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Marx & Zavattero

December 12 - January 31, 2010

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77 Geary Street 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94108
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Situation Critical Ayatollah Land, 30" x 24" oil on linen, 2009
Opening reception for the artist: Saturday, December 12, beginning at 5:00 PM In Situation Critical, Iranian-American artist Taravat Talepasand’s second solo exhibition at Marx & Zavattero, the conflict of the artist’s attempt at resolution between east and west in her own self – as well as the present political situation in Iran – collide to inspire a new body of work that is highly charged and personal. On view will be a series of new egg tempera on panel paintings, graphite drawings, and a hand-painted MB5 motorcycle that represent the artist’s fresh interpretation of the still life and portrait genre. Fusing elements from old master religious paintings, personal photos, and images appropriated from the internet, Talepasand’s new works are loaded with metaphor. Some works feature the artist masquerading in a variety of iconic poses that challenge traditional hierarchies in art and society, both in the US and in Iran. Inspired by a photograph she took in Tehran of a boy’s room, the richly filled still life Discipline features the artist, with blonde hair, posing amongst the debris found in the room: pornography, cigarettes, and a copy of the book The Crash of 79 by Paul Erdman. Flocked in gold leaf and paint, the artist emerges from the guts of the book to strike a sultry pose and gaze out at the viewer – an uncharacteristic calendar “golden girl”. “I am very interested in giving expression to Iranian modernity and experiences –how we, as Iranians whether living abroad or under the flag of the Republic can claim our modern experiential existence while still owning our traditions,” Talepasand explains. “If the work is about anything, it's about lived experience and how to claim that experience.” Talepasand also represents two sides of herself in the darkly sardonic painting Ayatollah Land, in which Tehran has become a nightmare on Disney street. Here she is a beheaded Pinocchio, mimicking the Deposition pose as her alter ago looms behind her in traditional eastern garb, while an American youth dances around her slain body and a creepy Chip & Dale look down at her, mouths agape. This chaos is dwarfed under an emerald green building based on an iconic architectural symbol in Tehran that stands for freedom, and has morphed into a theatrical version of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In another painting, the artist channels noble portraits in a collaborative large-scale work with painter Terry Powers, whereby she sits regally in a chair, dripping in black oil and gazing defiantly at the viewer. Talepasand’s painstaking attention to detail is mimicked in the layering of symbolic imagery – creating a sinister yet thoroughly delicious carnival. Talepasand will be featured in a solo exhibition at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco in late 2010. In addition, she has exhibited widely in several solo and group exhibitions around the country, including recent solo shows at Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, and Plane Space, New York. Group exhibitions include The Diane and Sandy Besser Collection, the de Young Museum, San Francisco; Bad Moon Rising 4, galerie sans titre, Brussels, Belgium; Sexy Time, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York; I Want You To Want Me, Marx & Zavattero; the di Rosa Preserve, Napa; and the 2003 Oregon Biennial, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR, among others. An Irene Pijoan Memorial Painting Awardee and Murphy Cadogan Scholarship recipient, Talepasand’s work is also in the permanent collection of the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Her work has been written about and reproduced in Alarm, Art in America, The, Art Papers, Artweek, Planet Magazine, SOMA Magazine, Art Ltd., Metro Pop, 7 x7 Magazine, stretcher.org, Lifescapes, The Oregonian, New American Paintings, and White Hot. She is a featured artist in the comprehensive book Different Sames: New Perspectives in Contemporary Iranian Art, edited by Hossein Amirsadeghi. Talepasand received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2006 and her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001. She lives and works in San Francisco.