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Here There Nowhere, Flaccid Means Without End | Ali Ahadi

Exhibition Title: Here There Nowhere, Flaccid Means Without End

“Here There Nowhere, Flaccid Means Without End” by Ali Ahadi

Artist: Ali Ahadi
Opening: Friday, 6 April, 7-11pm
Exhibition Dates: Fri, 6 April – Sat, 12 May, 2012
Creative Contributor: Glenn Alteen
Medium: Photography, Video

Description:

This exhibition is comprised of multiple series of black and white photographs and a video that address the personal and sociopolitical context of working as an artist in contemporary Iranian-middle eastern culture. The sequencing of the photos fosters a subtle narrative effect in each series. The subjects addressed in the photos include embodied cultural and social confusion; alienation in a “wired” world; and loss of beauty in a socially restricted life. In these series, which are strongly affected by the political situation of Iran, after the wane of the recent social movement, Ahadi strives to represent the sociopolitical truth of his country through a number of personal spaces dominated by a profound sense of confusion and uncertainty; the truth, which is shining in the absence of those commotions.

Bio:

Ali Ahadi is a Vancouver based photo and video artist. He received his BFA from the Azad University of Central Tehran, 2007 and is currently attending the MFA program at the University of British Columbia.

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Crossed

grunt gallery presents Crossed, an exhibition by artist Ahmad Tabrizi and curated by Makiko Hara. This multi-media exhibition creates a sense of portraiture compiled of Farsi script, piles of dressmaking pins, and glimpses of the artist himself – both visually and through audio.

Tabrizi studied comparative literature in Tehran, with an eventual goal to pursue a Ph.D in Persian Literature and a teaching career. His involvement in the student movement leading up to the Iranian revolution led to his flight from Iran after which he eventually found refuge in Vancouver.

“This installation [addresses] intellectual claustrophobia through language as a weapon of attack and defense; what is lost in the communication becomes loud sounds, weaponized sounds, sounds through the presence of pins. Pins are a universal symbol of pain, like a loud “ouch,” but silent at the same time.

It is also a portrait, but reduced to just eyes and language. The self-portrait of pinheads, though there is no specific self, is perhaps a very oddball portrait – oddballs of displacement and misplacement and the “door” separating Us and Them. The Persian language written on the “door” is used as decoration or beauty (surface). The English is used as tag or brandification – one as “unknown,” one as insult/poetry or slogan of the collective experiences of refugees, the exiled, marginalized or what is “normally” perceived as “the Others.”

– Ahmad Tabrizi, artist statement.

 Join us on Thursday January 15th from 7pm – 10pm for the opening reception of this exhibition. A curatorial text by Makiko Hara and an essay written by Lorna Brown will be available at the opening. The exhibition runs from January 15 to February 21, 2015.


Artist Bio:

Ahmad Tabrizi is an Iranian Vancouver-based artist who studied Persian literature in the University of Tehran in early 1980s. After arrival in Canada in 1987 as a political refugee, he studied at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, dropping out in the second year. Ahmad has exhibited in various venues throughout the 1990s including Helen Pitt Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, Photo Based Gallery, “A Walk is” Gallery, Canadian Craft Museum, and Community Art Council, just to name a few. He has been doing performance art at various venues including Western Front and the Abbey Studio.

Tabrizi has also co-written a catalogue essay for Shirin Neshat’s exhibit at Artspeak Gallery (1997) and most recently contributed an essay for Ali Ahadi’s exhibition at grunt gallery (2012). Also, he wrote a short story for Ann Murray Fleming’s short film Pleasure Film/ Ahmad’s Story.

He received the Exploration grant from Canada Council for the Arts in 1996 as well as the Emerging Artist grant in 1998.

Tabrizi has been working in the film industry as a costume designer since 1998.

Curator Bio:

Makiko Hara is an independent curator based in Vancouver. Hara was the curator at Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art between 2007 and 2013. She has curated numerous contemporary art exhibitions by Japanese, Canadian, and international artists for over 20 years in Japan and Canada. She has served as project coordinator for several international

exhibitions, including the Yokohama Triennale (2001/2005) and the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale (2003). Hara was one of the three curators for the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche (2009) in Toronto. She has contributed essays to catalogues and magazines. Recent essays include an entry in Mutation, Perspectives on Photography, Paris (2011) and “Rethinking of Tokyo Art Speak,” in Institutions by Artists: Volume 1, Fillip (2012)

 


Essay:

PDF Download | Ahmad Tabrizi exhibition and curatorial essay’s by Lorna Brown & Makiko Hara


Press Clippings:

Ahmad Tabrizi’s Crossed digs into loss and expression | Georgia Straight
A portrait of the artist as an exile | The Source


grunt gallery gratefully acknowledge the Hamber Foundation for making this exhibition possible.

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Past Exhibitions

Daughter Daughter Daughter
November 23, 2023-January 21, 2023
Artist: Sora Park
Curated by Whess Harman

Enticed and Entagled en algo Antiguo
September 14-November 4, 2023
Artist: Francisco Berlanga
Curated by Whess Harman

Syncretic Birthrights
May 12-July 8, 2023
Artist: Odera Igbokwe
Curated by Whess Harman

Ladykiller the Maneater
March 16-April 29, 2023
Artist: Alison Bremner
Curated by Whess Harman

Three Way Mirror
December 2nd 2022—January 21st 2023
Artists: Daniel Barrow, Glenn Gear and Paige Gratland
Curators: Whess Harman & Vanessa Kwan

Mullyanne Nîmito
September 17th—October 29th, 2022
Artist: Cheyenne Rain LeGrande ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ
Curator: Whess Harman

Terremoto
July 9th—August 13th, 2022
Artist: Michelle Campos Castillo
Curator: Vanessa Kwan

An Insufficient Record: The photo-ethics of preserving Black Vancouver
May 20th—June 18th, 2022
Curator: Nya Lewis

SuperNova
March 26th—April 30th, 2022
Artist: Rah
Curators: Vanessa Kwan & Whess Harman

Smokes, Sings Loud
February 4th—March 12th, 2022
Artists: Lori Blondeau and Michelle Sound
Curators: Dan Pon, Whess Harman and Vanessa Kwan

Project Fire Flower
October 2—December 12th, 2021
Artist: Collin van Uchelen with Carmen Papalia
Curator: Whitney Mashburn

Black Gold
January 22 — April 17th, 2021
Artist: Tsēmā Igharas
Curator: Natasha Chaykowski

Cheap! Diligent! Faithful!
September 25 — December 12th, 2020
Artist: Marlene Yuen
Curators: Vanessa Kwan and Whess Harman

pi’tawkewaq | our people up river
March 5th to April 11, 202011`
Artist: Meagan Musseau
Curator: Laurie White

BAIT
January 10 to February 22, 2020
Artist: Couzyn van Heuvelen
Curator: Ryan Rice

a sentimental dissidence
November 1st to December 14, 2019
Artist: Gabi Dao
Curator: Vanessa Kwan

a study in restraint, nanlaban
September 6 to October 19, 2019
Artist: Anton Cu Unjieng
Curator: Glenn Alteen

nindinawemaganidog (all of my relations)
July 2 – August 3, 2019
Artist: Rebecca Belmore
Curator: Glenn Alteen

dot.dot.dot.
May 10 – June 22nd, 2019
Artists: Sejin Kim & Inyoung Yeo
Curator: Vanessa Kwan

An Exploration of Resilience and Resistance
March 15 – April 22nd, 2019
Artist: Kali Spitzer
Curator: Glenn Alteen

March 5, 1819
March 5 – March 5th, 2019
Artist: Rebecca Belmore
Curator: Glenn Alteen

Strident Aesthetic: Towards a New Liberation
January 10 – March 2nd, 2019
Artist: Carlos Colín
Curator: Glenn Alteen

2068: Touch Change
November 2 – December 16th, 2018
Artist: Syrus Marcus Ware
Curator: Vanessa Kwan

Woven Work From Near Here
September 7 – October 20, 2018
Artists: Debra Sparrow (θəliχʷəlʷət), Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Hank Bull, Jovencio de la Paz, Kerri Reid, Matt Browning, Melvin Williams, and Merritt Johnson.

March of the Monarch Public Performance
August 30, 2018
Artist: David Khang

The Blue Cabin Exhibition | Jeremy & Sus Borsos
June 15 – July 28, 2018

Motion Within Motion | Azadeh Emadi
May 2 – May 12, 2018

Requiem for Mirrors and Tigers | Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa
February 22 – April 21, 2018

Ghost Spring | Derya Akay, Dilara Akay
January 5 – February 17, 2018

2167, An Indigenous VR Project | Danis Goulet, Kent Monkman, Scott Benesiinaabandan and  Postcommodity
December 19 – 21, 2017

You won’t solve the problem with an air freshener | Dominique Pétrin
October 27 – December 9, 2017

Technical Problem | Aileen Bahmanipour
September 8 – October 14, 2017

UNGALAQ (When Stakes Come Loose) | Maureen Gruben
June 9 – July 29, 2017

Contingent Bodies | Brigitta Kocsis
March 3 – April 15, 2017

Three Cities: Prayer and Protest | Mere Phantoms (Maya Ersan and Jaimie Robson)
January 13 – February 18, 2017

#callresponse | Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch, Maria Hupfield, IV Castellanos and Esther Neff, Ursula Johnson, Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Tania Willard, Marcia Crosby, Laakkuluk Williamson-Bathory, Tanya Tagaq
October 29 – December 10, 2016

Tomorrow, Tomorrow. | Mark Hall-Patch
September 8 – October 15, 2016

Four Faces of the Moon | Amanda Strong
July 22 – August 20, 2016

High Kicks into the Light Forever and Ever and Ever | Elizabeth Milton
May 27 – June 25, 2016

análekta | Merle Addison
April 7 – May 8, 2016

Sausage Factory | Weronika Stepien and Stephen Wichuk
Feb 25 – Apr 2, 2016

Remote Viewing | Noxious Sector
8 Jan – 13 Feb 2016

FutureLoss | Zoe Kreye
3 December – 19 December 2015

Génération Sacrifiée | Sayah Sarfaraz
22 October – 28 November 2015

Remediating Mama Pina’s Cookbook | Gabriela Aceves Sepúlveda
23 November – 28 November 2015

Catastrophe, Memory, Reconciliation | Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo
10 September – 10 October 2015

ARCTICNOISE | Geronimo Inutiq (madeskimo)
Guest curated by Yasmin Nurming-Por and Britt Gallpen.
Produced in conjunction with ISEA.
5 August – 22 August 2015

Diptychs | Mark Igloliorte
4 June – 18 July 2015

Eraser Street | Henri Robideau
9 April – 16 May 2015

MAINSTREETERS: Taking Advantage, 1972-1982 | Kenneth Fletcher, Deborah Fong, Carol Hackett, Marlene MacGregor, Annastacia McDonald, Charles Rea, Jeanette Reinhardt and Paul Wong
Off-site exhibition @ The Satellite
Curated by Michael Turner and Allison Collins
8 January – 15 March 2015

Chopper | Brandon Vickerd
26 February – 28 March 2015

Crossed | Ahmad Tabrizi
15 January – 21 February 2015

Kitchen | Julia Feyrer
1 November – 19 December 2014

gruntCraft | Youth Project by Demian Petryshyn
Summer – Winter 2014

Double Book Launch & Poetry Reading | Janet Rogers & Chris Bose
9 October 2014

The Book of Jests | Hyung Min Yoon
11 September – 11 October 2014

Épopée: L’état des lieux | Groupe d’action en cinéma (Epic Group Action Film)
Co-presented with Dazibao and Queer Arts Festival
21 July – 9 August 2014

Play, Fall, Rest, Dance | Valerie Salez
2 June – 5 July 2014

10 Years of State of Emergency | ATSA (Pierre Allard and Annie Roy)
11 April – 17 May 2014

Produce, Consume | Matt Troy
28 March – 5 April 2014

one man’s junk | Laura Moore
20 February – 22 March 2014

Nothing To Lose | Rabih Mroué
Co-presented with PuSh Festival
10 January – 8 February 2014

location/dis-location(s): contingent promises | Jayce Salloum
25 October – 30 November 2013

Mamook Ipsoot | Desiree Palmen and youth
18 October 2013

Don’t Go Hungry | Bracken Hanuse Corlett & Csetkwe Fortier
Curated by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun
5 September – 12 October 2013

Trapez & Dynamo Lines | Josephin Böttger
Co-presented with New Forms Festival
12 September – 15 September 2013

The Big Foldy Painting of Death | Ian Forbes
21 June – 27 July 2013

Agente Costura | Lisa Simpson
5 July 2013 (1 night performance)

Background / ThisPlace | Michael de Courcy (w/ Glenn Lewis, Gerry Gilbert, Taki Bluesinger); Emilio Rojas, Guadalupe Martinez, and Igor Santizo.
10 May – 8 June 2013

Strange Songs of Trust and Treachery | Laura Lamb
5 April – 4 May 2013

Gutter Snipes I | Cal Lane
15 February – 23 March 2013

Holding Our Breath | Adrian Stimson
4 January – 9 February 2013

Remains | Mark Mizgala
13 December – 6 January 2013

The Sea Is A Stereo | Mounira Al Solh
11 October – 1 December 2012

Do The Wave | Jonathan Villeneuve
6 September – 6 October 2012

Amelogenesis Imperfecta (How Deep is the Skin of Teeth) | David Khang
6 September – 22 September 2012

BLIZZARD | Jamasie Pitseolak, Nicholas Galanin, Tanya Lukin-Linklater & Geronimo Inutiq
In the media lab Northern Haze: Living the Dream (2011) directed by Derek Aqqiaruq
5 July – 4 August 2012

Qiqayt, 1982 | Emilio Portal
29 May – 23 June 2012

Here There Nowhere, Flaccid Means Without End | Ali Ahadi
6 April  – 12 May 2012

Ghostkeeper | Ahasiw Maskegeon-Iskew, Archer Pechawis, Adrian Stimson, Cheryl L’hirondelle, Sheila Urbanoski & Elwood Jimmy
21 April – 28 April 2012

H20 Cycle | François Roux
16 March – 31 March 2012

Ominjimendaan/ to remember | Charlene Vickers
23 February – 31 March 2012

The Symbolic Meaning of Tree | Christoph Runné
6 January – 11 February 2012

Pin-Up | Colette Urban
28 October – 3 December 2011

Like A Great Black Fire | Rebecca Chaperon
8 September – 15 October 2011

Taking Care of Business | Immony Men
9 July – 6 August 6 2011

Skullduggery | Robert McNealy
28 May – 25 June 2011

The Pigeon’s Club | ATSA (Pierre Allard and Annie Roy)
20 May – 21 May 2011

Old Growth | Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
21 April – 21 May 2011


grunt gallery’s volunteers are working to make all of our past exhibitions available in an online archival database called The Activation Map.  If you can’t find the information you are looking for, please feel free to email our Archives Manager, Dan Pon: dan@grunt.ca

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Essays

2016

Sausage Factory by artists Weronika Stepien and Stephen Wichuk
Essay written by Alla Gadassik:  Sausage Factory publication

análekta by Merle Addison
Essay written by Dana Claxton: analekta publication – FOR WEB

2015

Catastrophe, Memory, Reconciliation by Osvaldo Ramirez Ostillo.
Exhibition essay by Alexis Hranchuk.

Eraser Street by Henri Robideau
Exhibition essay written by Clint Burnham.


Ahmad Tabrizi exhibition and curatorial essay by Lorna Brown and Makiko Hara.
View exhibition info.


2014

Julia Feyrer texts by Vanessa Kwan
Part 1 – History creeps: the grunt kitchen and Julia Feyrer
Part 2 – Recordings
Part 3 – Notes
View exhibition info.


Hyung-Min Yoon exhibition essay by Lorna Brown
View exhibition info.


Laura Moore exhibition essay by Luke Siemens
View exhibition info.


2013

Jayce Salloum exhibition essay by Keith Wallace
View exhibition info.


Ian Forbes exhibition essay by Noah Becker
View exhibition info.


Laura Lamb exhibition essay by Anakana Schofield
View exhibition info.


Cal Lane exhibition essay by Robin Peck
View exhibition info.


Adrian Stimson exhibition essay by Elizabeth Matheson
View exhibition info.


David Khang exhibition essay by Koan Jeff Baysa M.D.
View exhibition info.


Ali Ahadi exhibition essay by Ahmad Tabrizi
View exhibition info.

 

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