Amir H. Fallah
The Collected
December 11, 2013–January 23, 2014
The Third Line
Al Quoz 3
Dubai
UAE
T +9714 3411 367
www.thethirdline.com
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The Third Line welcomes back Amir H. Fallah with his third solo show in Dubai, The Collected, which investigates the complex relationship between patronage and art making, collector and artist, and the dynamics of the creative process in today’s art world. All the paintings in the show are commissioned portraits, where the artist exercised complete artistic authority to manipulate the image according to his own interpretation. The process involved initial collaboration with the commissioner, a performative component in the staging, and the element of surprise in the reveal of the works to the patrons for the first time during the show preview.
The surfaces of the works are layered with collage and paint and the imagery often reflects the artist’s own cultural alliances: references to Persian miniatures may appear in the form of careful borders along the edge of a canvas and blankets may start to resemble the long veils associated with Eastern cultures. Images are embellished and details introduced or omitted based on extemporaneous decisions, and the initial source photographs are completely obscured. Sometimes, subjects appear in dramatically neoclassical poses, lounging across a wooden table or perched on a pedestal. Faces and other obvious markers are concealed and the only identification is through personal elements that surround them. For example, The Triangle In The Shattered Square includes a skateboard, a bottle of spray paint, a digital camera, and geometrical patterns picked from ceramic tiles at the collectors residence.
Amir approaches his current paintings as an investigative and analytical historian. Aside from unraveling a different perspective to art-historical portraiture traditions and the dynamics of modern-day art collection and art making, he also reflects upon concerns of identity and representation that are central to his practice.
About Amir H. Fallah
Amir H. Fallah was born in Tehran, Iran in 1979 and lives and works in Los Angeles. His artistic practice encompasses painting, drawing and sculpture—all reflecting Amir’s characteristic style of merging collage with complex patterning, which is decidedly ornate but also addresses primary painterly concerns. Often working with photographs of sets or scenes created by him, he uses the initial composition as a starting point, working in layers of manual and digital manipulation towards a final image. His works address a nexus of unique topics, culling influences from personal narrative, art history, pop culture and imagined experiences alike.
Amir has exhibited extensively in solo shows both in the United States and in the Middle East. He was featured in several international group exhibitions in venues including University Art Museum at California State University, Long Beach, California; 9th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE; Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California; and Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. His works are housed in prominent collections such as The Salsali Private Museum Collection.
Project Space – The Salon: group show
In the Project Space, The Third Line will close the year by presenting a salon-style group show of a selection of its own artists as well as others who have previously shown in that space. The works will include paintings, works on papers, photographs as well as small scale sculptures that reflect on the repertoire of younger and mid-career artists working in the region or in the Middle Eastern diaspora.
About The Third Line
The Third Line is a Dubai-based art gallery that represents contemporary Middle Eastern artists locally, regionally and internationally. The Third Line also hosts non-profit, alternative programs to increase interest and dialogue in the region. The Third Line also publishes books by associated artists from the region.
Represented artists include Abbas Akhavan, Ala Ebtekar, Amir H. Fallah, Arwa Abouon, Babak Golkar, Ebtisam Abdulaziz, Farhad Moshiri, Fouad Elkoury, Golnaz Fathi, Hassan Hajjaj, Hayv Kahraman, Huda Lutfi, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Laleh Khorramian, Lamya Gargash, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Pouran Jinchi, Rana Begum, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sara Naim, Sherin Guirguis, Shirin Aliabadi, Slavs and Tatars, Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Al-Ghoussein and Youssef Nabil.
Media contact
Saira Ansari, PR & Media Coordinator: saira [at] thethirdline.com / T +9714 3411 367
