Iranian artists have become players in the national and international contemporary art scene, but too often, this genre is tied to politics. In reality, Iranian-American artists are multi-faceted with different and conflicting identities and influences. Their work may be affected by political realities, but not decided by them. In I RAN Home (In America), these diverse influences unite in profoundly personal artworks which strive to achieve acceptance and understanding from all viewers. Moreover, the genre educates the American public about Iranian culture and reveals the effects of Diaspora on community identity.
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ARTISTS:
Featuring the work of Pooneh Maghazehe, Eric Robert Parnes, and Hadieh Shafie
Straight from the Beijing Biennale, works from New York based Pooneh Magazehe's Pioneer series feature raw meat branded with an Islamic pattern used in architectural detailing throughout Iran. Utilizing a custom made branding iron inscribed with this pattern, an act of re-contextualization implies the historic representation of cattle branding, offers a metaphor for migration, references mass marketing, and alludes to branding identities. Originally from the DC Metro area, New York based Eric Robert Parnes appropriates contemporary images and intentionally revises them to reveal the ways in which they have driven war, religion and fashion through time. Locally-based and Iranian-born, Hadieh Shafie explores the fundamental aspects of process, repetition and time throughout her works, which take direct inspiration from the whirling dervish of Sufism.
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SUPPORTERS
This project is made possible by the generous support of: The Fridge DC, Albus Cavus, DJ Dariush, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, The Pink Line Project, Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA)
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CURATORS
I RAN Home (In America) is the first curatorial partnership between Isabella Hughes and Barbara Petro and the basis for their future non-profit, Project for Art in Curating (PAC). Set to launch in 2010, PAC will support four emerging curators each year in proposing an exhibition, selecting artists and works, collaborating with the host venue and other tasks of the independent curator.
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