ROXANA MANOUCHEHRI

From the Gold Land
15 April -6 May, 2016

Assar Art Gallery is pleased to present From the Gold Land, the latest work by Roxana Manoucehri.

In her sixth solo show with the gallery, Manouchehri exhibits a visually appealing selection of 198 hand-drawn maps of countries from five continents next to black and white painted portraits of 8 unidentified figures of power from the 19^th century, depicting the politics of power in that period.

The artist’s admiration for the beauty of old maps and glorious portraits as well as taking inspiration from her living environment - having lived in politicized countries such as Iran and Ireland – has led her to focusing on power as the main concept of her latest creation.

In From the Gold Land, Manouchehri also emphasizes cultural and national identity issues arising from colonization and imperialism dating from the 19^th century, which are also themes of her own concern having led a traveling life since her graduation from Tehran’s Art University in 2002.

Taking on a symbolic visual language by using minimalized maps on representational coloured backgrounds, employing the modern-day Diasec technique and using her signature artistic practice of reverse glass painting, has brilliantly materialized in an abstract visualization of power as a concept. Her Atlas of colonialism along with the detailed faceless portraits are in fact parts of her visual interpretation of a fragment of history that is comparable to the present.

Over and above her political and humanitarian concerns, Roxana Manouchehri highlights the beauty of maps and their artistic attributions and tries to visualize the data they provide in a contemporary tone. An expert in Miniatures, Manouchehri’s two-dimensional reverse glass painting technique in her latest work stands out in both sketches of flat maps and refined and sophisticated details of nameless figures of power.

Roxana Manouchehri currently lives and works in Dublin, Ireland. She has held several solo exhibitions in Tehran, Dublin and Seoul and has participated in numerous group shows worldwide. Also, she has won several residencies in Seoul, Dublin and Barcelona and has participated in several art fairs. Manouchehri’s works are included in a number of prominent private and State collections.