Zahra Nazari ~ Worldview at Gallery 180 ...in its Final Days

"Mapping" acrylic on canvas, 48” x 30” 

There are just a few more days to visit the Worldview Exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. The exhibition includes work by nine artists from around the country... all defining their individual perceptions of the world in which we share. "Mapping" is one of two paintings by Zahra Nazari, included in the exhibition to benefit Worldview Education and Care. Her rich painterly style presents an abstract composition of man-made cityscapes as seen from above. Nazari explains...

The visual richness found in the structural patterns of architecture, both ancient and modern, especially in its relationship with the surrounding landscape, is the starting point of all my work.

I paint abstract urbanscapes that resemble city maps; they contain aerial views, distorted perspectives, and combinations of different architectural time periods containing both observed and imaginary disjointed places. Sometimes the images baffle even me. I am attracted to this since of ambiguity because it draws the viewer deeper into my imagery.

My mind aims for inventiveness in the painting process, passing time, worn surfaces, surprising shapes, and the mechanics of memory. I aspire to an underlying feeling of complexity and exploration in all of my work.

The Worldview exhibition will close on Friday, January 11th. It's an excellent collection of pieces and  all works are available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds donated to Worldview Education and Care. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash... the corner of Lake and Wabash in Chicago's Loop.

Zahra Nazari received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the School of Art & Architecture, Tabriz, Iran in July 2007. She is currently an MFA candidate in Painting/Drawing at SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY and was a recipient of both a graduate scholarship and a teaching assistantship from the Memphis College of Art. Her recent exhibitions include the “6th Annual Master Pieces” at Manifest Gallery and “Reroot” at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, both in Cincinnati, Ohio; “Twenty in Their Twenties” at Woman Made Gallery and “Wet Paint” at Zhou B Art Center, both in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an artist in resident at The International School of Painting, Drawing & Sculpture, Umbria, Italy. In addition she is the recipient of a grant from the Vermont Studio School in Johnson, Vermont.
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Murray Hidary ~ The Repercussions of Sandy

Abstract Color Series, Series 17#1 • digital photograph • 40” x 30” 

Producing a national juried exhibition is always a challenge but the stress increases as the work from around the country begins to arrive... or doesn't. Last Saturday morning, as I began hanging the Worldview exhibition in Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, It was obvious that a create was missing. After a sweep of various storage areas, I contacted the artist's representative. She tracked the create to find that it was in New York... detained and possibly destroyed by super storm Sandy.

I hung the exhibition without the two Murray Hidary photographs... But the story does have a happy ending. As I was standing in the gallery—an hour before the private preview reception was to begin—FedEx delivered the crate containing Hidary's work. With a few minutes before the guests were to arrive, I uncreated the work and placed the images on easels. The following morning, the pieces were  appropriately installed—included into the exhibition before the reception and available for purchase.

The Hidary images are amazing colorfield pieces mounted behind glass and floating just in front of the wall. An explanation of these rich and thought-provoking photographs, was offered by his gallery...

The dilemma between what remains objective in photography and what is transformed by one’s own perceptions is met head on by Murray Hidary’s work. The blurred color fields in his Abstract Color Series as well as his progressively blurred objects series’ challenge how we visually organize the world. By defamiliarizing commonly encountered objects, he creates new realms within his photographs that inspire to transcend our grounded notions of perception and reality.

Hidary chooses to bring attention to that which goes largely unnoticed by us through his bare lens. His work is shot in 35mm using primarily Kodak and Fuji films and printed on a variety of surfaces including photographic and watercolor paper. Filters were not used to achieve any of the colors or effects in the work, and the images have not been digitally enhanced or physically manipulated during the developing or printing processes. Hidary’s work frames an alternative view of the world that remains true to its’ original composition from the point a photograph is snapped to the final print.

The Worldview exhibition will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through January 10, 2013. All works are available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds donated to Worldview Education and Care. Gallery 180 is located at the corner of Lake and Wabash in Chicago's Loop. 

 

Abstract Color Series, Series 17#2 • digital photograph • 40” x 30” 

Hidary’s work has garnered wide praise and regularly appears in gallery and museum exhibitions. His work is also held in many private collections. His photography has appeared in myriad group shows including the San Francisco MoMA’s 15th Biennial Auction, at the Guggenheim Museum, and the San Diego Art Institute. Solo exhibitions of Hidary’s work have been featured at Karpeles Museum (Santa Barbara, CA), East Link Gallery (Shanghai, China), and the Nabokov Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia).

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A Different View of The World

Al Denyer, Arctic V, color pencil on paper, 22" x 22"

Save the Date: Friday, November 9th
On Friday November 9th, Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago will host a catered reception for Worldview, A National Juried Exhibition to benefit Worldview Education & Care… a 501(c)(3) charity that supports education and health care services in the Arumeru District of northern Tanzania near Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Founded in 2007 by Philanthropists, Ann and Robert Avery, Worldview Education & Care was initially created to support a small orphanage in the Nshupu Village of Arumeru. Since then, Worldview has expanded to provide education for unwed teen mothers, secondary education and graduate vocational training, as well as scholarship residence for teenagers. Their newest project, “Community Mobilization for Change”, provides HIV/AIDS outreach and counseling, which has already helped several thousand people. Worldview continues to fully support “Precious Orphanage”, which is currently home to nine orphans.

The Worldview exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago—will present the work of nine artists, each artist offering their specific perceptions of the world in which we live. The list of artists includes: Al Denyer of Salt Lake City, UT; Murray Hidary of Los Angeles, CA; Carl Holzman, Chicago, IL; Richard Laurent, Chicago, IL; Zahra Nazari, Memphis, TN; Sheila Oettinger, Chicago, IL; Joann Rea, Evanston, IL; Matthew Runfola, Chicago, IL and Anne Smith Stephan of Wilmette, IL. I plan to blog about each of these amazing artists in the coming weeks.

Al Denyer is one of the nine artists whose work was selected for inclusion into the Worldview exhibition. His exquisite pencil drawings, display beautifully mesmerizing surface patterns, interpreting one of the planets’ most pristine and unspoiled areas. Denyer explains:

“My work is invested in representing conceptual approaches to mapping, aerial views and the aesthetic created from the observation of the earth’s surface as viewed from above.
As a personal response to the recent environmental changes in the Arctic Region, I have created different bodies of drawings and paintings, which explore the aesthetics presented by the coastline and ice sheets of the Arctic and reference a satellite viewpoint. These works, which play on the aesthetic beauty of the surface and reflective material used, present an interpretation of one of the planets’ most pristine and unspoiled areas.”

Worldview: A National Juried Exhibition will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through January 10, 2013. Previews begin on November 5th. An Opening Reception will take place on Friday, November 9 from 5:30-7:30 pm. All works will be available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds donated to Worldview Education & Care.

Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com.

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