27. Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller, founder and president of Leila Heller Gallery, New York "The key to my success is built on three things: my passion for the arts, my well-honed people skills, and my determination to never take "no" for an answer.
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Alserkal has extended its holdings, taking on at least two more blocks of warehouses, soon to be occupied by The Third Line and a Leila Heller outpost, among others.
New York-based Leila Heller is to open a new space in Dubai's Alserkal Avenue. The gallery, which represents a selection of cutting-edge contemporary emerging and mid-career artists, will join a number of new editions to the Emerati creative hub following its major expansion.
Leila Heller Gallery of New York will open an outpost at Alserkal.
Top among the galleries is Leila Heller Gallery, one of the most prominent American galleries of Middle Eastern and Iranian art. Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller, an Iranian art dealer, who opened her New York gallery in 1982, has been promoting art from this region for many years in the United States.
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A fixture on the Upper East Side for more than three decades, Heller moved to West 25th Street in 2010, at which point she expanded her roster to include midcareer and emerging artists, many from the Middle East and South and Central Asia. Long regarded as a go-to art source for deep-pocketed members of the Iranian diaspora, Heller has recently engaged in inspired collaborations with such art world luminaries as power collector Beth DeWoody and Christie’s director for Asian art Amin Jaffer.
Leila Heller named to Artnet News' list of "The 100 Most Powerful Women in Art."
On Thursday, August 21st, Southampton Arts Center hosted a wine reception for their newest exhibit, Close-Up: Contemporary Portraiture, curated by Leila Heller with Kelly Behun. On display at Southampton Arts Center through September 7, 2014.
The current survey of contemporary portraiture curated by Leila Heller and Kelly Behun is comprehensive, provocative, and first rate," said Bob Colacello.
Artist Richard Prince's composite of the 57 girlfriends he says Jerry Seinfeld had on his classic sitcom is on display in the actor's proverbial backyard.
The Leila Heller Gallery has expanded with the opening of an 18-000 sq. ft space in midtown Manhattan.
Interview with Leila Heller, Founder and President of Leila Heller Gallery that specializes in representing artists from the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Turkey.
Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce a major expansion with the opening of its second New York City gallery at 43 West 57th Street, a six-floor gallery space that is amongst the largest in New York.
Need a sweeping education on portraiture in short-order? We suggest you visit the Leila Heller Gallery on 57th Street in Manhattan, where 16,000 square feet of space is devoted to portraits in an exhibition titled, “Look At Me.” (The exhibition will run until August 29th on 57th Street; Heller’s Chelsea gallery will show similarly themed works until August 14th.)
Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce a major expansion with the opening of its second New York City gallery at 43 West 57th Street. LOOK AT ME: Portraiture from Manet from the Present: May 7 - August 29, 2014
Dinner guests seated on the eighth floor of Leila Heller's new gallery on West 57th Street in Manhattan Monday laughed knowingly, when she told them, "This is my best friends' floor." The fact was 250 of her nearest and dearest were breaking bread in the six-floor, 18,000-square-foot space and even more had cruised through "Look at Me: Portraiture from Manet to the Present" during cocktails.
Last night at the new Leila Heller Gallery on 43 West 57th Street, there was a preview of a new exhibition: LOOK AT ME: Portraiture from Manet to the Present, curated by Beth Rudin DeWoody and Paul Morris, a founding director of the Armory Show.
The Chelsea-based outfit Leila Heller Gallery has opened a second New York location at 43 West 57th Street, The six-floor, 18,000-square-foot gallery space will be among the largest in the city.
Leila Heller Gallery expands its New York presence exponentially with 18,000 square feet of 57th Street premises to augment its Chelsea presence on the corner of West 25th Street and Eleventh Avenue, marking the occasion with a staggered opening this Frieze week of a two-part exhibition selected by collector and philanthropist Beth Rudin DeWoody and Paul Morris, a founding director of the Armory Show.
Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce a major expansion with the opening of its second New York City gallery at 43 West 57th Street, a six-floor gallery space that is amongst the largest in New York. The Leila Heller Gallery 57th Street is an 18,000 square foot space, with unique multi-dimensional capability, including a 60-seat theater/auditorium and a full-floor project space for the purpose of showcasing exhibitions by emerging artists and curators.
"The gallery space will be spread across six floors overlooking bustling 57th Street, including a top floor made bright and airy by glass skylights. Four floors will be devoted to exhibition space, private viewing areas and offices, while one floor, with plywood ceilings and walls, will be available as an experimental space for artists, and another houses a 60-seat screening room." - Jackie Bischof
New York has long been the perfect place to blend the grit and star radiance of the art world. From SoHo and Chelsea to the storied institutions of the Upper East Side, galleries have the power to touch the nerves of collectors as they continue to refine their tastes. --
Leila Heller was pleased to be invited as a guest speaker at Brown University to present "Contemporary Middle Eastern Art" in conjunction with Doctor Shiva Balaghi's lecture "War Revolution & Art."
One subscriber, the Leila Heller Gallery - which promotes and sells the work of artists from the Middle East and Turkey - joined the Artsy platform in February 2012. It has since connected with 60 new collectors, and displayed listings to an unknown number of users in 4,000 cities and 130 countries.
Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce acquisitions by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; The British Museum, London, UK; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE; The Farjam Collection, Dubai, UAE; Balcarres Heritage Trust, London, UK; Tate Modern, London, UK; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; and 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville, KY.
A solo show by Korean artist Ran Hwang will be on view at Leila Heller Gallery in Chelsea from February 20 – March 21, 2014. The exhibition will feature six new works that explore the cycle of life, death and rebirth. These new works, in shades of champagne golds, cherry reds, tiffany blues, and luminous silvers, are created from Hwang’s signature buttons, beads, and pins. Also on view will be a new monumental multimedia installation. A fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by art critic Eleanor Heartney will accompany the exhibition.
Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to present Modern Wonder, the gallery’s first collaboration with New York artist Matilde Alessandra. Two new dynamic light sculptures entitled Modern Wonder will be on view, along with one of the artist’s most iconic works, Madame, from January 15 through March 22, 2014 at the Gallery’s 11th Avenue Windows space.
January 16 - February 15, 2014 / Kezban Arca Batibeki's Nest series is based on a well-known Turkish saying: “The female birds make the nest.” Batibeki has challenged this idea in her work by conveying that the home may not be as safe as it seems. When women become too consumed with the idea of the home as a safe haven and a fairytale-like lifestyle, they can easily lose themselves, succumbing to oppressive circumstances. Thus, Batibeki's works show the importance of women maintaining their independence.
Turkish artist Murat Pulat’s first solo show in New York City will be on view at Leila Heller Gallery in Chelsea at 568 West 25th Street from January 16 – February 15, 2014. Image-Animal will feature 10 paintings depicting iconic scenes from old Hollywood movies, New Wave French films, and 1960s television shows. A three-dimensional painting installation by Pulat will be on view in the Gallery’s front windows. A fully illustrated catalogue, with an essay by Emre Zeytinoğlu will accompany the exhibition.
Calligraffiti: 1984/2013 at Leila Heller Gallery, New York. Originally curated by Jeffrey Deitch in 1984 and mounted at Heller's former uptown space, this revived group exhibition tracks the connections between seemingly disparate traditions of graffiti, Modernism, and Middle-Eastern calligraphy.
"The ongoing thaw in relations with Iran has made me think of how much culture and the arts can make a pivotal difference." -- Melik Kaylan
Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to present NEONISH 24.7, the gallery’s first collaboration with Texan artist Jay Shinn. Three new large neon wall sculptures will be on view from October 7, 2013 through January 11, 2014 at the Gallery’s 11th Avenue Windows space.
The Iranian American Women’s Foundation (IAWF) will be holding a leadership conference in New York City on Sunday, October 27, 2013. This all-day event will feature some of the most accomplished Iranian-American women who will share among other things professional and educational insights. The Keynote speaker for the event will be Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani from Goldman Sachs and distinguished participants include Leila Heller (Leila Heller Gallery), Anousheh Ansari (Entrepreneur/First Female Space Tourist), Farnaz Fassihi (Wall Street Journal), Laya Khadjavi (ICE Canyon), Parisa Khosravi (CNN), Angella Nazarian (Best Selling Author), and many more.
Mana Contemporary presents, in collaboration with Leila Heller Gallery, Shoja Azari's Magic of Light, a solo show on the first floor gallery by the internationally renowned artist and filmmaker. Among the works on view will be a groundbreaking four-piece series done in collaboration with painter Shahram Karimi titled Silence.
Events // Upcoming Exhibitions // Leila Heller Gallery in the News
An artist talk about graffiti writing of the past and present, the legacy of calligraphy and the convergence of both movements as an art form. Featuring: Ayad Alkadhi, Julien "Kaalam" Breton, Fab Five Freddy, eL Seed, LA2, and Rostarr. Moderated by Leila Heller. Thursday, September 26 // 6:30 pm // 568 West 25th Street The discussion will be followed by a site specific Light-Calligraphy performance by Julien Breton at 8 pm.
"I think @60inches is a great way to discover new artists from the comfort of your own home. The site is very user friendly and its e-commerce functionality makes purchasing works of art convenient and efficient, qualities that will appeal to both new and established collectors alike." - Leila Heller, Gallery owner, Leila Heller Gallery
Leila Heller is pleased to announce Calligraffiti 1984/2013, on view from September 5 – October 5, 2013. Originally curated in 1984 by Jeffrey Deitch (Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) at Leila Heller’s former uptown gallery, Calligraffiti explored a myriad of possible connections shared between the seemingly disparate styles of select mid-century abstract, U.S. graffiti, and calligraphic artists from the Middle East and its diaspora.
“The sheika has a very grand vision and is a very educated woman,” said Leila Heller, a New York dealer with many Middle Eastern artists. “She wants to make Doha a hub for art in the region, where people don’t necessarily have to fly to New York and to Paris and to L.A. to see great shows. Doha has an ambitious plan of opening close to 20 museums of different kinds.”
Leila Heller, New York contemporary art dealer, dishes with Laura Stewart on her "Hot" artists and reveals some of her future projects
A conversation between Shirin Neshat and Hamid Dabashi, moderated by Mahnaz Fancy with closing remarks by Leila Heller.
Farideh Lashai: Thus in Silence in Dreams' Projections at Leila Heller Gallery and It Is It, and It Is Only Now at Edward Tyler Nahem Gallery // The Farjam Foundation presents: In Memory of Farideh Lashai // Reza Derakshani at the Salsali Private Museum // Kezban Arca Batibeki at Istanbul INN London
At Mana Contemporary, the Middle East Center for the Arts (MECA) in collaboration with Leila Heller Gallery show works by prominent Iranian and Arab artists that explore not the binaries and stereotypes of the Middle East, but rather the space between. Having undergone geographical relocation and exile, these artists inhabit an ambiguous and contested space, situated within a contemporary landscape permeated by cultural and historical legacies.
The Iranian-born Brown University graduate - who has worked with the likes of Andy Warhol and Jeffrey Deitch - is a cultural island in the Big Apple. A fierce networker, her vernissages see the likes of Christian Amanpour, Bob Colacello, Her Majesty Farah Pahlavi, Tom Wolfe and Eleanor Coppola in attendance.
Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to host a panel discussion about the economic imbalance in our society. The backdrop for the discussion will be the Gallery’s current exhibition Game II, which focuses on the recent uprisings around the world from the Arab Spring in the Middle East to the Occupy Wall Street Movement in the United States.
Fiercely ambitious, cheerfully pushy and unashamedly successful, Leila Heller has built up quite a reputation during the thirty years her gallery has been, in one way or another, extant. Her audacious gamble, back in the early 1980s, to establish herself as a major international dealer specialising in Middle Eastern art, in the notoriously-cut throat Manhattan art scene has paid off.
The Brooklyn Museum of Art acquired Ran Hwang's 'East Wind' // The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two Earthworks by Marcos Grigorian and Pouran Jinchi's 'Noon 1' // The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles acquired Shiva Ahmadi's 'Safe Haven' and Shoja Azari's 'The Day of the Last Judgement' // LACMA acquired Ayad Alkadhi's 'Upside Down' and Farideh Lashai's 'Between the Motion - And the act - Falls the Shadow' // The Cornell Fine arts Museum at Rollins Collage acquired Hadieh Shafie's '6 Six Colors'
GAME II: The works of Gayle Wells Mandle & Julia Mandle // Mitra Tabrizian: Light from the Middle East - New Photography // Ayad Alkadhi: Artist-in-residence at SHANGRI LA Center for Islamic Arts & Cultures
Leila Heller Gallery + Town & Country Magazine present The Young Collectors Exhibition // Soody Sharifi: Of Miniature serenades and Maxiture moments at the Sharjah Art Museum // Leila Heller Gallery at ART MIAMI: Booth A33
Kate Eric: Ripped Seams and Other Delights // Select works from Gulay Semercioglu: Variations on Line // Kezban Arca Batibeki at Anima Gallery // Firooz Zahedi: Elizabeth Taylor in Iran at KATARA Gallery
Gulay Semercioglu: Variations on Line // Shoja Azari: Windows // Negar Ahkami and Shiva Ahmadi in The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art and Society, presented by the Institute of for Women and Art at Rutgers University
Reza Derakshani: Silence of the Night // Ayad Alkadhi, Shoja Azari, Reza Derakshani and Soody Sharifi at I.D.E.A. Space at Colorado Collage // Julia Mandle at dOCUMENTA (13) // Leila Heller Gallery at VIP Art Vernissage
Rock Paper Scissors: Group exhibition curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath of Art Reoriented // Osman Akan at the new Alaska State Crime Detection Laboratory // Gayle Wells Mandle at Gallery 4 in Rhode Island
Iranian Arts NOW is an interdisciplinary and international festival of contemporary Iranian art, at Cité Internationale des Artes in Paris. A group Show organized by Leila Heller will feature works by: Shiva Ahmadi, Shoja Azari, Shahram Karimi, Shadi Ghadirian, Leila Pazooki, Hesam Rahmanian, Bahar Sabzevari. And a film Screening of Women Without Men (2009) will be presented by directors Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari.
Houston, Texas – Leila Heller Gallery will present The Rule and its Exception at Deborah Colton Gallery in Houston, Texas from May 9 through June 30, 2012. The exhibition will feature the work of 14 established and emerging contemporary Middle Eastern and Turkish artists, including Afsoon, Negar Ahkami, Shiva Ahmadi, Roya Akhavan, Ayad Alkadhi, Shoja Azari & Shahram Karimi, Kezban Arca Batibeki, Reza Derakshani, Ghasem Hajizadeh, Khosrow Hassanzadeh, Pouran Jinchi, Farideh Lashai, Soody Sharifi, and Firooz Zahedi.
Ran Hwang: Transition // Ayad Alkadhi at the Sharjah Calligraphy Biennial // Rachel Lee Hovnanian: Mud Pie // Iké Udé speaking at Union College // Leila Heller speaking at the Women's Leadership Conference: 120 Years of Women at Brown
