In collaboration with nonprofit Farhang Foundation, ART IRAN: Falling into Language debuted at Craft Contemporary. The opening art party took place on January 27, 2024. The group exhibition runs through May 5, 2024.
Craft Contemporary ART IRAN
ART IRAN: Falling into Language features the art of nine expatriate Iranian artists. These artists engage diverse forms of the Persian alphabet, handwriting, as well as fragments as an essential part of their artistic practice. This exhibition includes installation works, drawings, collages, site-specific art, and an interactive installation. The methods used range from sewing; assemblages of letters, words, and ceramics; and wall painting. The group exhibition is curated by Roshanak Ghezelbash and Hoda Rahbarnik.
The Text
“The technique of handwriting on objects of different materials, from dishes to architectural tiles, is part of daily life in Iranian culture—and has been throughout history,” notes the exhibit’s curation team.
“The text that appears in ART IRAN: Falling into Language is not necessarily there to be read. It is there to be seen,” explain Ghezelbash and Rahbarnik. “The audience’s inability to read these letters captures the in-between state the artists occupy in their daily reality: no longer belonging in their homeland nor in their new home. They chose handwriting over calligraphy— a well-known official expression of the alphabet with a long history within and outside the Iranian art scene; the artists chose handwriting as their voice—to gain a sense of belonging.”
Parastou Forouhar, The Written Room. Courtesy of the Artist
For example, Parastou Forouhar will create The Written Room, a site-specific installation, in a narrow corridor of the gallery. Visitors will feel like they are walking into a room; her handwriting covers the walls, floors, as well as ceiling with black ink in this entirely white space. Additionally, the artist presents the Persian alphabet in a way that may be unreadable even to Iranian readers. However, people universally understand the emotions conveyed in her art.
Hadieh Shafie’s installation is Ceiling Circle and Floor Circle. It includes a hanging paper sculpture, a corresponding circular work on the floor, and three paintings (titled Safar, meaning travel). The installation features the word “Eshgh,” meaning love, written on numerous layers of paper. The word “love” is repeated thousands of times, then rolled up and placed together as a cohesive work.
Women Artists
In addition to the women curatorial team, the exhibition features nearly all women artists (there is one husband/wife artist team). Artists include: Golnar Adili, Parastou Forouhar, Taraneh Hemami, Elnaz Javani, Maryam Palizgir, Hadieh Shafie, Shadi Yousefian and the team of Neda Moridpour and Pouya Afshar.
Admission
General $9; Adults 65+ and students $7;12 and under free; Free for Craft Contemporary members. Free every Sunday for the public; Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm.
On view: January 28 – May 5, 2024
What: ART IRAN: Falling into Language
Where: Craft Contemporary, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
When: Running through May 5, 2024
Website: https://www.craftcontemporary.org
