Fereydoun Ave: "Recent Works in Times of Quarantine"

+2 concurrent with Dastan's Basement commences the Persian New Year 1401 with Fereydoun Ave's "Recent Works in Times of Quarantine". The show opens April 8, 2022 and shall be on view until May 6, 2022. Thirty-seven works on canvas and paper open a window to Fereydoun Ave's world and his relationship with his surroundings. This is the artist's 14th solo exhibition with +2 and Dastan's Basement.. 

"Air 22" uses colorful chalk-pastels against a dark surface. Forms and shapes erupt as if a light switch has been throw. The artist's 2021 series depict trees and surface water. Could it be that our increasing isolation from natural settings, indeed the biphobia that has set in, with the fear of a threatening outside world, is one reason for bringing elements of nature home? Trees are depicted with a longing for their company. There is thirst in the flowing waters in these works. With these two series, Fereydoun Ave is returning to the primordial elements – fire, water, air, earth – a subject that he has come back to often in his works. It is a way for the artist to evaluate his relationship with the world he currently lives in. 

Fereydoun Ave (b. 1945, Tehran, Iran) has been an inextricable part of the Iranian art scene for the past 5 decades. His work is characterized by experimentations with different media to grapple with urgent subjective preoccupations. His artworks have been featured in many solo exhibitions along with hundreds of group shows in galleries and museums around the world. Other than many notable private collectors, Ave’s works have been acquired by prestigious art institutions.