ADVOCARTSY is thrilled to announce we will be extending Pouya Afshar’s OUT OF CHARACTER exhibition to Sunday February, 16th. To celebrate the success of this wonderful collection of works, ADVOCARTSY will host a closing reception on Sunday February, 16th from 1 – 3 pm.
Pouya Afshar will be giving a walking tour of the exhibition explaining his process of these limited edition drawings as well as the whimsical presentation of the historical characters depicted. Please join us ! This event is free and open to the public.
Pouya Afshar is an alumnus from the California Institute of Arts Character Animation department and is a graduate of University of California Los Angeles Graduate Department of Film and Television focusing in Animation and Digital Media. He has exhibited his work as an animator and visual artist throughout Los Angeles and United States at renowned locations such as Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center, Bovard Auditorium at University of Southern California, Royce Hall at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Santa Monica Art studios, 18th street Art Center, and numerous galleries and art fairs around the world. Pouya has presented his research at Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Southern California, School of Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Residency Unlimited NY. He is also the recipient of a Create Economy Grant in the state of Massachusetts as well as a Fulbright Scholar award. Pouya is the creator, character designer and producer of the animated series “Rostam in Wonderland” and the co-creator of 1PA2PA comics. He is currently an assistant professor of art and Design at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Artist Statement:
Artists are the ones recording the history.
In storytelling, it is imperative to understand a character’s personality and behavioral tendencies in order to capture an appealing characterization of that persona within the narrative structure. One has to live, breathe, and feel the surroundings alongside the characters he/she creates. For me, within this context, I intend to restructure real personalities visually and create a new persona. In a way, I am distorting history by projecting these characters through a humorous lens.
I am implementing fictional characterizations of these individuals within the audience’s mind regardless of the reality. My intention is to build these characters from the inside out, investing them with a past and a persona only hinted at in the history.
For the creation of these characters, I tend to concentrate more on the refinements than general aspects. I intend to re-imagine their roles within specific time periods of our contemporary culture and crystalize the clichés about them. I intend to creep up on my audience hinting on the importance of reviewing the history and how characters carry the weight of its narrative.
ADVOCARTSY is happy to announce our participation in this year’s PHOTO LA, an international art fair that has been in operation for nearly 30 years. Come visit us at the Historic Barker Hangar where we will be showcasing new works by artists Dariush Nehdaran, Hadi Salehi, and Shadi Yousefian.
Pouya Afshar is an alumnus from the California Institute of Arts Character Animation department and is a graduate of University of California Los Angeles Graduate Department of Film and Television focusing in Animation and Digital Media. He has exhibited his work as an animator and visual artist throughout Los Angeles and United States at renowned locations such as Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center, Bovard Auditorium at University of Southern California, Royce Hall at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Santa Monica Art studios, 18th street Art Center, and numerous galleries and art fairs around the world. Pouya has presented his research at Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Southern California, School of Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Residency Unlimited NY. He is also the recipient of a Create Economy Grant in the state of Massachusetts as well as a Fulbright Scholar award. Pouya is the creator, character designer and producer of the animated series “Rostam in Wonderland” and the co-creator of 1PA2PA comics. He is currently an assistant professor of art and Design at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Artist Statement:
Artists are the ones recording the history.
In storytelling, it is imperative to understand a character’s personality and behavioral tendencies in order to capture an appealing characterization of that persona within the narrative structure. One has to live, breathe, and feel the surroundings alongside the characters he/she creates. For me, within this context, I intend to restructure real personalities visually and create a new persona. In a way, I am distorting history by projecting these characters through a humorous lens.
I am implementing fictional characterizations of these individuals within the audience’s mind regardless of the reality. My intention is to build these characters from the inside out, investing them with a past and a persona only hinted at in the history.
For the creation of these characters, I tend to concentrate more on the refinements than general aspects. I intend to re-imagine their roles within specific time periods of our contemporary culture and crystalize the clichés about them. I intend to creep up on my audience hinting on the importance of reviewing the history and how characters carry the weight of its narrative.
Email info@advocartsy.com for additional information about Pouya Afshar’s upcoming exhibition or to inquire about previewing work.
Hadi Salehi is a master of the art of analog photography. Salehi’s images capture diverse portraits that are powerful and soft, leaving a haunting quality that lingers in the psyche. Salehi seeks to create a collective awareness as a cultural messenger through his images, revealing quiet truths through his process intensive works. With a career that spans more than 40 years, Salehi has closely documented cultural innovators such as Keith Haring, as well as developed an expansive body of analog, digital, film, and mixed media works. Hadi Salehi is a graduate of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena and currently resides in Los Angeles.
LAYERS: The Art of Hadi Salehi’s Photography is an extensive analog photography exhibition showcasing Salehi’s most prolific conceptual work of the past 15 years. From a strong body of work which spans over four decades, this long awaited solo exhibition seeks to unearth and explore the rich tapestry of Salehi’s image-making career in previously unrealized magnitude. Showing in photographic layers, the selected photographs narrate universal themes of migration, family, resilience, joy and solitude. LAYERS will open in conjunction with the premiere of a documentary of the same name based on Salehi’s work and process, directed by Bita Shafipour and executive produced by SOCIARTS in collaboration with ADVOCARTSY.
LAYERS: The Art of Hadi Salehi’s Photography is a documentary that portrays the poetic style of Hadi Salehi’s analog photography. Through a series of captivating conversations with the artist, and an exploration of his experimental process, award-winning director Bita Shafipour taps into Hadi’s layers of consciousness and maps out a visual narrative of the creativity that shapes his rich and diverse body of work. Using Hadi’s photographs and archival film footage, captured in dozens of countries and including thousands of subjects, this art film visualizes Hadi’s life as an Iranian immigrant in Los Angeles where he has been capturing stories and making images over the past four decades. Shot primarily on 16mm film, Shafipour aims to pay tribute to Hadi’s creative process and the art of analog photography through her own analog filmmaking. Produced by Bita Shafipour and Emmy-winning producer Chris Boyd in association with ADVOCARTSY.
Hadi Salehi is a master of the art of analog photography. Salehi’s images capture diverse portraits that are powerful and soft, leaving a haunting quality that lingers in the psyche. Salehi seeks to create a collective awareness as a cultural messenger through his images, revealing quiet truths through his process intensive works. With a career that spans more than 40 years, Salehi has closely documented cultural innovators such as Keith Haring, as well as developed an expansive body of analog, digital, film, and mixed media works. Hadi Salehi is a graduate of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena and currently resides in Los Angeles.
LAYERS: The Art of Hadi Salehi’s Photography is an extensive analog photography exhibition showcasing Salehi’s most prolific conceptual work of the past 15 years. From a strong body of work which spans over four decades, this long awaited solo exhibition seeks to unearth and explore the rich tapestry of Salehi’s image-making career in previously unrealized magnitude. Showing in photographic layers, the selected photographs narrate universal themes of migration, family, resilience, joy and solitude. LAYERS will open in conjunction with the premiere of a documentary of the same name based on Salehi’s work and process, directed by Bita Shafipour and executive produced by SOCIARTS in collaboration with ADVOCARTSY.
LAYERS: The Art of Hadi Salehi’s Photography is a documentary that portrays the poetic style of Hadi Salehi’s analog photography. Through a series of captivating conversations with the artist, and an exploration of his experimental process, award-winning director Bita Shafipour taps into Hadi’s layers of consciousness and maps out a visual narrative of the creativity that shapes his rich and diverse body of work. Using Hadi’s photographs and archival film footage, captured in dozens of countries and including thousands of subjects, this art film visualizes Hadi’s life as an Iranian immigrant in Los Angeles where he has been capturing stories and making images over the past four decades. Shot primarily on 16mm film, Shafipour aims to pay tribute to Hadi’s creative process and the art of analog photography through her own analog filmmaking. Produced by Bita Shafipour and Emmy-winning producer Chris Boyd in association with ADVOCARTSY.
+ BOOK LAUNCH AND SIGNING OF TEHRAN by POUYA AFSHAR
TEHRAN is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Pouya Afshar in 2018. The book revolves around the story of a six year old transgender girl living in Tehran and aims to create a platform for dialogue about gender, sexual identity, human rights, and youth well-being in Iran.
Please join ADVOCARTSY for an Open House reception on Saturday, February 16th, 2019 from 12-5 pm to celebrate the LA Art Show Season in full bloom! We will be exhibiting work by artists including, Pouya Afshar, Afsoon, Ali Dadgar, Kaveh Irani, Aida Izadpanah, Shahram Karimi, Simin Keramati, Dana Nehdaran, Dariush Nehdaran, Mobina Nouri, Ardalan Payvar, Bahar Sabzevari, Hadi Salehi, Sepideh Salehi, Rebecca Setareh, Shilla Shakoori, Shadi Yousefian, and Farnaz Zabetian. This event is free and open to the public.
ADVOCARTSY presents its fourth public initiative of a multi-artist show entitled ART BRIEF IV: IRANIAN CONTEMPORARY SAN FRANCISCO and thus expands its efforts to Northern California.
ADVOCARTSY is proud to collaborate with Moms Against Poverty (MAP) as its official community and fundraising partner for this event. This collaboration will bring about Northern California’s support of the Iranian art community as we fundraise for MAP’s important and inspiring mission. MAP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2008 by a group of individuals, who believe that, every child deserves a chance to thrive in this world regardless of where they are born. [www.momsagainstpoverty.org]. MAP is collaborating with Advocartsy to help build a bridge between art and charity, where art serves a charitable cause and charity supports Iranian artists.
Ten percent (10%) of net sales during this event will be donated to MAP.
ART BRIEF IV: IRANIAN CONTEMPORARY SAN FRANCISCO explores the diverse ways artists of Iranian background in diaspora create and define ‘Iranian Contemporary Art’. The works exhibited speak to the various artistic reactions and reflections to the realities of identity formation in diaspora, the pain and joy of exile, the call of nostalgia, and the fragmentation of the self.
Advocartsy is pleased to announce the list of participating artists for ART BRIEF IV:
Pouya Afshar
Pouya Afshar is a multi-disciplinary artist and alumnus from the California Institute of Arts Character Animation department and is a graduate of University of California Los Angeles Graduate Department of Film and Television focusing in Animation and Digital Media. He has exhibited his work as an animator and visual artist throughout Los Angeles and United States at renowned locations such as Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center, Bovard Auditorium at University of Southern California, Royce Hall at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Santa Monica Art studios, 18th street Art Center, and numerous galleries and art fairs around the world. He is also the recipient of a Create Economy Grant in the state of Massachusetts. He is currently an assistant professor of art and Design at University of Massachusetts, Lowell. (Boston)
Afsoon
Afsoon works with her own collection of vintage images to create illustrious collages. Through a combination of techniques, Afsoon’s rich, and often playful, works reflect the merging of East and West, allowing the audience to find the familiar and foreign. Afsoon’s works have been extensively exhibited and can be found worldwide in prominent collections and museums, including the British Museum, Los Angeles County Museum and Berger/YSL Collection, among others. (London)
Samira Akbari
Samira Akbari has a bachelors degree in sculpture and MFA from Academy of Art in San Francisco University for an MFA Program. Her work often explores the experience of women and the human condition. (San Francisco)
Ali Dadgar
Ali Dadgar is an experimental artist working across performance, image, text and object based media. Dadgar holds an MFA in Art Practice from UC Berkeley and a BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts. His work explores personal and shared experiences of alienation, loss and duality often in playful and varied forms of expression. (San Francisco/Bay Area)
Taraneh Hemmami
Taraneh Hemami engages in diverse strategies including installation, object and media productions, collective and participatory projects as well as curation to explore themes of displacement, preservation, and representation. Her projects transform materials of history, archives of images and information into timelines, patterns and maps that draws connections between contradictory narratives. She received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting & Drawing from the University of Oregon, Eugene (1982) and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting (Distinction) from the California College of the Arts, Oakland, California (1991). She lives in San Francisco, and exhibits, lectures, teaches and curates internationally. (San Francisco)
Kevah Irani
Kevah Irani works in painting, collage, sculpture, and sound installation. Creating dynamic, mixed media artworks, Kevah examines the concepts of identity, diaspora, and topophilia. Imbuing objects with significance of their origins, he brings disparate things together in ways that explore how they do and do not resonate with one another. Kaveh received his Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts from Emily Carr University and his Masters Degree from California College of the Arts. (San Francisco)
Aida Izadpanah
Aida Izadpanah possesses a diverse repertoire of media and styles, having worked for many years in acrylic, oil, mixed media, watercolor, photography, and porcelain. She specializes in European styles, ethnic Persian motifs, and modern designs, as well as dynamically textured abstract works. Her large scale abstract textured-field paintings are deeply associated with the passage of time and therefore, inevitably. (New York City)
Shahram Karimi
Shahram Karimi’s paintings portray the dilemma of the contemporary bicultural Iranian who seeks his historical and personal identity by wedding his personal past with contemporary form. Each one of Karimi’s paintings relates a fragment of his memories and national history, each a piece of his personal past. Karimi exhibits his works internationally, and is a curator and art critic. (New York)
Simin Keramati
Simin Keramati is a multidisciplinary artist working with social-political themes presented through painting, drawing, video art and new media. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Tehran Art University and is the Winner of the Grand Prize from the Khaka International Biennial 2004. Her paintings often address themes of identity, diasporic experience, and social issues. (Toronto)
Dana Nehdaran
Dana Nehdaran studied painting in Iran and recently migrated to New York. Nehdaran’s portraits captivatingly capture the nostalgia and historical past, seamlessly connecting the past to contemporary culture. He uses abstraction to highlight the ways in which past and present weave together in both conflict and harmony. (New York City)
Dariush Nehdaran
Dariush Nehdaran’s photography captures intimate moments suspended in time. He aims to turn spectators into participants, drawing them into contemporary Persian culture. His photographs and video works are available both in public and private collections worldwide including the Armando Reverón Contemporary Art Museum in Caracas-Venezuela 2018, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the US 2016, and the Salsali Private Museum in Dubai-UAE 2012. (San Francisco)
Ardalan Payvar
Ardalan Payvar draws inspiration from deconstructive typography and works to incorporate elements of its composition into his abstract, calligraphic works. Fragmenting traditional and contemporary type, Ardalan finds ways to balance and fuse them together without sabotaging the integrity of either realm, combining formal studies in Graphic Design, Fine Art, Persian Calligraphy and his artistic intuition. (Berkeley)
Bahar Sabzevari
Bahar Sabzevari is an Iranian artist exploring identity through self-portraiture, narrative painting and video art. In her most recent series of self-portraits, she questions the Iranians’ tendency and obsession to praise the past. She received her MFA in painting at the New York Academy of Art in 2018 and she has been the recipient of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Residency in Beijing, China summer of 2017. (New York City)
Sepideh Salehi
Sepideh Salehi works in various mediums utilizes different processes ranging from painting, drawing to printmaking, photography, video art and animation. Her works revolve around the poetics of the veil as well as stories from her country of origin. Her work has been exhibited and showcased internationally. (Washington D.C. and New York City)
Hadi Salehi
Hadi Salehi is a master of the art of analog photography. Salehi’s images capture diverse portraits that are nostalgic, powerful and soft, leaving a haunting quality that lingers in the psyche. He seeks to create a collective awareness and be a cultural messenger through his images. His career now spans almost 40 years and has closely photographed cultural innovators like Keith Haring. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. (Los Angeles)
Rebecca Setarah
Rebecca Setareh has garnered international attention for her Sculpture work, harmoniously integrating rock and bronze. Her work examines the experience, strength of the female experience in a creative process that represents the struggle of life itself. (Los Angeles)
Shilla Shakoori
Shilla Shakoori’s diverse artistic expression springs from an exploration of the synthesis between native and adopted cultures. Shakoori’s works are strongly influenced by Iranian philosophy and myth. Her work often reflects a meditative process of cutting, sewing and incorporating language and forms. (Los Angeles)
Kamran Taherimoghadam
Kamran Taherimoghaddam is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work illustrates social and political stories. His paintings and videos have been exhibited in museums,
galleries and art fairs in Iran, Italy, France and USA. (Washington D.C. and New York City)
Taravat Talepasand
Taravat Talepasand’s interdisciplinary practices draw on realism to bring focus to an acceptable beauty, exploring its relationship with art history under the guise of traditional Persian painting.
Her interest is in painting the present, which is intrinsically linked to the past, making it easily understood by the Iranian and indicative of assumption for the Westerner. She is currently the Department Chair of Painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in permanent collections of the De Young Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Orange County Museum of Art, Orange County. Taravat was included in the 2018 Bay Area Now 8 at the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts and the recipient of the 2010 Diebenkorn Fellowship at the San Francisco Art Institute.
Shadi Yousefian
Shadi Yousefian’s mixed media work reflects and addresses issues that touch on universal themes such as loss, dislocation, alienation, and reinvention. She received both her Bachelor’s (2003) and Master’s (2006) of Fine Arts in photography from San Francisco State University. Shadi’s work engages personal and social issues of contemporary life, particularly, cultural identity and the immigrant experience. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collection of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Farnaz Zabetian
Farnaz Zabetian paints manifestations of daily life, exploring the struggles of Eastern women as they are forced to navigate social taboos and ideals since birth. Her symbolic and expressive portraits of these women depict their private thoughts and yearnings, as well as their perceived relationship with the rapidly modernizing world. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including Sondouzi Art Museum of Tehran in 2008; the Saad Abad Museum of Tehran in 2009; and the Peninsula Museum of Art in Burlingame in 2017.
Avideh Zahedi
Avideh Zahedi’s sculptures translate two-dimensional drawing techniques into three-dimensional figures, working to extract information from the expressed emotion and movement of her subjects and use them to represent inward states of being. (San Francisco)
MAP’s mission is to nurture and educate underprivileged children to their fullest potential, so that, one day, they can contribute and lead within their own communities; thus breaking the cycle of poverty. MAP is dedicated to serving underprivileged children in Iran, the U.S and around the world. MAP has long strived to bring awareness to artists from Iran and other countries to the community while promoting its cause of serving children in need.
ADVOCARTSY is a collaborative visual arts platform with the mission elevate awareness and engagement amongst artists, collectors, and the fine art community, with focus on Iranian contemporary art.
ADVOCARTSY’s ART BRIEF series provide a concentrated opportunity to introduce artists of Iranian heritage to the Iranian community and the community at large. The first three ART BRIEF initiatives where held in Los Angeles. ADVOCARTSY is now extending its efforts to Northern California. The ART BRIEF series is designed to build community and to build bridges between communities, but also to demonstrate the breadth of expression and meaning characterizing the art of Iranian-American artists.
IAWF Panel Discussion: Role Overload: Growing Pains and Learned Lessons on Managing the Many Roles We Play as Iranian-American Women
The Iranian-American Women Foundation (IAWF)’s Los Angeles Chapter Rising Leaders invites you to a mixer and panel discussion about Role Overload: Growing Pains and Learned Lessons on the Many Roles we Play as Iranian-American Women.
Panelists:
Dr. Nelly Farnoody-Zahiri, Family Psychologist, Author, Speaker, Director, ICPL
Sonya Sepahban, CEO & Co-Founder, OurOffice, Inc.
Roshi Rahnama, Founder & Director, AdvocArtsy Art Gallery – Iranian Contemporary Art Platform and Gallery
Moderator:
Ghazal Tajmiri, Senior Associate, Blank Rome LLP
This event is taking place on Sunday, November 4, 2018, from 5 – 7pm at The Space by AdvocArtsy Art Gallery.
Current Exhibition: Debut and Art Collaboration with Interior Designer Ryan Saghian.
10% of proceeds from purchases made during the event will be donated to IAWF
This event is free and space is limited. Kindly RSVP by November 1.
The mission of the Iranian American Women Foundation is to provide a platform for empowerment and networking among Iranian-American Women and to provide mentorship to younger generations of Iranians locally and globally.
Since its inception in Orange County, CA in 2012 the organization has empowered, inspired and connected thousands of women nationwide and globally. It has served as a home away from home; a community that celebrates creative, innovative, tenacious, and competitive women who are problem solvers and a force for the greater good.
ADVOCARTSY is a collaborative visual arts platform with the mission elevate awareness and engagement amongst artists, collectors, and the fine art community, with focus on Iranian contemporary art.
THE SPACE by ADVOCARTSY, created to raise awareness of and engagement within Iranian contemporary art, is pleased to collaborate with LA-based, Iranian Interior Designer, Ryan Saghian. This is THE SPACE’s first design and art collaboration. ADVOCARTSY’S mission is to elevate awareness and engagement with Iranian contemporary art. With this collaboration, ADVOCARTSY broadens its mission by engaging the community with a noted Iranian designer expanding public exposure. The art chosen for this debut collaboration carries a wide range of expression that will resonate and intrigue its audience within the contemporary art realm at large. “I am honored to be the first designer chosen to collaborate with ADVOCARTSY. Art is everything when it comes to interior design. It reflects the style of homeowner and it should be a representation of who you are,” says interior designer, Ryan Saghian. “As an Iranian American, Iranian Contemporary art speaks to me on a personal level, and also reveals the essence of the human condition which plays a major role in everyone’s life.” “In this collaboration, we have selected a wide range works by Iranian contemporary artists. The work appeals to the sophisticated design world with a universal connection,” says Roshi Rahnama. “All the work chosen are of museum quality and reflect the style and sophistication that Ryan Saghian brings to all his projects.” Great art has become an essential component of a modern home. The collaboration speaks to the importance of art in the home as it speaks to the self-expression of the collector. The art showcased and selected for this collaboration is from a roster ADVOCARTSY collaborating artists which reflect a wide range of expression and speak to the unique experiences of the Iranian Artists. The selection includes multimedia, sculpture, painting, and digital photography. The artists selected for this unique showing include: Hessam Abrishami, Pouya Afshar, Afsoon, Shahram Karimi, Dana Nehdaran, Mobina Nouri, Aida Izadpanah, Rebecca Setareh, Sepideh Salehi, Shilla Shakoori, and Melika Shafahi, Farnaz Zabetian.
General information:
Private showing: November 1st (INVITE ONLY)
Public viewing: November 2 – November 15
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 12.– 5 p.m.
Address:
9th and San Pedro Building, 924 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles, 90015
Free parking: Behind the San Pedro Building
ABOUT RYAN SAGHIAN Born in Los Angeles, Ryan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design from the Art Institute of California’s CIDA design school. With over 10 years of experience in the field, Ryan has endured a body of design skills taking human elements into consideration when designing a space. To add to his extensive portfolio of work, Ryan recently launched Ryan Saghian Collection, a custom couture furniture collection available through J Alexander and his new flagship showroom in Los Angeles. All pieces are handmade in Los Angeles and can be fully customized. In addition to his new furniture line and showroom, Ryan also recently introduced his own Wallcoverings collection, handmade with rich, natural materials including fine silk, cork, and grasscloths.
THE SPACE is a permanent extension of ADVOCARTSY’s Art Brief exhibition series launched in 2015, a contemporary fine arts platform that aims to raise awareness and engagement with Iranian contemporary art. ADVOCARTSY hosts diverse fine art events, educational programs, exhibitions, and other events, with a wide range of collaborations, both nationally and internationally as a nexus for artists, critics, curators, and collectors. The 1,800 square-foot-space is ideally situated in the heart of Downtown LA’s Fashion District, minutes from the rapidly expanding arts district and LA’s newest museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
