For several weeks now, we have been preparing for Iranian.com’s fundraiser which takes place tonight. My friends, Maryam Majidy, Lale’ Welsh, Amir Salamat, Bruce Bahmani, and Wayne Willis and I have been working with Jahanshah to put the event together. One of the most rewarding parts of the project has been working with the artists who have agreed to help by donating their art for a silent auction. The collection is impressive, making the project a truly interesting task. Just looking at the pieces is a visual feast, spiced with the knowledge that these exceptional artists have found value and importance in a project we also hold dear to our hearts. The collection ranges from whimsical to practical, each provoking thought on a different level. Come, let me show them to you.
1. Shahab Laal’s “Ascent”
Mixed media on wood. 24″x46″
Berkeley resident and artist, Shahab Laal, describes himself as “the most famous unknown Iranian artist in the world!” Well, to those who live in this area, he is plenty famous!. He is regarded as one of the nicest people in the Iranian community in Berkeley. (more Laal paintings)
2. Farrokh Shehabi’s “Eshgh”
Stoneware, slip glaze, ∆ 10 Reduction, multi fire
Height 15″, Diameters 8″ at top and 14″ at middle
Homepage Farrokh Shehabi is a ceramics artist in Berkeley. He specializes in sculptured functional ceramic pieces. He uses Raku, wood-fired ceramics, and stoneware/porcelain methods in his ceramics productions. He is a well-known and well-loved artist whose studio in Berkeley is regularly visited by many pottery lovers annually who come to view his work and to claim his coveted creations. farrokhceramics.com. (More in iranian.com)
3 and 4. Amir Salamat’s “Aparatus Maximus” and “Wall With Eyes“
Limited Edition Prints
Amir Salamat, co-founder of Beyond Persia, and one of the hosts of tonight’s event, creates modern paintings with a distinctive Persian flavor. His paintings are so easy on the eye and on the imagination. He says about his work: “I learned to interject my Iranian heritage in my work through use of brighter colors which I got from studying Iranian miniature paintings and adding Persian writings and motifs.” (More Salamt in iranian.com)
5. Ali Dadgar’s “Lament”
Acrylic Painting & Screen-print. 48” h X 28” W 2” D
Bay Area based artist Ali Dadgar works with experimental printmaking, digital photography, painting and performance. Born in Iran, Dadgar immigrated to the United States in 1978. A member of the Berkeley based theatre company Darvag since 1988, Dadgar collaborates with numerous visual and performing artists in the Bay Area. He completed his MFA on May 2007 in the Art Practice program at University of California in Berkeley where his is currently a lecturer in the department of Art Practice. He has been a part of the commissioned Thangka mural project for the entire 2007-2008 season; Artist Insight exhibit in the RBI room at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. (More Dadgar in iranian.com)
6. Avideh Zahedi’s “Melancholy”
Ceramic. Height 15” width 8“ length 24”
Avideh Zahedi a part time Ceramic Artist residing in Oakland. She started working with Clay in 1986 and fell in love with the medium. Her love for free form life drawing and Clay has resulted in the figurative work that she produces. Her sculpture is expression of emotions projected and molded into the clay. These are feelings that most of the time we are encouraged to bury within and are considered weakness when brought to the surface. (More Zahedi in iranian.com)
7. Taraneh Hemami’s “Most Wanted”
Pigment Print on Fine Art Paper
Most Wanted investigates the nature of perception, recognition, and representation while examining the construction of the image of the new enemy [see feature in iranian.com]. Interpretations of a series of faceless portrayals of the most wanted terrorists as identified by the United States government contemplate the ways in which stereotypical perceptions of people are created while pondering the relationship between image and identity.
Hemami has exhibited nationally and participated in international exhibitions including Siggraph 2007, ISEA 2006, Sixth International Sharjah Biennial and locally at Intersection for the Arts, the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, The Lab, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Her projects have received awards from the Creative Work Fund, the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Foundation, California Council for the Humanities and the christian fund and she is a recent recipient of the Visions from the New California award from the James Irvine Foundation. She has been an Artist in Resident at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Montalvo Center for the Arts, Kala Art Institute, The Lab and at the Center for Public Life at the California College of the Arts where she is an adjunct professor. Homepage: taranehhemami.info.
8. Shiva Pakdel’s “Qajar Couples”
Mixed Media on wood panel 12×24
Shiva’s immersion in and exposure to both eastern and western culture and art have provided her with a great appreciation and enjoyment of both Iranian art, culture, history, and poetry, as well as the art and culture of the west. In 1976, Shiva moved to United States to study art, and she graduated from Tulsa University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Never losing her enthusiasm and interest in art, over the past 25 years, Shiva has painted, created collages, produced beaded and silver jewelry, as well as cultivating a fine collection of antique Iranian stamps, artifacts and art. Homepage: shivapakdel.com. (More Pakdel in iranian.com)
9. Babak Daleki’s bowl, untitled
Stoneware clay and high-fire glaze. 9” in diameter
Babak Daleki is a ceramic artist who specializes in carved tiles, hand-built vessels, exotic platters and bowls. His pieces have a tremendous amount of detail with eye-catching textures and glazes washed to complete the effect of an ancient design. He says about his work: “I hope that my one-of-a-kind pieces will allow people to not only be exposed to something aesthetically appealing, but also to take them through ten thousand years of Iranian history that has been hidden under layers of silence.” Homepage: dalekiceramicstudio.com.
10. Simin Maykadeh’s “Soulful”
Charcoal. 33″x27″
Simin meykadeh studied art in Tehran, London & the San Francisco Art Institute. She has had two one woman shows at the Seyhoun Gallery in Los Angeles, and has participated in group shows in London, Paris, New York, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. Her paintings are in many private collections. In 1989, Simin and four other artists were chosen to represent Iran at the Barbican Center in London for “The Contemporary Art of the Islamic World”. Her painting is now in the permanent collection at the Royal Museum of Art in Jordan. Homepage simin-m.com.
11. Jaleh Etemad’s “Polka Dotted Peony”
Mixed media photograph on Japanese mulberry paper/archival wood. 10”x10”
She paints in mixed media and incorporates photography in her work; combining the two mediums is her source of creation. She states: “My motivation is creating thought provoking pieces and to plant the spark of life within the created forms.” Born in Azerbaijan, Iran, educated in England, since 1970, Jaleh Etemad has resided in the United States. In 1986, she received a Fine Arts Degree at California State University Northridge, Los Angeles. Since 1993, her work has been widely exhibited in California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Arkansas and Florida. She has been the recipient of several awards and she has exhibited Internationally in Paris, France, Stockholm, Sweden, Oslo, Norway, Rome Italy and in an Internet on-line show in Beijing, China. Homepage: www.jalehetemad.com. (More Etemad in iranian.com)
12. Hadi Tabatabai’s book, Now You See It
Limited Edition of 750, hand numbered (3 copies), signed by the artist.
Born in Mashhad, Iran, in 1964, Hadi Tabatabai and his family immigrated to the United Statesin 1977. He has been residing in California ever since. He attended Fresno State University from 1980-1985 and received his B.S. in Industrial Technology. From 1993-1995 he attended San Francisco Art Institute where he received his B.F.A. in Painting. Hadi Tabatabai’s methodical, instinctive use of materials allows him to create objects of delicate beauty. Using the grid as a departure point, Tabatabai layers a variety of media, including thread, wax, paint, and wood to create subtle modulations on the surface that elicit the relationship between what is imagined and what is rendered.
The limited edition book reflects Mr. Tabatabai’s artwork portfolio which is a component of a two-part exhibition project presented to galleeries in New York and San Francisco. See topause.com. (More Tabatabai in iranian.com)
There will also be a raffle in which people can win autographed copies of books by Shahrnoush Parsipour, Simin Behbahani, and autogrpahed sets of the Rostam Comic Books donated by creators Cameron and Jamie Douraghy & Bruce Bahmani, among many other items donated by local business.
We hope to be able to see you there tonight. If not, I’m sure Talieh Shahrokhi’s photo essay of the event will tell you all about it soon! Jatoono khali mikonim!
