Lawrie Shabibi is pleased to announce our first participation in Art Basel Hong Kong, the leading art fair in Asia, with a two-person presentation of works by Farhad Ahrarnia and Shahpour Pouyan, entitled Recentring Modernism, for the Insights section of the March 2016 edition.
Recentring Modernism pairs new works by Ahrarnia and Pouyan, two artists of Iranian origin living and working in Shiraz and New York respectively. Both artists draw parallels between their chosen subjects and early Modernists, whose perceptions of the East were in stark contrast to the pejorative Eurocentric view. Looking for abstract, non-figurative modes of expression, Modernists were drawn towards African and West Asian visual culture. In Recentring Modernism we present new works by Ahrarnia from his ongoing wall-based ‘Khatam’ series in conjunction with a new project by Pouyan comprising drawings and ceramic sculptures. Ahrarnia’s and Pouyan’s responses, although seemingly in reverse to the Modernists, closely parallels the transformations of motifs, techniques and ideas across borders and cultures, a process that has long been endemic to Western Asia.
For the full press release, please click here.
