EAC Installation - First stages

I had the sketch, the idea, the vision and most importunely the approval to go ahead with my installation for the opening ceremony of Evanston Art Center (EAC)'s new location. Now it was time to make it happen. The theme is Hybrid's Paradise and as always my aim was to share my culture. My installation proposal consists of glass blocks which you see everywhere in Chicago mixed with Farsi calligraphy of Rumi Poetry and Persian and Islamic architectural designs.

I need to add that this is one of the installations I will have at EAC . The other one will be part of the same project but with completely different material. With these installations I aim to combine some part of both cultures of East and West.

After many trips to Home Depot (I can say I have hit most of their Chicago locations!) I got all the materials I needed. I did some testing obviously prior to get them all and worked my way through the process.

The blocks are not that light so to have 5 rows to 5 blocks each is not the easiest job to do. I am getting closer to the final stages and will post more images as we get closer to the event but the final creation will be revealed only on June 14th 2015 during the official opening ceremony of the new home for EAC.

Once again I can not mention how thrilled I am to be part of these amazing group of artists. More photos and updates coming up within the next few days. You will see the progress. You can also follow me on Instagram, Twitter and FaceBook.

Selected Artist - ShowPOD Chicago - September 2015

Pilsen is known as one of the most artistic neighborhoods in Chicago. Every 2nd Friday of the month, Pilsen artists open their studio doors to public to showcase their art. Most of the buildings in Pilsen are owned and managed by Podmajersky who have been doing an amazing job in terms of promoting the artists in their area. One of the events they manage is  showPODs which are a series of 7 exhibition spaces, compact, dynamic, unmanned, and designed to support concepts of art experimentation and installation. Conceptualized by John Podmajersky III, and created by the Chicago Arts District, showPODs create an instant art experience in the non-traditional space and format of a high exposure art installation operating around the clock. showPOD, by design, can be viewed by anyone at anytime during the life of its installation, allowing a rich public art experience that breaks down the traditional limits of a gallery space or museum.

I'm honored to be selected as one of the artists for ShowPOD in the month of September 2015. The aim of my installation is going to be a cultural exchange, to share a part of Iranian Culture which is colorful, poetic and mystic. I will be sharing more updates and images soon. At this stage I'm finalizing the sketches for all the windows.  This is an ambitious and challenging project yet very exciting and I can not be more grateful to be selected as one of the artists to show during 2015.

Below images are only few of the windows for the installations. Stay tuned for more images and for the progress on the project.

Images and more updates on Christie's Auction - Dubai 2015 - MOP Nowruz Gala

The whole process from the time my painting was accepted to be part of 2015 MOP Foundation Gala till the time it was auctioned by Christie's was just like a dream. Very mixed feelings, I was so proud to see my name within such amazing artists. The event was mesmerizing as mentioned. Location was perfect, full of art, flowers and lovely people. The start of the evening we had a video message from HH Shahbanoo Farah Pahlavi - The former Queen of Iran - to us all and it was amazing. The setting, the speech, the whole thing was just spectacular. Then we had HE Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Narayan - Ministry of Culture, Youth & Social Development - reading a keynote speech to us all. And of course then came the Auction which I have mentioned in details in my previous posts...

Here you can have all the links to all the images, speeches and all for the Magic of Persia Foundation events in Dubai on Nowruz 2015. It was an honor to be part of this magical event and hoping to be part of it again in coming years.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL DETAILS AND IMAGES - MOP FOUNDATION - NOWRUZ GALA - Dubai / 2015