1979/1357-, Skurvida revisits the sightlines of the most prominent, controversial Western observer of the Iranian Revolution, Michel Foucault. Both his advocacy and the ensuing critique of it reverberate in the appraisals of the recent and current events. The year denoted equally as “1979” and “1357” signifies the difference in time borne out of the societal spaces that are not the same. This negotiation unfolds in the works by Abbas Akhavan, Morehshin Allahyari, Amir Bastan, Bahar Behbahani, Kaya Behkalam & Azin Feizabadi, Barbad Golshiri, Arash Fayez, Mirak Jamal, Farhad Kalantary, Sohrab Kashani, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Amitis Motevalli, Nosrat Nosratian, Anahita Razmi, Jinoos Taghizadeh, Negar Tahsili, and Katayoun Vaziri.

Ghasemi anchors his purview in the present moment and a worldwide network associated with Parkingallery, Tehran, which he founded in 1998. His program, entitled If We Ever Meet Again… (With a Hidden Track), introduces a generation of artists raised after 1979. This generation may be characterized by its responsive attitude — as if it “had no plans,” according to Allahyar Najafi’s video — yet it holds forth a conscious presence in the environment of impositions, sanctions, apprehensions, and expectations. Such a presence asserts an unconditional attachment to the specificity of the origin — apart from the conventions established by the diaspora — yet it extends this original stance towards other contexts, as communication in the personal mode is shared in the featured works by Naghmeh Abbasi, Mehraneh Atashi, Setareh Jabbari, Anahita Hekmat, Payam Mofidi, Shay Mazloom, Amirali Mohebinejad, Allahyar Najafi, Nassrin Nasser, Shadi Noyani, Ramin Rahimi, Shirin Sabahi, Sona Safaie, Bahar Samadi, Hamed Sahihi, and Zeinab Shahidi.

Gallery hours: Tue – Sat, 10-6.

For further information and visuals, please visit www.thomaserben.com  or contact the gallery at 212-645.8701.

Border an installation by Sona Safaei

Border by Sona Safaei documentation of video installation, 28′, originally loop, 2011

“… Safaei in her new installation uses a corner of a room to project moving English and Farsi texts towards this very corner and let them disappear at the borderline. The borderline is a narrow vertical line between two walls: the joint, the place two walls meet. This very “thin line” changes the direction of one’s eye, all of a sudden similar to political and geographical borders in between countries. One step back or forth one is occupied with different laws and orders…”