2013 Exhibition Preview

Gayle Wells Mandle & Julia Mandle, Throne Burning, 2012, Archival inkjet print on Epson, hot press bright paper, 84 x 44 in (213.4 x 111.8 cm), Edition of 5, 2APs

AT THE GALLERY

Gayle Wells Mandle and Julia Mandle
Game II
January 17 to February 16, 2013

Gayle Wells Mandle and Julia Mandle use images – not of ladders but of chairs and a teeter-âtotter – to depict humanity’s eternal struggle against imbalanced societies that deny their citizens equal opportunity. Inspired by current events in the Middle East and the United States – where the Occupy movement and subsequent 2012 presidential election brought issues of economic inequity to the forefront – the Mandles express their ideas through a combination of media, styles and objects that infuse their art with topical meaning and depth.

Image: Gayle Wells Mandle & Julia Mandle, Trophy 4, 2012, Miniature bronzes and fabric mounted on custom wooden pedestal, 4 in pedestal ( 10.2 cm pedestal), Edition of 7, 2APs

Shiva Ahmadi
New Works
February 21to March 27, 2013

Shiva Ahmadi’s works occupy an uneasy psycho-visual space: at once meticulous and loose, playful and somber, mythical yet very much dealing with the real. Much of her paintings are on paper, but also aquaboard: a rigid surface best suited for her gouache, watercolor and ink applications. Her grounds are light earthy washes, upon which she builds up degrees of opacity: most opaque is inevitably the color red, generously applied to the point of caking and crackling. The last layer is the most delicate: ornate floral patterns painstakingly applied with metallic gold ink.

Playfully selective with her referencing of miniature painting: the artist is even difficult to place within a now canonized group of contemporary miniature revivalists (mainly out of Lahore, Pakistan). Relying heavily on the traditions of the ancient art form, she has created an allegorical realm where faceless tyrants and religious authorities sit on ornate gilded thrones while subservient minions bow to them.

Image: Shiva Ahmadi, Untitled 13 (from Throne), 2012, Mixed media on Aquaboard, 20 x 16 in ( 51 x 41 cm)

Farideh Lashai
The Rabbit in Wonderland series
March 28 to April 27, 2013

In the Iranian literary history, symbolic figures appear and reappear to survive a tyrannical suppression of candour and free expression. References and guises fill this vocabulary throughout centuries. And the Iranian art and the Iranian psyche continues to flow in abstraction and in referential forms. The rabbits appear from depth of a mysterious abstract jungle, full of life and charged with untold narratives, expanding the painting as an elastic structure in time, material and space, then disappear, leaving behind a silent still painting, that is charged with the mythical, the imagined, and has colossal spaces for fantasies. In this canvas, Farideh and the rabbit are playing and their game is like a preparation for a long journey, like Alice departing to Wonderland. The Rabbit is still unaware of all the predicaments awaiting him. It is preparation for a long passage replete of crashing moments that enfold you and crush you or make you anew, full of hope and disillusionment with ideologies. But this first initial moment of birth is entirely blissful, it is a moment of astonishment.

Image: Farideh Lashai, Catching the Moon (Still), 2012, Sound and projected animation in stainless steel water well, 4 min. 30 sec., 25.1 in diameter x 27.5 in ( 64 cm diameter x 70 cm)

OFFSITE PROJECTS

Rachel Lee Hovnanian and Ran Hwang
Transparencies: Contemporary Art and A History of Glass
February 21 to May 26, 2013
Des Moines Art Center Main Gallery

Transparencies brings together a group of international artists whose work explores glass as both medium and as subject matter. Each creates contemporary art that connects with the history of glasswork, from luxury objects such as chandeliers and mirrors to household items like drinking vessels and light bulbs. Many forms of glass are represented: delicate, hand-worked mirrors and industrial sheets of Plexiglass, as well as works that despite appearances are not made of glass at all. The artists selected for Transparencies come from around the world, and vary widely in their art-making practices. Some have always worked with glass, both actually and conceptually, while others have only explored it occasionally. Combining sculpture, video, and installation with traditional forms of artisan technique such as stained and blown glass, Transparencies explores the role of glass in today’s contemporary art world as well as in our everyday lives. Artists in the show include Jim Dingilian (U.S.), Matt Eskuche (U.S.), Monir Farmanfarmaian (Iran), Laura Fritz (U.S.), Rachel Lee Hovnanian (U.S.), Ran Hwang (Korea/U.S.), Luke Jerram (Great Britain), Karen LaMonte (U.S./Czech Republic), Judith Schaechter (U.S.), and Fred Wilson (U.S.).

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Image: Rachel Lee Hovnanian, New York Lights, 2011, Steel, glass, narcissus flowers, glass vials, LED bulbs, plexiglass, 45 x 78 x 8 in ( 114.3 x 198.1 x 20.3 cm )

Ayad Alkadhi
The Dance of Words
February 25 to May 26, 2013
Quarter Gallery, Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota

The Regis Center for Art presents The Dance of Words, a group exhibition of artworks that reference the use of text and calligraphic traditions found in many languages and cultures.
The exhibition serves as a forum to connect calligraphic traditions of many cultures that respect and excel in this art and are part of larger Minnesota. The exhibition aims to create a dialogue between different alphabets’ users. Within one alphabet there are myriad languages with a variety of aesthetics. This exhibition not only helps to integrate different alphabets’ users within the fabric of Minnesota, but also allows these unique groups to offer rich traditions to the larger community. Juxtaposing displays of several languages instigates a deeper reflection on what language as a form of expression means. Texts offer different meanings to natives than to those who do not speak the same language. This exhibition strives to expand our appreciation for cultural diversity.

A public lecture by Ayad Alkadhi in conjunction with the group exhibition The Dance of Words, will be presented on February 28 at 5pm at InFlux Space, Regis Center for Art.

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Image: Ayad Alkadhi, The Queen, 2010, Mixed media on Arabic newspaper on canvas, 36 x 36 in (91.4 x 91.4 cm)

Iké Udé
Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion
April 28 to August 18, 2013
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

The Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design is pleased to announce that Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion opens spring 2013, the first exhibition of its kind to focus on the persona and history of the distinctively dressed figure of the dandy. The exhibition features more than 200 objects—including innovative garments, bespoke clothing, works on paper, and paintings—drawn from the Museum’s collections and loans from individuals and national and international institutions. Beginning with the elegant dandy George “Beau” Brummell (1778-1840), the exhibition traces artist-dandies throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The role of exquisite craftsmanship in custom design, the dandy’s role as both fashion icon and caricature, and the contributions of today’s style leaders—such as Thom Browne, Rick Owens, Ouigi Theodore, and Waris Ahluwalia—are explored.

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Image: Iké Udé, Sartorial Anarchy #5, 2012, Pigment on Satin Paper, 54 x 36.1 in (137.1 x 91.6 cm) © IkeÌ Udé

Leila Heller Gallery
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New York, NY 10001
(Tel) 212 249 7695
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