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Canessa Gallery

July 3 - July 31, 2010

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708 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94111
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Passion Play
This show features new paintings as well as works that have been in the making over the last ten years. Mokhtar's "Passion Play" is a meditation on Ta'zieh, a traditional Iranian performance genre in which the drama is conveyed wholly or predominantly through music and singing.  In "Passion Play" Mokhtar explores the mythology and imagery of this ancient theatrical tradition while highlighting its vitality and ability to bridge the past and the present. Mokhtar was born in Shiraz, a city in south of Iran.  After studying architecture at the Fine Arts College of Tehran University he moved to Europe.  Mokhtar wrote his architecture master's thesis, "Reconstruction Following Disasters", while at Oxford Polytechnic in England.  Later, he completed his studies of graphic design and lithography at the College of Arts and Crafts in Oslo, Norway.  Mokhtar also holds an MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.  Currently, Mokhtar lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and works as a visual artist and a teacher.  Mokhtar's paintings have been exhibited in Iran, Norway and the United States - most recently at the Intersection For The Arts in San Francisco, Oliver Gallery, and the Persian Center in Berkeley.  Mokhtar is also a writer of fiction. His first novel, Shamayel-e-Mana, was published in Sweden and Iran and his short stories and articles have appeared in anthologies of Iranian writers. His second novel, Shahrzad the Silent, is currently being readied for publication.