September 29, 2011 – January 27, 2012
Growing up in Iran, New York-based Iranian artist Bahar Behbahani learned early on that truth could be fabricated. Featuring paintings from her series The Chronicle of Her Innocence, Behbahani conveys the tensions of living in an atmosphere of uncertainty and chaos through her dark, layered palette that cloaks symbolic figures and objects. Each canvas includes cryptic ciphers that are loaded with meaning to those who know Persian. Examining the fraught relationship between word and image reveals how the same signifiers that shape public opinion and influence behavior can be used in critical cultural critique. Included in the exhibition is a screening of Saffron Tea, a transparently autobiographic video project representing the artist's sense of displacement and longing.
