Tag: iran

Azita Moradkhani at Jane Lombard Gallery

A lacy garment opens to reveal an aerial view of marchers protesting for women’s rights in ‘Women of Revolution,’ a beautifully detailed colored pencil on paper drawing in Azita Moradkhani’s inspiring show at Jane Lombard Gallery.  Fueled by the Woman Life Freedom movement and her own long consideration of impositions on women’s bodies in her home country of Iran, Moradkhani’s drawings combine photojournalistic images of protest with undergarments that symbolize close and personal concerns.  (On view in Tribeca through June 10th).

Azita Moradkhani, (detail) Women of Revolution, colored pencil on paper, 40 x 26.23 inches, 2023.
Azita Moradkhani, Women of Revolution, colored pencil on paper, 40 x 26.23 inches, 2023.

Arghavan Khosravi at Rachel Uffner Gallery

Beautiful women and lush gardens contrast oppressive symbols like balls and chains or large metal keys in Arghavan Khosravi’s latest paintings at Rachel Uffner Gallery.  Here, ‘Patiently Waiting,’ features an explosive device with ambiguous consequences if used – will freedom or destruction result?  Similarly, Khosravi’s gardens can be read in contradictory terms as commentary on life in her home country, Iran.  The gallery explains, they “…represent the possibilities for respite afforded by private life or the image of utopian paradise promised by religious fundamentalism.”  (On view on the Lower East Side through June 5th).

Arghavan Khosravi, Patiently Waiting, 2021, signed and dated verso, acrylic and cement on cotton canvas wrapped over shaped wood panel, wood cutout, polyester rope, 53 1/2 x 58 1/8 x 12 inches.

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian at James Cohan Gallery

Geometric forms offered endless opportunity for experimentation in late artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s painted glass and mirror sculptures, meticulously created with craftspeople in Iran.  Now on view at James Cohan Gallery’s Tribeca location, pieces such as ‘Hexagon Maze’ were inspired by geometric principles in Islamic art and design, the ways in which a maze can alter everyday reality, and the possibilities of creating artwork within a framework of rules.  (On view through March 6th. Masks and social distancing are required).

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Hexagon Maze, Mirror and reverse glass painting on plaster and wood, 47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in, 2014.

Orkedeh Torabi in ‘Auguries of Innocence’ at Fredericks Freiser Gallery

Finding that her female figures were often misinterpreted, Iranian-born, Chicago-based artist Orkedeh Torabi decided to depict only men as she continued to make work commenting on patriarchal societies.  The title of this painting, ‘Where are all the houries?,’ a standout in a group show at Fredericks Freiser Gallery, imagines the arrival in heaven of a martyr who is looking for his virginal beauties.  (On view through Feb 22nd).

Orkideh Torabi, Where are all the houries?, fabric dye on stretched cotton, 37 h x 43 w, 2018.

Arghavan Khosravi in ‘Four’ at Yossi Milo Gallery

A male authority figure crumbles as he leads three young women toward a shattered monolith in Arghavan Khosravi’s lushly painted ‘Mesmerized, Listen to the Big Brother’ at Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea.  Though eerily uniform and restrained by shackles connected to earbuds around their necks, the women are real and may free themselves as the illusion ahead of them breaks apart.  (On view through April 27th).

Arghavan Khosravi, Mesmerized, Listen to the Big Brother, acrylic, cement and colored pencil on found wood block printed fabric and mounted on wood panel, 52 ¼ x 39 ¼ inches, 2019.