Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in Volta New York, from May 18th to May 22nd, 2022 with a selection of works by Nan Swid, Tarik Currimbhoy, Reza Derakshani, Parinaz Eleish Ghargozlou, Soraya Sharghi, Rachel Lee Hovnanian, Mouna Rebeiz, and Ran Hwang in booth #100.
Tarik Currimbhoy searches for tranquility, simplicity and tactility, expressed in purity of both form and material. Inspired by ancient architecture of building blocks resting on each other in tension and compression, Tarik's sculptures began as "stories of structure and gravity", held together under compression in stone. These became the genesis for studies in metal, which could express these concepts in dynamic fashion and sensual form. Currimbhoy has created and co-designed some monumental sculptures and buildings – including the headquarters for McKinsey & Co. in Gurgaon, India; The Ellipse at the Omi Sculpture Park in upstate New York; The Raincatcher, an observatory installed in a private estate in New York; a 30,000 square foot Italian Renaissance style Mansion in Jaipur, India; and the Aura Skyscraper in New York.
Reza Derakshani is a painter, musician and performance artist. In his paintings, Derakshani recalls forgotten tales and symbols of Iran’s cultural heritage, at a time where traditions and practices are under threat and often outlawed. Through a rich iconography drawing from medieval Persian poetry, classical literature, miniature painting, and sacred architectural sites laden with meaning, Derakshani’s work celebrates both ornamentation and color fields, as the artist finds a space for figural representation in abstract aesthetics. Reza Derakshani’s work is featured in many public art collections including the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the State Russian Museum; the Museum Gunzenhauser, Germany; the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and numerous private collections.
Parinaz Eleish Ghargozlou is an Iranian-Egyptian who grew up in Tehran until high school and finished her diploma in Switzerland. Eleish received a BFA in Film Production and Painting from Emerson College and the Museum of Fine Arts in 1981 and holds two MFAs; one in Film Production from Boston University and one in English Writing and Poetry from the University of New Hampshire. Eleish has also worked in various areas of film production, faux finish painting, hand crafted jewelry, and is a true artist from every perspective.
Rachel Lee Hovnanian is a New York-based artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores contemporary notions of narcissism, obsession and intimacy, and society’s alienating addiction to modern technological advances and media. She navigates the post-internet world, merging photography, video, sculpture, painting and installation art into surreal environments that challenge viewers to examine and reevaluate their own cultural values and relationship with digital technology. Hovnanian received her BFA from the University of Texas, Austin, and has since exhibited internationally in both solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. She currently has a collateral event at the Venice Biennale 2022, “Angels Listening.”
Ran Hwang’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in the philosophy of Zen Buddhism. Pondering the themes of cyclicality and learnt appreciation for the time’s ephemerality accompanies the artist’s works. Hwang’s installations serve as monuments to a human's perpetual attempts to capture and prolong a fleeting moment. In her Cherry Blossoms, the artist hopes to convey a meditative state to the audience, inviting the viewer to trace the delicate motions of the blossom’s falling petals succumbed to the imminent progression of time. Ran Hwang has exhibited at several international institutions including the Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Virginia; Hermes Foundation, Singapore; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Queens Museum of Art, New York; The Hudson Valley Center for the Arts, New York; MASS MoCA, Massachusetts; Asian Civilization Museum, Singapore; Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels; and The Seoul Arts Center Museum.
Mouna Rebeiz is a Lebanese contemporary artist who lives and works in London. Her remarkable style was shaped in contact with master works stretching from the Renaissance to the present day. She makes use of these varies influences and a singular pictorial mastery to capture the meaning and existential queries of the human being. A psychologist by training, her work constitutes a vast reflection on the human psyche. Mouna Rebeiz is currently representing the Republic of San Marino in the 2022 Venice Biennale with her show “The Soothsayer.”
Soraya Sharghi is an Iranian artist living and working in New York City. Sharghi creates works in diverse media, such as painting and sculpture. Her artistic aim is to create new myths and narratives using ancient mythology including Persian mythology, revolving around power. She does not see her process as emulating the scenery of these tales, but instead molds them to serve her purpose and creates extraordinary or supernatural beings. Sharghi holds a BFA in painting from Soore Art University in Tehran, and an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, California. Her work has shown locally and internationally such as CICA Contemporary Museum(Czong Institute for Contemporary Art) in Korea, Today Art Museum in China, MOAH Museum in Los Angeles, and Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio amongst others.
Mia Fonssagrives Solow Solow is an American contemporary artist based in New York and Paris. She is internationally renowned for her refined and whimsical aesthetic in both figurative and abstract forms in a range of mediums, from polished bronze to gilded wood to sleek enamel over fiberglass. Solow has been exhibited in New York, London, Palm Beach, Paris, and Shanghai. Her sculpture graces the pages of lauded publications such as Artnet, Artsy, FT’s How to Spend It, Vanity Fair, Whitewall, The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.
Nan Swid’s recent work shines a light on the commonplace elements of everyday life. The subjects of her still life drawings, paintings and wall sculptures are drawn from the domestic environment, as Swid says, from “what I see in front of me”. They are snapshots of a moment, an object, a place, a feeling, a memory.Nan Swid lives and works in New York City. Her work has been shown nationally in galleries and has been reviewed in publications such as The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and Dossier Journal. Nan Swid was a principal founder of Swid Powell, the iconic design firm that collaborated with noted architects such as Richard Meier, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and Robert A. M. Stern to produce decorative objects of the highest order. Archives from this endeavor are currently housed with The Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut.