LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Hammer Museum presents today Hammer Projects: Shirana Shahbazi, on view through April 26, 2009. Iranian-born, Zurich-based artist Shirana Shahbazi takes photographs that capture the quotidian moments of life whether it's a close shot of a gem, a still life, a photo of a fallen bird or a portrait of a young girl. She often transforms her photos by hiring commercial sign painters to reinterpret the imagery or having rugmakers in her native Tehran weave the pictures into small carpets. During her two and a half month residency in Los Angeles as a Hammer artist-in-residence, Shahbazi explored the city and developed a new body of work that captures Los Angeles and its surroundings, through her eyes. Her project for the Lobby Wall will incorporate these new works in a composite painted and/or photographic mural.

Shirana Shahbazi studied photography and design at the Fachhochschule Dortmund (1995-1997) and photography at the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst, Zurich (1997-2000). She has had solo exhibitions at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris; and Barbican Art Gallery, London. Group exhibitions of her work include Shifting Identities, Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich; 4th berlin biennial for contemporary art, Berlin; and Without Boundary. Seventeen Ways of Looking, Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Hammer Museum’s Artist Residency program connects artists to the resources of the Hammer Museum, UCLA, and Los Angeles while supporting research and the creation of new work.

Join Shahbazi for a free Artist Talk about her exhibition and residency at the Hammer Museum on Saturday, December 20, at 4pm.

Hammer Projects is a series of exhibitions focusing primarily on the work of emerging artists. Hammer Projects is made possible with support from The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, Fox Entertainment Group’s Arts Development Fee, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the David Teiger Curatorial Travel Fund. Gallery brochures are underwritten, in part, by the Pasadena Art Alliance.