Lot 330: AVISH KHEBREHZADEH

THE TROUBLED FOOL WITH HIS BEARS
signed on the reverse

180 by 120cm.; 70 7/8 by 47 1/4 in.

oil on gesso and wood

Executed in 2007.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

There is a profound stillness to Avish Khebrehzadeh's midnight blue paintings. The scratched surfaces revealing luminous white lines have a mythical quality, suggesting lost cities in the deep ocean, or an otherworldly celestial map. The subtly rendered creatures, both familiar and alien, that populate these places are lost in space and time. Their very 'otherness,' striking the viewer like a minor chord. The beauty of Khebrehzadeh's work, apart from its gorgeous aesthetic, is in its simplicity; both in terms of rendering and meaning. Unlike many others, Avish does not place her paintings within a political framework, allowing the viewer to meditate, losing themselves in her dreamlike vignettes.