New Now Highlights From the Middle East and South Asia

New Now Highlights From the Middle East and South Asia

From the vivid landscapes of Etel Adnan to Salman Toor's imagined reveries.

From the vivid landscapes of Etel Adnan to Salman Toor's imagined reveries.

Reza Derakshani, Hunt the Pink, 2018. Estimate £20,000 - 30,000. New Now London.

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

Behnam-Bakhtiar’s paintings collapse past, present, and future through specific references to Persian cultural identity. Through his signature of peinture raclée (a process of scraping and applying pigment), he produces paintings that reference both traditional mosaics and the more modern theme of digital pixelation.

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar, Eternal Garden, 2019. Estimate £12,000 - 18,000. New Now London.

 

 

Salman Toor

Born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan and trained at the Pratt Institute in New York, Salman Toor combines Eastern and Western traditions, intentionally amalgamating his narratives, aesthetics, and imaginations. His first museum solo exhibition, Salman Toor: How Will I Know, is currently up at The Whitney.

Salman Toor, Liberty Porcelain, 2012. Estimate £40,000 - 60,000. New Now London.

 

Shirazeh Houshiary

As the artist has said, “The universe is in a process of disintegration…everything is in a state of erosion, and yet we try to stabilize it. This tension fascinates me and it’s at the core of my work.” Pulling from varied cultural symbols (Renaissance painting to contemporary physics), Houshiary reflects on the tensions of the scientific and the unknown.

Shirazeh Houshiary, Untitled, 2004. Estimate £2,000 - 3,000. New Now London.

 

Etel Adnan

Before her artistic career took off, Etel Adnan, who was born in Beirut in 1924, was already a celebrated writer. In her paintings, she tends to work with thick paint—applied by palette knife—to create bright, abstract landscapes. Her work is in the permanent collections of MoMA, The Centre Pompidou, and the British Museum.

Etel Adnan, Untitled, 2016. Estimate £30,000 - 50,000. New Now London.

 

Mitra Tabrizian

Photographer and filmmaker Mitra Tabrizian explores the medium of the photographic tableau. Inspired by French philosophers like Jean Baudrillard and Jean-Francois Lyotard,Tabrizian confronts national disintegration, economic instability, and unemployment. She has been featured in several major exhibitions, including one at the Tate Britain in 2008.

Mitra TabrizianFrom the Series: Lost Times “Women Crossing Highway,” 2002. Estimate £2,000 - 3,000. New Now London. 

 

Yaşam Şaşmazer

Yaşam Şaşmazer, who was born in Istanbul, focuses on the paradoxes of the human experience, through the realm of both fictional and real life personalities. In, for example, Taming the Darkness, a young woman ventures towards the deep ambivalence of adulthood, ruminating on themes of identity and angst.

Yaşam Şaşmazer, Taming the Darkness, 2015. Estimate £5,000 - 7,000. New Now London.

 

Reza Derakshani

From a young age, Reza Derakshani was exposed to Iran’s folklore and, in his current practice, he draws from the symbols of this rich cultural heritage. In his Hunting Series, Derakshani decontextualizes hunters from their prey, questioning the balance of power.

Reza Derakshani, Hunt the Pink, 2018. Estimate £20,000 - 30,000. New Now London.

 

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