Jane Lombard Gallery is pleased to present Iranian-American artist Azita Moradkhani’s first solo exhibition in New York, The Real Beneath. The artist’s work was previously shown at the gallery in last spring’s group exhibition say the dream was real and the wall imaginary, curated by Joseph R. Wolin. Reflecting upon her own experiences as a woman in both Iran and in the U.S., Moradkhani’s practice is rooted in the personal, and inescapably, the political; her new body of work is contemporaneous with the Woman Life Freedom revolution and other movements for women’s rights internationally. The exhibition will feature finely-detailed drawings in colored pencil that intertwine the lacey filigree of delicate lingerie with charged imagery. A selection of hand-painted body casts, of and by the artist, and gauzy, printed textiles, will also be included. The Real Beneath will be on view April 28 – June 10, 2023, with an opening reception held on April 28 from 6-8 PM.

Moradkhani’s work in drawing and sculpture focuses on the female body as a complex locus of pleasure and pain, venerated yet vulnerable. A symbol subjected to societal norms, scrutiny, and violence in public and private, the body is a subversive form in Moradkhani’s layered compositions; the sensuality of the drawings seduce the viewer’s gaze, only to confront them with embodied images of political uprisings, historical and current events, and human exploitation. This disruptive iconography – The Real Beneath – challenges the fraying constructs of nationhood and belief inherited by the artist, unraveling across her new body of work.

Two worlds – birthplace and adopted home – live alongside one another in Moradkhani’s work. Both realms join intimately on the picture plane, whether in 2-D on paper, or on 3-D casts of her own body. In her sculptural work, through the collaborative process of casting her body, and in her printed textile work, she emphasizes the marks of history and memory on the body and its coverings. The artist’s debut solo exhibition in New York invites viewers to engage with the cross-cultural and intergenerational struggle for women’s rights from Moradkhani’s point of view, and to stand in solidarity with those who continue this pursuit in the U.S., in Iran, and throughout the world.

Artist Reception: April 28, 6-8PM