VOLTA ART FAIR NEW YORK
Roya Khadjavi projects proposes a solo exhibition by Iranian/American artist Dana Nehdaran.
The 2020 pandemic brought a long period of isolation for all. In March of 2021, Dana contracted COVID-19, and had a stroke ten days later. While recuperating and quarantining, He found solace in his art, initially producing about 300 self-portraits through sketches on paper and oil and other mediums on linen. While developing his skills and relying only on himself, he found the experience both satisfying and healing, even though the silence of isolation was traumatic. As his health improved and our world began to recover, he was anxious to expand his subject beyond self-portraiture as he craved for social interaction. He started by asking a friend to pose for him, leading soon to a countless series of portraits, featuring friends, friends of friends, and eventually strangers from various walks of life, people he found at gyms, galleries, parks, stores, and more. Drawing on his original love of portraiture, he turned his efforts to only painting live models only, at times incorporating familiar Persian traditional miniatures and vibrant colors into this new body of work, while he continued to link the past to the future and vice versa.
His studio, which for a long period had only been inhabited by him facing a long pier mirror, like Egon Schiele, was now vibrant, vivid with colors and alive with a constant flow of visitors with whom he engaged in various conversations. He pursued a diverse group of volunteer models from all walks of life, race, genders age, and socioeconomic backgrounds. At times, it seemed that his art studio had morphed into a psychiatrist’s office where at times, I was not able to distinguish who was the doctor and who was the patient. Engaged in dialogues, his hands worked almost autonomously on a very subconscious level, focusing on the conversations with his models while their physical characteristics became secondary. He was continuously surprised by his finished products, as they reflected both the physical appearance and the essence of his sitters, frequently in ways that he had not originally observed.
His greatest lesson learned was that all our lives, both individual and collective, are unique, beautiful, and truly inspiring.
DATES | September 4 - 8, 2024
OPENING HOURS
Wednesday, 4 September | Private View | 5 - 9 pm
Thursday 5 September - Saturday 7 September |12 - 8pm
Sunday 8 September |12 - 5pm
LOCATION |Chelsea Industrial, 535-551 W 28th St New York, NY 10001