Hamptons Fine Art Fair
And still we rise: Iranian women artists make their mark.
Roya Khadjavi Projects brings together works by 8 female contemporary artists from Iran. Through an array of artworks done in various mediums and styles, the exhibition portrays and examines how our memories and deeply rooted attachments to our homeland reflect and shape our personal perceptions of beauty and sentimentality and on a larger scale influence our life experiences and worldview. The proposed artworks for this exhibition transform poetry and storytelling into visual mediums and in doing so preserve past narratives while transforming them into expressions of present-day issues.
Booth: 319
JULY 11-14, 2024
VIP OPENING - JULY 11
SOUTHAMPTON FAIRGROUNDS
Atieh Sohrabi was born (1976) and raised in Tehran, and currently living in New York City, freelance Illustrator and Artist, Atieh Sohrabi, started her carrier in 2001 by choosing Industrial Design as her major in Azad Art University. As she became more familiar with the art world, she decided to switch to a new path in illustrations. She moved from Tehran to New York in 2015. Atieh's books have been selected by different exhibitions and museums around the world; for instance, Biennale of Illustrations Bratislava, Biennale of Illustration Golden Pen Belgrade, 24thBIB Exhibition in Hiratsuka Art Museum, Kawara Museum of Takahama City Chiba City Museum of Art, Ashikaga Museum of Art, Urawa Art Museum in Japan, The Tehran International Biennale Illustration, and LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum). In 2020, her paintings were curated by Roya khadjavi in two group shows which were held in Highline gallery, New York, and five pieces of the show were selected by Communication Arts Magazine, and she achieved the 2022 Award of Excellence. She was selected by Meta Platforms, Inc (IG&FB) as a Persian artist to create stickers for celebrating Nowruz (Persian new year) in 2022. One of her pieces is included in the “Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art of the Middle East and Beyond” Group show, curated by Linda Komaroff in LACMA museum in 2023.
Aida Izadpanah lives and works in New York City, specializing in large-format mixed media and porcelain sculptural painting. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from Tehran University (Iran). She was a Teaching Assistant in mixed media at The Art Students League of New York (ASL) from 2012-14. Recent solo exhibitions include Emancipation (Stony Brook, New York, 2017), Transcendence (New York City, 2015), and Revelation (Los Angeles, 2013). Recent group shows include Self Reflection: Artists self-portraits (NYC, 2020), Volta Art Fair (NYC, 2020), Summer Art Bash 2019: Iranian Contemporary Group Exhibition (L.A., 2019), Material Culture (NYC , 2019), Art Brief IV: Iranian Contemporary San Francisco (San Francisco, 2018), An Art + Design Collaboration: A Curated Selection of Iranian Contemporary Art, ADVOCARTSY and Ryan Saghian (Los Angeles, 2018), If So, What?(San Francisco, 2018), The Poetics of Diaspora: Iranian Contemporary Art (L.A., 2017), States of Being in Abstract (NYC, 2016), Art Brief II: Iranian Contemporary North America (Santa Monica, 2016), ASL Grant Winners Exhibition (NYC, 2016), In the Abstract (Setauket, 2016), and Global Perspective (Bridgehampton and Riverdale, 2015). Distinctions include shortlisted finalist for the 2017 inaugural Behnam Bakhtiar Award (Cote d’Azur, France, 2017); Artist in Residence at Stony Brook University’s Undergraduate College in Arts, Culture, and Humanities (New York, 2017); Fantasy Fountain Fund painting fellowship (Paris, France, 2014); cover story in Lines from the League magazine (2014); distinction and exhibition of Revelation 26 by Chief Curator & Director of Collections of the National September 11 Memorial Museum (2013); and the Jeffery Berman Director’s Award in Collage or Mixed Media from Audubon Artists (2012).
Maryam Palizgir's artistic practice is a rich blend of subject matter exploration, process-driven study, and adept material manipulation to sculpt forms in space. Her keen eye scans urban and rural architectures, not just to identify and predict spatial forms but also to unravel the interconnectedness between these spaces and human presence. For Palizgir, the "process" of creating holds as much significance as the final piece itself. She works across a spectrum of mediums, engaging in the deconstruction and reconstruction of images, objects, and materials through meticulous manipulation. In addition to her exploration of spatial complexity through scenography, Palizgir embarks on a project that delves into the staging of the body in the contemporary moment. This project is a profound exploration of sociopolitical issues, using the human form as a canvas to address pertinent societal narratives and challenges. Her artistic language, characterized by minimalist abstraction, deftly blurs the lines between photography, painting, and architecture. Drawing inspiration from both urban and rural landscapes, as well as the geometric intricacies of traditional Islamic art and architecture, Palizgir's visual vocabulary captures the essence of knowledge exchange, perception broadening, and observational depth in understanding our lived reality. Palizgir constantly challenges viewers' perceptions, creating artworks that come alive and activate once the viewer engages with them. Her deep dive into material studies leads her to contemplate the flexibility and potential of various materials. She frequently works with multi-layered industrial materials such as fiberglass screen mesh, reflective sheets, natural and artificial light, and acrylic paint. The resulting visual embodiment in her installations evokes a sense of transition in dimensionality, capturing ephemeral states, constant change, and inviting viewers to explore the possibility of displacement within the artwork.
Melody Safavi is a boundary-pushing lyricist, co-founder of the Persian-Swedish band ABJEEZ, and the creative force behind her solo project, MELODE. As a pioneer in the music industry, she fearlessly blends Iranian soul with reggae, rock, ska, and flamenco vibes, redefining cultural boundaries and amplifying women's voices through her art. In addition to her music career, Melody has a rich background in media and communication. From 2005 to 2021, she served as a radio news anchor, video journalist, and TV producer at Voice of America's Persian Service. Through her work at VOA, Melody honed her skills as a storyteller, bringing important news and perspectives to Persian-speaking audiences around the world. Beyond her work in journalism, Melody's passion for creative expression and advocacy shines through in everything she does. With over sixteen years of experience in media, she continues to bridge cultures and inspire change through her art and storytelling.
Parastoo Ahovan is an interdisciplinary artist based in Connecticut. She was a MFA candidate at Pratt Institute 2011-2012 and Graduated of MFA from Boston University 2014. She works with various materials and multiple types of media, such as Sculpture, Installation, mixed media, video, and performance. She has exhibited her works in Museo del Ojo, Cordoba, Argentina. National Pavilion of Iran, 56th Venice Biennial, Italy. EUNAM Museum, Gwangju, South Korea. I-Park Residency and Site- Representative Art Award winner, Connecticut, USA. Nouchin Pahlevan Gallery, Paris, France. 8th National Sculpture Biennial of Tehran, Iran. Mykonos Biennial, Athens, Greece. Governors Island Ice Sculpture Symposium, Governors Island, NY. Pequot Library, Connecticut, USA. High line Nine Gallery, New York, NY. Barret Art Center, New York. International Biennial Art Olympia, Tokyo, Japan. Nashua International sculpture symposium, New Hampshire. Festival Fleurs de Lava, Clermont-Ferrand, France. Magic In LA Auction Gala, Bonhams Auction House in LA. Highline Nine Gallery in NYC, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Nave Gallery, Boston MA. Imago Mundi art show, Rome, Italy. Changsha International Sculpture Festival, Changsha, China. Santa Isabel de Hungaria, Sevilla, Spain. LTMH Gallery, New York, NY.1st Tehran International Sculpture Symposium, Imam Ali Museum, Tehran, Iran. The 1st Sculpture Biennial for Urban Space, Barg Gallery. 16th International symposium of stone sculpture in Friuli Venezia Giuliareana Del Rojale, Italy. 1st International Sculpture symposium of Uttarayan, Vadodara, India.1st International Sculpture symposium of Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. Magic of Persia contemporary art prize, London, UK. She also has her sculptures installed in urban space in Iran, Turkey, Spain, India, UAE, Italy, France, China and USA.
Twin sisters, Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani (Iranian, b. 1990) began painting at the age of thirteen. They earned their B.A. in painting from Tehran University and M.F.A from Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts. Currently working and residing in Massachusetts, over the past few years the Safarani sisters took on a journey in incorporating video and performance art into their passion for painting. Their pioneering video-paintings and performances have been acclaimed as thought provoking and transformative artistic contributions that weave together loose but striking narratives. Safarani Sisters have participated in numerous Solo and Group exhibitions, including “Projecting Her”, Adelson Galleries Boston 2016, “Reincarnation”, 2018 and “Sprinkle of Light”, 2021 with Roya Khadjavi Projects, New York, “Preview Exhibition” in Adelson Galleries, Palm Beach, Florida, “Body Double”, Morris Museum New Jersey. Their works can be found in numerous museums and private collections, including Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. Morris Museum, Morris town, New Jersey.
Zahra Nazari is a New York City-based painter, sculptor, and installation artist who focuses on architectural themes in multicultural contexts. Born to a family of architecture enthusiasts in Hamedan, Iran, Nazari has built her career as a visual artist on the foundation of memories from her youth. The experiences she had visiting archaeological digs throughout Iran continue to inspire and inform her work, which is deeply influenced by ancient Persian art and architecture, and the landscapes in which they have historically blossomed. Since her migration to the United States, Nazari’s work has evolved into a formal blending of Persian and Western architectural styles, specifically European futurism. As her approach has developed, the color palette of her paintings has progressively grown from dark and intimist tones to more colorful expressions enlivened by energetic brush strokes. These changes reflect, in part, her perspective as an immigrant New Yorker, and echo the speed, technology, and industrial landscapes of contemporary urban life – the very elements she admires in post-modern futurism. Nazari has discussed these themes and others in artist talks and on panels at a variety of institutions, including NYU, Columbia University, Cooper Union, and Pratt Institute in New York City. Her work has been reviewed and published in Artefuse, Art Review City, Hamptons Art Hub, Hyperallergic, Whitehot Magazine, and more. Nazari’s work is found in private and public collections around the world, and she exhibits widely. Among other venues, Nazari’s work has been featured in exhibitions at The Bronx Museum of the Art (New York); Hollis Taggart Gallery (New York), Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (New Paltz, NY); High Line Nine Gallery (New York); MANA Contemporary (Jersey City, NJ); Spartanburg Art Museum (Spartanburg, South Carolina), Masur Museum of Art (Monroe, LA); New York Academy of Art (New York); Denise Bibro Fine Art (New York); Illinois Institute of Art (Chicago); China Millennium Monument (Beijing, China); Lite-Haus Galerie (Berlin, Germany); Saba Institution (Tehran, Iran); and Baran Gallery (Tehran, Iran). Nazari has also received a number of prestigious grants and fellowships, including a Creative Engagement Grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (New York); FST Studio Projects Fund (New York); the AIM Fellowship from the Bronx Museum (New York); a Visiting Artist Fellowship from MASS MoCA (North Adams, Massachusetts) and Cooper Union (New York). She has been an artist in residence at Sculpture Space (Utica, NY), and the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), among several others. Nazari received her BFA from the School of Art & Architecture in Tabriz, Iran, and her MFA from the State University of New York in New Paltz in 2014.