Leila Heller Gallery (New York) and JAMM (London-Kuwait), team up for their inaugural exhibition at The Armory Show, March 8-11, 2012, at Pier 94, Booth 740. On view will be new paintings and works on paper by Iranian-born, Texas-based artist Reza Derakshani, and video installations by Iranian artist Farideh Lashai.
Reza Derakshani, Hunting the Pink!, 2012, Mixed media on canvas, 60 x 192 in / 152.4 x 487.7 cm
Reza Derakshani is an internationally renowned painter, performance artist, and musician. His works are known for their monumental scale, and embodiment of poetry, lyricism and beauty. Greatly influenced by the magnificence of the landscape of his native Iran, the artist often paints traditional Persian subjects, including hunting scenes, and roses and nightingales. He employs contemporary stylistic techniques such as using materials that include oil, gold and silver leaf, enamel, and glitter.
The centerpiece of Derakshani’s presentation at The Armory Show will be the 16-foot long, They Hunt the Pink!, 2012, a monumentally sized diptych depicting a hunting scene reminiscent of Persian miniatures in vibrant pinks, golds and silvers. Also on view will be two other large-scale paintings, in addition to five black and white works on paper delicately layered with sand and soil to form minimalist Persian representations.
Derakshani was born in Sangsar, Iran and has lived in New York City, Italy, and Tehran. He currently resides in Austin, TX. His work has been widely exhibited at a number of institutions including: The Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Chelsea Art Museum, New York; The Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.; and Palais de la Nation, Geneva.
Also on view will be three video installations by Farideh Lashai from the artist’s Rabbit in Wonderland, 2010 series. Lashai, one of the leading Iranian women artists of her time, creates work of true technical versatility, possessing an ability to capture both figurative representation and motion. The artist’s subjects are lyrical and sometimes even fantastical, usually involving traditional Persian imagery, contrasted with Western influences. The result is one that effectively brings to light contemporary socio-political issues and concerns. In Rabbit in Wonderland, the artist casts animated video projections onto beautifully painted landscapes to create a fantasy world inspired by real life events. Referencing Lewis Carroll’s Alice and Wonderland, Lashai tells the story of the little white rabbit’s journey down the rabbit hole, but through the lens of Iran’s turbulent and uncertain recent history.
Lashai was born in Rahst, Iran, and currently lives and works in Tehran. Her work can be found at major public and private collections including the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art; The Farjam Collection, Dubai; and The Demenga Galleries, Basel.
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