BOSTON, MASS.- Robert Klein Gallery, in association with Azita Bina-Seibel, presents Rana Javadi: Never-Ending Chaos, the first in a series of exhibitions of contemporary Iranian artists. The exhibition, on display at ARS LIBRI from Friday, December 6, 2013, to Friday, January 31, 2014, presents the complete suite of 14 prints by Iranian photographer RANA JAVADI from her 2013 series Never-Ending Chaos.
Javadi lives and works in Tehran, Iran, where she has been director of the Cultural Research Bureau since 1989. She was also a founding member and director of Akskhaneh Shahr, Iran's first museum of photography.
Iranian artist Mehran Mohajer writes: "Modern photographer Rana Javadi sets down images from our recent memories, the signs of violent conflict and strange bloodied images....Maybe the photographer uses collage to unite these pieces, creating an unbroken interpretation of fragmented narratives. Maybe her decorations are meant to lessen the depth of violence these cracks have left on us. But the lines between the tiles and photographs are visible. The pieces are not joined together as an even surface. It's possible they'll split apart and fall down in a jumble. This is the clutter of memories. We have to contemplate the confusion that fills our eyes and minds but fails to create a seamless culture. Maybe these works are the place for such thoughts."
Digital images printed on linen, Javadi's prints consciously blend old and new imagery. In sequence, the 14-piece suite moves back and forth on a sliding scale of intensity, order, and density. Some images are overcrowded and nearly indecipherable; others appear unfinished, as if the maker was interrupted partway through her process. Javadi's earlier work, including the series When You Were Dying and Once Upon a Time, also employ elements of collage and mismatched pieces. But where she once took a sidelong approach to address fractured identity in wartime and the insistent presence of the past, she is now invoking these themes directly.
Javadi collaborated with Bahman Jalali (1944 - 2010), her late husband and one of Iran's most famous photographers, to research the history of photography in Iran, collect 19th century Persian photographs, and rescue the archives of significant photographic studios. A selection of Javadi's photographs from the Iranian Revolution of 1979 are currently on display at New York's ASIA SOCIETY as part of its exhibition, Iran Modern.