[BCMA] [MEDIA RELEASE] We Are Countless opens at Kelowna Art Gallery

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

For Immediate Release



We Are Countless opens at Kelowna Art Gallery



We Are Countless: Reyhan Yazdani and Nasim Pirhadi

January 21 to April 16, 2023



January 19, 2023 - Kelowna, BC: We Are Countless is a new exhibition of work by two artists - Reyhan Yazdani and Nasim Pirahadi - both Persian Canadian women.



The exhibition invites visitors to engage with a diverse range of powerful artworks that call attention to timely social and political discourse. It opens on January 21, 2023, at the Kelowna Art Gallery.



The exhibition's title comes from an artwork of the same name by Nasim Pirhadi. The impressive acrylic painting on canvas fabric depicts a tapestry of recognizable figures in varying states of protest interspersed with city motifs and backed by high-voltage power lines. Pirhadi says the work is "a reflection on the current political unrest in Iran and is a direct response to 22-year-old Jina 'Mahsa' Amini's murder by the morality police of the Islamic Republic for not wearing her hijab."



In a series of ceramic sculptures by Reyhan Yazdani, visitors will encounter familiar objects like cassette tapes and viewfinders - a 3D slide viewer toy popular in the 1980s. Yazdani uses familiar household objects, maps, and papers that are abstracted and re-materialized, processing what has been lost, hidden, or taken away in the current history of Iran under the governance of the Islamic Republic.



We Are Countless runs from January 21 to April 16, 2023 and is proudly supported by Naze Khajavi at RE/MAX Kelowna and Mehrsa Maali at Royal LePage Kelowna.



Reyhan Yazdani is an artist of multilingual heritage who works in installation, works on paper, social art, and creative writing. Currently, she is an instructor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.



Nasim Pirhadi is a multi-medium artist and current MFA candidate at UBC Okanagan. She is based in Kelowna.



The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street, in downtown Kelowna, B.C.



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Image credits:



Nasim Pirhadi in front of We Are Countless, 2022, acrylic paint on canvas fabric.

Reyhan Yazdani, Records of Dark History: 40 Years and More, 2022, ceramic castings of cassette tapes. Courtesy of the artist.

Reyhan Yazdani, Fragments, 2022, handmade paper and ceramic sculptures, variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.



Resources



Exhibition page: https://kelownaartgallery.com/we-are-countless/



To arrange for an interview with artists Reyhan Yazdani, Nasim Pirhadi, or exhibition curator Christine May, or for additional high-res images, please contact:



Joshua Desnoyers

Marketing and Events Coordinator



Kelowna Art Gallery

1315 Water Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9R3

250-762-2226 ext. 305

josh at kelownaartgallery.com<mailto:josh at kelownaartgallery.com>

www.kelownaartgallery.com<http://www.kelownaartgallery.com>
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