“Love Letters and Other Necessary Fictions” part of
Exhibition: ‘Text Embodied: Transformation of Text into an Experience of Art’
Artists: Anila Agha, Amina Ahmed, Saira Ansari, Siona Benjamin,
Khalil Chishtee, Simeen Farhat, Swati Khurana, Amir Parsa
Qasim Riza Shaheen & Imran Nafees Siddqui
Curated by Aisha Z Khan
May 3 – May 31, 2013

Twelve Gates Arts
51 North Second St., Old City
Philadelphia, PA 19106
info@twelvegatesarts.org
215.253.8578

The contemporary artists in ‘Text Embodied’ embody the written word into their work. The treatment of text as image goes back to early Islamic history. In a recent reading from his new book Aisha’s Cushion at Twelve Gates, Jamal J Elias spoke about the text-image relationship in the art of the Islamic world: “[Monumental epigraphy] operates polysemically, at one level functioning as text with its denoted or connoted meanings, while at others it can be seen as operating iconically as a visual art form inseparable from other elements of the decorative or illustrative program of which it forms a part.” The inclusion of political, social, and even personal concepts utilizing text have come a long way since the culmination of the contemporary calligraphic art movement in the 1980s (in Pakistan), for which Rashid Araeen can be called the pioneer of text-based art. The artists in ‘Text Embodied’ have, in more recent times, brought text back to personal but interrogatory space.

MeLoveYouLongTime

Curated by Edwin Ramoran

Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts

Friday, February 15th – Sunday, April 7th

Free and open to the public

An intimate survey of contemporary art since the 1990s by artists primarily of Southeast Asian descent, Me Love You Long Time incorporates various media and new visual strategies to explore or upend themes such as gender, sexuality, sex work, cultural tropes and subjectivity. Showing trophies and photographs from the “Unsuitable Girls” series, a collaboration between Swati Khurana and Anjali Bhargava. Th exhibition was originally organized by Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, in Newark, NJ.

Bobby Abate, Reza “Asung” Afisina, Pulang Alakdan, Hima B., Yason Banal, Anjali Bhargava, Isauro Cairo, Lynne Chan, Chath Piersath, Vanna Chin, Cecile Chong, Young Chung, Jon Cuyson, Matthew de Leon, Cirilo Domine, Oasa DuVerney, Permi K. Gill, Vicente Golveo, Akintola Hanif, Skowmon Hastanan, SWATI KHURANA, Andrew H. Kim, Cory Koons, Naruki Kukita, Viet Le, Chang-Jin Lee, Lim Sokchanlina, Mail Order Brides/M.O.B., Yeni Mao, Zavé Martohardjono, Tala Oliver Mateo, Rafael T. Melendez, Gabby Quynh-Anh Miller, Ivan Monforte, Teresa Nasty, Nguyen Phuong Linh, Nguyen Tan Hoang, Sokuntevy Oeur, ParadoxVestedRelics, Mariko Passion, Tomiko Pilson, Johanna Poethig, Stephanie Powell, Clifford Landon Pun, Vanessa T. Ramalho, Rico J. Reyes, Larilyn Sanchez, SLAAAP! (Sexually Liberated Arts Activist Asian People!), Nodeth Vang, Nathan Lam Vuong, and Maria Yoon

Friday, February 15th

Opening Reception

6-9pm

For more information:

http://www.bcaonline.org/visualarts/mills-gallery/upcoming-exhibitions.html

MeLoveYouLongTime at Mills Gallery

Salaam Bombay: Beauty & Chaos in the Urban Environment will be re-presented with new works at the Twelve Gates Gallery in Philadelphia. Curated by Jasmine Wahi

February 1-24, 2013

Twelve Gates Arts

51 N. 2nd St.

Philadelphia, PA 19106

Tel:215 253 8578

The Opening Reception is Friday February 1st, at 6pm

Featured Artists:

Samira Abbassy, Jaishri Abichandani, Amina Ahmed, Fariba S. Alam, Sama Alshaibi, Shelly Bahl, Anjali Bhargava, Marcy Chevali, Ruby Chishti, Chitra Ganesh, Tanya Goel, Sadia Jamal, SWATI KHURANA, Leila Lal, Taeyba Lipi, Divya Mehra, Huma Mulji, Sa’dia Rehman, Hiba Schahbaz, Soody Sharifi

About the Exhibition:

Throughout the history of global art, the idea of the city—the undulating and varying components of the urban landscape—has served as a primary source of inspiration for artists of all backgrounds. Salaam Bombay: Beauty and Chaos within the Urban Environment is a conglomerated curatorial homage to the city.

for more information:

http://twelvegatesarts.org/

Salam Bombay at Twelve Gates Gallery

Art Asia Miami: Salaam Bombay Beauty and Chaos in the Urban Environment
Curated by Jasmine Wahi

December 5-9th, 2012

ART ASIA Pavilion, 110 N.E. 36St. at Midtown Blvd. Miami, FL 33138

Featuring work by: Hamra Abbas, Samira Abbassy, Jaishri Abichandani, Amina Ahmed, Shelly Bahl, Anjali Bhargava, Shweta Bhattad, Pratima Björkdahl, Marcy Chevali, Ruby Chishti, Chitra Ganesh, Tanya Goel, Sadia Jamal, Ayesha Kamal, Swati Khurana, Leila Lal, Tayeba Lipi, Divya Mehra, Huma Mulji, Sadia Rehman, Hiba Shabbazz, Soody Sharif, Meenakshi Thirukode

Wahi describes the show as “a homage to the idea of the urban environment and all of the elements big and small that make cityspaces so unique. It explores different elements of urban life from social dichotomy to the complexly graceful topography of the cosmopolitan landscape. Salaam Bombay will also be presented in Each/One a new way for anyone that loves art to be a collector. At an affordable price you can collect original, numbered and signed time-limited edition artwork by contemporary artists. Please visit eachone.com for details about this work, and about other exhibitions and available artists’ prints.
Starting Dec 4th – Dec 25th 2012, you can buy Swati Khurana’s “Lotus Market” (2012) a 11″ x 14″ archivally printed on silk rag paper. It will be shipped flat. The fee is $20 for a print, and the artist will donate the profits directly to Hurricane Sandy relief. This print will only be available for this time period. Save the date: Tuesday, December 4th – virtual opening.