Reverberations ofBlue
Reverberations of Blue
Film, Sculptures and Prints
January 12 – January 17 2013
First Los Angeles solo exhibition of artist Negin Sharifzadeh
January 3, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On view from January 12 through January 17, 2013, at Seyhoun Gallery, Los Angeles,Reverberations of Blue brings together Negin Sharfizadeh’s award-winning stop-motion animated film, Even Gray Feels Blue, and a series of sculptural works and hand-painted canvas prints drawn out of the filmmaking process. There will be an opening reception from 6 to 9 pm on Saturday, January 12, with a screening of the film at 7 pm, followed by an artist talk between Negin Sharifzadeh and composer Negar Bouban. The film was built in conversation with In turn,composed and performed by Bouban and based on the poem, The Last Turn, by Ahmad Shamlou.
Even Gray Feels Blue was born out of the process of adapting Sharifzadeh’s sculptural practice into the language of stop-motion animation, while the objects created for the show return this conversation back to the sculptural realm. The series as a whole investigates the nature of melancholia and solitude, translating these intimate experiences of the individual body, memory and psyche to the broader socio-emotional realities in which they unfold. The objects and the film serve as memorials, moving across mediums to build a self-contained mythology from the pieces of Sharifzadeh’s own memories and loss. The fragmented narrative structure she creates opens up space for the audience to remember their own stories.
Sharifzadeh has developed an organic suite of techniques, peeling away the traditional sculptural methods of building and casting, and working with everything from needlework learned from her grandmother to assemblages of found objects, wire mesh, wax and plaster. Her animations are painstakingly constructed through these same processes and materials, including a custom-built multi-planar animation stand incorporating multiple layers of glass. Through these methods, Sharifzadeh has found a resonance between the themes she is exploring and the works, allowing her stories to slip almost unconsciously into the materials through the obsessive actions of her hands creating.
Born in Tehran in 1979, Sharifzadeh grew up during a time of revolution and war, creating an ongoing fascination with the dynamics of social systems, and how upheaval and violence within them are carried on in the bodies of individuals. She received her BFA in Sculpture from Tehran University in 2002, and a second BFA in Performing Arts from the School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC) in 2010. Sharifzadeh has lived in New York City since her graduation in 2010, where she has been fusing these practices into stop-motion animation. Her work has been shown in many group and solo exhibitions worldwide. Even Gray Feels Blue has been shown in numerous festivals and won top honors in New York at the Williamsburg International Film Festival (Willifest) and the Crown Heights Film Festival for Best Experimental Film and Best Animation.
For more information on Negin Sharifzadeh and the show, you can visit her website
www.neginsharifzadeh.com, or email press@neginsharifzadeh.com.
For press inquiries, other images, or more information:
email at mossnegin@gmail.com
Photos by: Nicholas Beck
