SAMIRA ALIKHANZADEH

Face to Face
11 November -30 November, 2011

Assar Art Gallery is pleased to present Face to Face, an exhibition of new works by Samira Alikhanzadeh.
Samira Alikhanzadeh is fascinated by the aesthetic quality of souvenirs remained from the past, in particular old photographs found randomly at people’s homes. She takes inspiration in the melancholic and humoristic quality of old images, mainly of women, children, brides and grooms she had never known or met. For her work, she transforms the carefully selected photographs into haunting yet playful works. Alikhanzadeh tries to explore the crossover between identity and art and similarly the audience’s perception of these notions when engaged with her pieces.
For this exhibition Alikhanzadeh has used mirror as her key tool in bringing the audience face to face with her subjects. The exhibition showcases pieces displaying images digitally printed on wooden boards, painted with acrylic and manipulated by mirrors and glass and other pieces where the artist has directly printed images on plexiglass with mirror effects. By applying mirror, Alikhanzadeh creates a set for the presence of the viewers within the framework of her compositions, completing the experience of looking into a past, or perhaps satisfying their voyeuristic urge into entering the lives and memories of generations gone by.
Samira Alikhanzadeh was born in 1967 in Tehran, Iran and graduated from Azad University with an MFA in painting in 1998. She has held numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide. Her works are part of some important collections such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).