Shirazeh Houshiary
No Boundary Condition
October 12 - November 12, 201129 Bell Street, London
Press Release
“Nothing has no centre and its boundaries are nothingness”
Leonardo da Vinci
Lisson Gallery is delighted to announce the seventh solo exhibition of Shirazeh Houshiary to be held at the Gallery since 1984. The show debuts recent large-scale canvases, sculpture and animation, all of which deal with revealing invisible forms that are somehow otherwise unnoticed in the observable realm.
For this exhibition the artist has created five new large-scale paintings, including her first diptych, entitled Between. Executed on either black or white monochromatic canvases the delicate markings of her pencil are dynamic and elusive; they appear to change over time, especially when subject to different light conditions. All of the paintings are composed using two words which are crushed upon one another and bound together as if they cannot be divided. They are repeated in alternating sequences of semantics, one an affirmation, the other a denial, one is quick, one is slow; they overlap to create a dense layer within a diaphanous space. These meticulous pencil traces create a second surface layer, contrasting with the solid aquacryl background. This new layer hovers at the very edge of perception, like a floating veil whose tangibility remains uncertain.
The previously unseen video projection Dust is the latest in a series of animated works that Houshiary begun in 2003. Through the accumulation of soot from a flame, an evolving cycle of images materialises in different quadrants of the frame, portraying the transformation from smoke to soot and then dematerialising altogether. Houshiary shows us that what cannot normally be seen matters every bit as much as what we take for granted; she celebrates the ceaseless rhythm and energy within ephemeral things, invisible but ever-present in the perceptible world. This animation places itself between form and formlessness, presence and absence.
Lisson Gallery is also pleased to present a new series of sculptures by Houshiary. These works are constructed of hollow and solid blocks of anodized aluminium forming a configuration of twisting veils which stretch, pierce, tear and curl the space within and smoothly deform their exterior skin.
Houshiary’s new outdoor sculpture String Quintet consists of five ascending stainless steel spiralling ribbons that unravel from the ground. Each ribbon rises at a different wavelength, intertwining and weaving gently upwards. The changing daylight will simultaneously animate and dissolve its rise and fall.
About the artist
Shirazeh Houshiary was born in Shiraz, Iran and has lived and worked in London since the mid-1970’s. She studied at Chelsea School of Art and has been awarded Professorship at the London Institute. She was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1994. Her work can be found in major public collections worldwide including MoMA, New York, Guggenheim, New York, The British Council Collection, London and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Prato, Italy. Houshiary has created the East Window for St.Martin-in-the-Fields and she has worked on a new altar for the church, which will be inaugurated in late October this year.
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Exhibition Images
Shirazeh Houshiary Stretch, 2011 Anodised Aluminium (Violet) Width 85, Length 85, Height 123.5 cm (approx) Width 33.5 Length 33.5 Height 48.6 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Tear, 2011 Anodised Aluminium (Blue) Width 66.8, Length 37, Height 123.5 cm (approx) Width 26.3 Length 14.6 Height 48.6 in
Shirazeh Houshiary String Quintet, 2011 Cast Stainless Steel Height 5m Height 12.7cm
Shirazeh Houshiary Lacuna (Wall Piece), 2011 Cast Stainless Steel Height 80, length 220, depth 80 cm Height 31.5, length 86.6, depth 31.5 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Between, 2010/2011 White pencil, red and white pigment with white aquacryl on black aquacryl ground on canvas and aluminium panel 190 x 540 cm (diptych)
Shirazeh Houshiary Black Light, 2011 White pencils and pigments on black aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 270 x 190 cm 106.3 x 74.8 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Drawing 4, 2009 Red, lilac and white pencil and white aquacryl on paper 40 x 40 cm 15.7 x 15.7 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Ebb, 2011 Rose pencil and pigment on white aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 120 x 120 cm 47.2 x 47.2 in
Shirazeh Houshiary The Echo , 2011 Red pencil and red and white pigment on black aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 70 x 70 cm 27.6 x 27.6 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Deep, 2010 blue, pink and lilac pencil and pigments on black aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 190 x 270 cm 74.8 x 106.3 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Sigh, 2010 blue and pink pencil with blue pigment , black aquacryl on canvas and aluminum 190 x 270 cm 74.8 x 106.3 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Tacit, 2011 Grey and white pencil with blue pigment on black aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 70 x 70 cm 27.6 x 27.6 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Wither, 2011 Lilac pencil on lilac and blue pigment on white aquacryl on canvas and aluminium 190 x 270 cm 74.8 x 106.3 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Drawing 1, 2010 Blue, pink and white pencil on black aquacryl on paper 40 x 40 cm 15.7 x 15.7 in
Shirazeh Houshiary Sonorous, 2011 Blue and White black pencil on black acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm 47.2 x 47.2 in