Contemporary Wing is proud to present Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi’s solo exhibition, I’M COMING HOME in our new permanent home on 14th Street N.W. in Washington, D.C.
Javanshir Ilchi’s paintings explore the duality of her cultural identity as an Iranian–American. The new series reflects her ongoing interest in the fusion of visual codes of Western abstraction and traditional Persian Art, with an emphasis on the “Tazhib,” the Persian tradition of illumination. The resulting synthesis evokes allegories of intrusion and invasion, referencing the historical and contemporary sociopolitical conflicts.
Unlike her previous bodies of work, where heroines conducted the non-linear narratives, these new allegories are exhibited through the absence of the figure. This conscious abandonment is consistent with the forbidden portrayal of humans and animals in Islamic art practices, which led to the birth of ornate geometric and floral patterns.
Javanshir Ilchi places these symbols in a particular milieu by referencing the Persian notion of “paradise,” which is rooted in the Old Iranian language of Avestan. This tradition represents paradise as an enclosed garden, commonly known as the ultimate idyllic abode where peace, prosperity, and pleasure surround the state of being. In these works, the idea of paradise is reconstructed to depict contradictory impulses in a social, political, and cultural context. The ethereal structures imply the idea of “home” surrendered by lush flora to suggest a blissful paradisiacal state, only to be ambushed by a strange sense of invasion.
I’M COMING HOME runs from May 12 through June 16, 2012, Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The public opening is Saturday, May 12, from 6 to 8 p.m.
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Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi (b. 1981 Tehran, Iran) holds an MFA in studio art from American University and a BFA from the Corcoran College of Art + Design. Recently she was the recipient the 2010 International Research Mellon Grant and the Babs Van Swearingen Award from the American University. Her work is among a number of private collections in Washington D.C. where she lives and works.
To preview the works please contact info@contemporarywing.com
We look forward to showcasing this new series, along with our new home designed by Lori Graham Design at 1412 14th Street N.W. in Washington, D.C.
