Hybridization
Hybridization is an exhibition of contemporary international artists. Inspired by the phenomenon of cross-culturalism Dalya Islam at Madder-Red and Farah Hakemi present four notable artists in a pop-up show running from 12 – 25 October 2015 at 69 Kensington Church St, occupying Amir Mohtashemi Gallery during Frieze.
Navid Azimi Sajadi (Iran), Elif Uras (Turkey), Marcela Moujan (Argentina) and Saira Wasim (Pakistan) combine historical and artistic references from two or more cultures, illustrating the reality of the world’s cultural topography with its multi-faceted relationships and permeable borders. These artists work with different media and in different styles, the one unifying factor is their exploration of another culture through their work.
Hybridization is a botanical term where the DNA of a plant cross-pollinates with an entirely different species creating a new plant form, here the term is applied anthropologically. Contemporary cultures have long been awakened to ‘foreign’ ideas and modalities, so much so that they are no longer alien but assimilated. In Hybridization Dalya Islam from Madder-Red and Farah Hakemi exhibit artworks that reflect the cross-culturalism of today’s world.
Navid Azimi Sajadi is Iranian and based in Rome. His multimedia works on paper are composed of a symbolic language referencing ancient Babylonian sculpture, seventeenth century Persian miniatures and European devotional art of the Renaissance and contemporary objects. Azimi studied in both Rome and Tehran and combines traditional materials such as gouache, gold leaf and egg tempera with cutting edge techniques such as print and photography. His works bring together Eastern geometry and a Western celebration of the body as he seeks parallels between his two cultures. He has had a number of museum shows including M.U.S.P.A.C. in Bologna and the Freies museum in Berlin, he has also participated in the 9th Shanghai Biennale.
Marcela Moujan is Argentinean and based in her hometown, Buenos Aires. Moujan is a pop artist whose monumental paintings are executed in a number of techniques including acrylic, print and photography. Stirred by the Latin spirit her vivid palette reflects the fiesta and heat of her native Argentina. Yet these paintings are equally delicate. Exclusively depicting iconic Argentinian flora, Moujan’s paintings are rooted in nineteenth century Japanese flower painting and philosophy. The flowers blossom in space, without gravity or context, so that the eye travels across the image and is lost amongst the branches. She has exhibited at the most significant contemporary art museums of Argentina and is currently completing a major public installation for the city of Buenos Aires.
Elif Uras is Turkish and based in New York City. She produces fine contemporary ceramics utilizing ancient Ottoman techniques at the historic pottery centre of Iznik in Turkey. By combining the non-figurative stylized motifs of the Iznik tradition and western figurative modalities, Uras explores the taboo of the female body and the struggle of western modernity and tradition in modern day Turkey. She is currently exhibiting a solo show at The Aldrich Museum in New York.
Bio – CV
Bio – CV
Saira Wasim is Pakistani and based in San Francisco. Formally trained in the traditional Mughal techniques of the miniature painter at the National College of Arts in Lahore. Wasim produces paintings of exquisite detail using a squirrel-hair brush consisting of a single fine hair and produces the gouache paint herself, each miniature takes between six to eight weeks to complete. Wasim’s work is driven by contemporary international politics, and through the vehicle of her art she appeals for political and economic reform. For this exhibition in London Wasim found her inspiration in the historic relationship between Great Britain and Europe with the Indian sub continent.
For more information about Hybridization, please contact Isabela Herig by email: isabela.herig@madder-red.com or phone +44 (0) 7956 587 946