ROXANA MANOUCHEHRI

Nostalgic Identity
25 January -18 February, 2013

Assar Art Gallery is pleased to present Nostalgic Identity, an exhibition of paintings by Roxana Manouchehri.  The series begun in late 2011 as on ongoing exploration of the artist’s recurrent theme of contrast between two cultures or two different time periods tracing back to 2004.  Influenced by her own life experience in migration as well as the nostalgia she feels for the renaissance period, her current practice revolves around portraying the contrast of the two periods by placing incongruous figures drawn from Persian Miniature against renaissance backgrounds, especially those of Andrea Montagna’s. 
By repainting familiar backgrounds of the Renaissance period-itself considered nostalgia for the classical age-she hopes for the viewers to feel that sense of nostalgia that she feels; to think that they’ve seen the image elsewhere; perhaps not recalling exactly where.  Though the paintings consist of a diverse array of colors, the palette of each paining is limited to shades of one color, chosen based on the original settings of each painting and the mood of the artist.
More so, the flat, two-dimensional figures drawn in white and gold outlines in the foreground are taken from Persian Miniature belonging to the Qajar, Safavid and Achaemenid periods in order to represent that other element in her portrayal of this doubleness; to show contrast both technically and conceptually in addition to adding depth and perspective.  In this case, Manouchehri acts as the director of her own play, placing her selected characters in her chosen settings.  
Nostalgic Identity, consisting of 12 acrylic canvases combines the Western and Eastern identities, trying to capture the sense of belonging to two different realms. 
Born in Tehran, Iran in 1974, Roxana Manouchehri currently lives and works in Dublin, Ireland.   She received her Master of painting from Tehran Art University in 2002 while holding her first solo show in 1997.  Since then, she has been the subject of many solo and group exhibitions worldwide and has been exposed in several art fairs including Art Dubai, KIAF and SIPA.