May 4–June 16:
Gender and Exposure in Contemporary Iranian Photography:
Samira Eskandarfar, Amirali Ghasemi, Abbas Kowsari, Zeinab Salarvand,
Arman Stepanian, Sadegh Tirafkan. Curated by Andrea Fitzpatrick
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
401 Richmond St. W, Suite 120
www.gallery44.org/genderandexposure
May 5–June 9:
Frames of the Visible:
Sanaz Mazinani
Stephen Bulger Gallery
1026 Queen Street West
www.bulgergallery.com
May 12:
The Invisible Present:
Curated by Amirali Ghasemi/Parkingallery Projects, Tehran
CAMERA, located in the Stephen Bulger Gallery
1026 Queen Street West
www.camerabar.ca
Gender and Exposure in Contemporary Iranian Photography
Samira Eskandarfar, Amirali Ghasemi, Abbas Kowsari, Zeinab Salarvand, Arman Stepanian,
Sadegh Tirafkan
Curated by Andrea Fitzpatrick
Discourses of Middle Eastern art tend to be preoccupied by certain issues: femininity, the veil, gender disparity, religious tradition, and revolutionary conflict. This exhibition shifts the focus by considering the following themes: masculinity; female agency; secular activities (for example, café-culture, amateur wrestling, or extreme body building); Persian traditions; and the unique situation of Iran. Curator Andrea Fitzpatrick has conducted extensive research into Iranian culture and in 2010 traveled to Tehran to do field work.
Opening Reception: Friday, May 4, 6–9pm
Talk: Saturday, May 5, 3pm
Frames of the Visible
Sanaz Mazinani
In Frames of the Visible, Sanaz Mazinani examines the disassociation that occurs between an event and its photographic record. Using destabilizing images of war mined from online news media outlets, Mazinani constructs photographic collages that collapse the intimations of the original image, thus creating a new representation of conflict.
Mazinani explores the relationship between perception and representation by drawing from concepts such as censorship, scale, and the body as a site of action or violence. For instance, juxtaposing appropriated images of a female suicide bomber and media darling Paris Hilton, creates a new meaning that can affect our understanding of an image and how it is used to illustrate and construct history. The geometric patterns created by sequentially coupling, repeating, mirroring, and multiplying her source material references Islamic ornamentation, pairing traditional Eastern and contemporary Western image production techniques. These works examine the radical ways in which individuals perceive the same object with differing complexity.
Mazinani seeks to recognize how political realities are represented in photography. She envisions the perspectival frames of warfare, while acknowledging the complicated nature of our modern existence in a globalized world.
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 5, 2–5pm
The Invisible Present
Curated by Amirali Ghasemi/Parkingallery Projects, Tehran
The Invisible Present is a film series that introduces the vibrant new wave video art scene in Iran, which highlights the use of various disciplines, such as experimental film, animation, performance, and photography. The artists—most of whom are younger than 35—work within Iran and across the globe. The Invisible Present sheds light on a generation that is not clearly defined and often harshly targeted internationally; a generation which seeks to be present and exercise their significant liberty to experiment, while being invisible to many.
Screening: Saturday, May 12, 3pm
