Works by three young women artists Bita Vakili, Tahereh Samadi-Tari, and Bahar Behbahani will be on display till January 2, 2015 at the first group exhibition at Boom Gallery, marking the sixth exhibition at the gallery established in 2012.
‘Se Negah’, literally ‘Three Visions’, is the title of the exhibition which features 20 works by the three artists. The works portray ‘three different thoughts and aesthetic points of view.” The artists have conveyed their ideas about the world, the meaning of life, and the condition of modern man from different angles; yet forming a common dialogue in their works. New messages are revealed amidst the dialogue.
Among the paintings, seven untitled works by Vakili carry the same abstract and expressive mood of her previous works but also touch on current events in the Middle East including “the rise of the IS, the battle of Kobani, and other social upheavals.”
From the collection ‘Endless Haste’ by Samadi-Tari, five large-scale works have been presented. The works carry a vividly subjective tone and put together architectural spaces beside other elements of modern life; indicating the material and emotional entanglements “of the third millennium man and modern technology-stricken lifestyles.”
Behbahani invites viewers to ponder on Persian gardens. Her works are an eye-opening contemplation of colonialism. Her compositions portray two points of view: first a recreation of collective memory (an inherent staple of eastern philosophy) as seen by an Orientalist, second, the cultural aspects and architecture of Persian gardens through the eyes of Western explorers in early nineteenth century.
About Artists
Born in 1973 in Tehran, Vakili holds a M.A. in Painting. Aside from showcasing works in more than 70 group exhibitions inside Iran and abroad, her works have also been auctioned at Christie’s Dubai and Tehran Auctions. She has held exhibitions at City Escape Gallery, Vancouver, SEM-ART Gallery, Monaco, The James Gray Gallery, California, among several more.
Samadi-Tari was born in 1981 in Tehran. This young artist also holds a M.A. in painting. Besides several group and solo exhibitions, the artist has presented works at Volta Art fair, New York, AB gallery, Switzerland, and Mall Galleries, London. Her works have been featured at several auctions namely Sotheby’s, London, Christie’s, Dubai, and the Tehran Auction.
Born in 1973 in Tehran, Behbahani received her M.A. in Painting. Sydney Biennial, Sydney; Sharjah Biennial, Christie’s Dubai, London; United Nations, Geneva; Asian Art Biennial, Bangladesh, Miramar Museum, Zagreb; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.; Queens Museum, New York; and Tribeca Film Festival, New York, MACRO, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy, are among venues that have featured Behbahani’s painting, installation, photography and video art.
She has also won prestigious grants including Art Omi International Artists Residency, Ghent, NY (made possible by The Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant), Art and Culture Network Program Grant, and Open Society Institute, Budapest.
In 2007, her video art, ‘Suspended’ was selected ‘Best in Show’ by Carrie Springer, senior curatorial assistant at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and shown by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. In 2008, the video art was an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Guggenheim Museum Curator Suzanne Cotter selected the video ‘Ride the Caspian,’ Behbahani’s recent collaboration with Kazakhstani artist Almagul Menlibayeva, for the 2011 Sharjah Biennial, UAE. The video was again selected for the 18th Sydney Biennial.
The exhibition opened on November 21. Boom Gallery is located at No. 11, West Armaghan St, Valiasr Ave., Tehran.
