"Rite of Passage"
Environmental Art Exhibition Co-curated by Arash Shirinbab and Minoosh Zomorodinia
- Exhibition runs from February 20th to March 20th, 2016
- Free Opening Reception: February 20th, 6:30 – 9 p.m. Featuring live performance by Nathalie Brilliant, Hannah Beck, Charlie Watts, and Angela Newsham
- Exhibition Dates and Hours: Fridays and Saturdays from 12 – 5 p.m. (Special group visits are possible out of these dates by emailing the request in advance to ziya.art.studio@gmail.com)
- Location: The gallery of ICCNC (upper level)
1433 Madison Street
Oakland, CA 94612
Curatorial Statement
“Rite of Passage” is an environmental art exhibition co-curated by Arash Shirinbab and Minoosh Zomorodinia, being sponsored by Ziya Art Center and hosted at the gallery of ICCNC (Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California), a community center in Downtown Oakland.
Human Beings have an innate primitive sense of their dependency on and relationship to nature. This connection appears throughout art history including primitive cave paintings, indigenous land drawings and sculpture, and as part of several cultural traditions; it appears also in many contemporary disciplines and movements such as Site-specific art, Land art, Arte povera, and EcoArt.
Nowruz is a traditional Iranian ceremony which celebrates spring and the New Year in March along with several other festivals such as Chaharshanbe Suri, a fire jumping festival that joyously welcomes the New Year, or Sizdah Bedar, a celebration ritual during which people spend time outdoors strengthening their ties with nature. Coinciding with spring and Nowruz, this exhibition demonstrates the rooted attitude of respect and honor in Iranian culture regarding nature and stewardship of the natural environment through the community at large. The focus is on the unique cultural, spiritual and creative interpretations of the artists who have been working directly in their natural environment or the nature has been reflected through their creative expression. As their personal investigations also express the self in relation to this environment, we hope to expand and create a new conversation between environmental art and personal spirituality. The exhibition consists of painting, photography, mixed media, video, installation, and sculpture.
As an additional goal, this exhibition covers the concerns about many of the environmental crises we all face today, such as global warming. We have just past the hottest year in California, according to the May U.S. State of the Climate report from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, in records dating to 1895; and California and parts of western Oregon witnessed their driest year on record last year, according to statistics from the National Weather Service (from http://www.weather.com/news). The “Rite of Passage” exhibition addresses these issues, our responsibility toward nature, and raise environmental awareness on the community level.
Artists
Ahmad Nadalian, Amir Hossein Koulivand , Arash Shirinbab, Asiye Mohamadian, Atefeh Arani, Atefeh Khas, Behzad Nadalian, Cait Molloy, Carol Newborg, Christopher Squier, Davoud Jabbari, Earth Grouh, Elisabeth Kohnke, Farzaneh Najafi, Fereshteh Alamshah, Fereshteh Zamani, Glen Cheriton, Isabella La Rocca, Joanne Easton, Karim Alahkhani , Lea Feinstein, Leila Fallah, Lorna Stevens, Low Art, Mahdiye Dehghani, Mahmoud Maktabi, Mahtab Ghaemimanesh, Marshal Elliott, Mehdi Javaheri, Minoosh Zomorodinia, Mitra Soltani, Moslem Ebrahimi, Nathalie Brilliant, Nooshin Naficy, Open 5 Group, Parisa Rajabian, Raziyeh Goudarzi, Shahrnaz Zarkesh, Sharon Siskin, Siavash Amiri Rad, Sima Yousefnia, Takako Matoba, Tara Goudarzi, Tim Kopra
Program of the Opening Reception on February 20th, 6:30 – 9 p.m.
6:30- 7 p.m.: Registration, socializing, refreshments
7- 7:15 p.m.: Remarks by curators
7:15- 9 p.m.: Exhibition viewing and live performance
General Information
This event is free, open to public, and is in English. All are welcome! Donations are highly appreciated!
For more information about the artists, artworks, and the venue please visit www.ziyaart.com or email to ziya.art.studio@gmail.com or call 510-283-4518.
Image Credit
Top row left to right: Ahmad Nadalian, Atefeh Khas, Shahrnaz Zarkesh
Middle row left to right: Joanne Easton,Lea Feinstein, Fereshteh Alamshah
Bottom row left to right: Tara Goudarzi, Marshal Elliott
About the Curators
Minoosh Zomorodinia
Minoosh Zomorodinia is an Iranian artist working primarily with installation, photography, and video. She received an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute 2015, an M.A. 2006, and a B.A. 1998 from the Art and Architecture Azad University in Tehran, Iran. She uses the medium of photography and video to make visible what is in her mind’s eye and reflecting her emotional, psychological and subconscious experiences inspired by nature.
She is currently an adjunct Faculty at Berkeley City College. She serves on the environmental artists group Open5 in Iran, and a Board Member of (Women Eco Art Dialog) formerly Women Environmental Artists Directory. She has received MFA Fellowship from San Francisco Art Institute, Photography Award from Pocono Arts Council, and the Headlands Graduate Alternate Award. Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally such as; Museum of Contemporary Art Isfahan in Iran, Pori Art Museum in Finland, Marin Community Foundation, and the Nevada Art Museum.
Arash Shirinbab
Arash Shirinbab is an award winning artist and calligrapher and has managed to be a successful blend of artist, Arabic-Persian calligrapher, and designer, as well as art administrator, art curator, and entrepreneur for the past ten years. He has participated in over 70 exhibitions (over 10 solos) nationally and internationally in the U.S., Spain, Poland, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, and Iran; such as the Triton Museum of Art in California, the Kunsthaus-Berlin-Marbella Center in Spain, and the Saadabad Palace in Tehran. He has led over 4 dozen public art programs, has curated 5 international exhibitions from over 1,500 submissions, and has conducted over 2 dozen calligraphy workshops and demonstrations including workshops at Fremont Main Library in California, University of Toronto in Canada, and masterclass at the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy in Moscow.
Shirinbab’s calligraphy and artworks with his personal painting style, Poem-Painting, have garnered tremendous attention at galleries and museums and are acquired by museums such as the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy in Moscow and private collections around the world. They have gained international attention among curators, critics, and collectors and have been published in several art journals such as Level 25 Artjournal and press articles such as Tehran Times. His arts have won several national and international awards, being chosen among hundreds of arts worldwide which proofs the originality of his works and creativity of his style. Among his awards are the 1st Place and Best of the Show Award for the 50 Shades of Gray competition by Focus Point & Shape Gallery, Special Recognition Award for My Art international competition from Art Quench Magazine 2013, and a recent grant award as the leading artist and calligrapher from Creative Works Fund.