At 11:08 March 14th, 2006
Sazmanab-Ab/Anbar presents the exhibition At 11:08 March 14th, 2006 by London-based artist Reza Aramesh.
The exhibition title refers to an event that took place on Tuesday, 14 March 2006, when Israeli forces raided a Palestinian prison camp in the city of Jericho.
At 11:08 March 14th, 2006 brings together new works by Reza Aramesh, three of which are conceived specifically for this exhibition. These include a 16mm film composed of 470 found reportage images titled not what was meant, as well as a site-specific installation consisting of a slide projection and large-scale black-and-white photographs.
“There are European literary precedents informing Reza Aramesh’s work that offer an insight into his subject matter and method. Taken together with his origins in the Middle East, a convergence of influences emerges. Twentieth-century existentialist writers Jean Genet and Albert Camus provide a framework of ideas that address the position of the outsider in society, detached from moral norms yet emotionally charged. Genet, whose writings describe the stylisation of power in its most absurd extremes, positions the prisoner of the establishment as someone freed through the celebration of society’s taboos. Camus, the Algerian interloper within European territory, describes the individual as an onlooker who chronicles their own state of being in relation to others from whom they are disassociated. A third influence is Bertolt Brecht, a contemporary of Camus and Genet, who understood society as a manifestation of political values and emphasised collective endeavour over individual condition. These three canonical figures represent distinct yet interconnected moments in cultural history, and their ideas resonate profoundly within Reza Aramesh’s work.” Extract from the exhibition catalogue by David Thorpe, independent curator and founder of the Performance Studio.
Reza Aramesh was born in Iran and has lived abroad since his teenage years. He completed an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 1997. He has exhibited internationally, including in the UK, France, China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, and has realised performances and exhibitions at institutions such as the Barbican Centre, Tate Britain, and the ICA in London. His projects have also taken place in public squares, nightclubs, and industrial warehouses. Working across photography, sculpture, video, and performance, Aramesh draws on a deep engagement with the histories of art, film, and literature. His works often use mass media imagery from recent wars and armed conflicts as source material, which he titles Actions. From reportage photographs, Aramesh isolates individual scenes of violence and, through an artistic process of reduction, removes all but their essential elements. In doing so, his anonymous subjects become actors in an exploration of the mechanisms of violence.
Venue: Sazmanab-Ab/Anbar (Khaghani St.)
Dates: 26 December 2014 – 15 January 2015
Opening reception: Friday, 26 December 2014, 15:00–22:00
