PRESS RELEASE
Unclaimed Territories; solo exhibition
TALHA RATHORE
Aicon Gallery, New York
April 17 – May 9
Opening reception, Thursday April 17, 2008, 6:30-9 p.m.
Conversation between Artist and Leeza Ahmady, Thursday April 17, 2008, 7 pm
open to the public
*Artist will be in attendance
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan and raised as a young teenager in the United States, Ahmady has established herself as an independent art curator, and educator designing unique gallery spaces and implementing innovative programs that welcome varied art forms. Since 2004, she has traveled widely in Central Asia as part of her ongoing curatorial project promoting the largely unknown artists of Central Asia in various international art forums. She has presented projects at Whitney Museum (Initial Public Offerings (I.P.O) New Artists, New Curators, 2002), Queens Museum of Art (Analog Blossoming III, 2001), Venice Biennale (Unofficial entry of Afghan artist, 2001 and advisor to the first official Afghan and Central Asia Pavilions at the Biennale, 2005), Istanbul Biennial (Art in Afghanistan, 9B Talks, 2005, Contemporary Art in Central Asia, Symposia Director, 2007), Apexart (The Taste Of Others, 2005), Bose Pacia (Paradox of Polarity, 2007). College of New Jersey Art Gallery (The Parable of A Garden: New Media Art from Iran and Central Asia 2008).
"Talha Rathore's new body of work reveals the power of the authentic voice of the diaspora."
Salima Hashmi
NEW YORK, April 17, 2008- Aicon Gallery, 206 5th Avenue, 5th Floor, New York will present a solo show by Talha Rathore from April 17 through May 9, 2008. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, April 17 from 6:30-9 p.m. This is the artist's first solo exhibition at Aicon Gallery. She has previously been exhibited at Aicon Gallery, London, in a joint show with Hasnat Mehmood entitled Lahore Lovelies (November, 2007).
Utilizing the ancient Pakistani tradition of miniature painting, Talha creates works which juxtapose the intricacies of nature with man-made form. She depicts this dichotomy by placing primordial amoeba atop the New York subway map- a disposable, mass-produced item, regularly torn, lost and trampled upon. Both organisms present colorful and multiple transformations, evolution and destinations. They also symbolize the cultural shift that has occurred in Talha's life from Lahore to New York. Her relocation affects her work, and the use of subways maps and collage (creating layers of identity) makes this evident. However, Talha retains her former artistic set of skills and sense of self through the consistent use of poetic imagery throughout her oeuvre.
Talha was born in 1970 in Gujranwala, Pakistan. She studied miniature painting at the College of Fine Arts and graduated in 1995 with a B.F.A. In 1997 she was awarded a UNESCO Bursary for young artists and given the opportunity to take up residency at the Sanskriti Kala Kendra in New Delhi. Since then, she has exhibited with Bose Pacia, Gallery Espace and various exhibitions worldwide. Her work is found in numerous private collections.
For further information and images please contact Süreyya WIlle, Artist Relations Associate, at 212 725 6092 or sureyya@aicongallery.com.