Shahla Jamal
Shahla Jamal studied art at the University of Tehran, and her academic endeavors would later take her as far as London, England and Paris, France. Back in Iran, she became moved by the unmitigated poor living conditions that affected lower classes in that society, such as starvation, disease, poverty and homelessness. Her expressive oil paintings captured the deep pain on the faces of her subjects then. It was in this increasingly unjust society, that Shahla first created politically conscious art.
She has since exhibited in more than seventy solo, joint and group exhibitions and her paintings are in private collections in Germany, France, England, Sweden, Iran, Russia, U.S.A. and Canada. Shahla’s early artistic influences along with her extensive migrations for the last 30 years have had an evident impact that leads her to explore new realms, and experiment in various media.
Artist Statement: “Nostalgia Museum” is a series vested in a fragmented history, capturing the ancient art of a bygone Iran in a new light and within the bounds of a modern home. In 2008, I set about collecting images of various Iranian artifacts that had been dispersed through time, and are not too familiar to the Western eye, nor readily accessible to my own countrymen and women. I then projected these images onto the canvas, creating a virtual exhibition by way of the tradition of painting. Each of these paintings reflects dynamic layers of these singular, still, and enduring artifacts. Through the contemporary presentation of these artifacts, historical object hood and modern identity fuse into one another, allowing me to redefine our relationship with a more fluid past and present not bound to physical realities. Through this ongoing project I intend to share these artifacts I cherish, which at the same time is a reconstruction of my own personal relationship with the subjects.
She has since exhibited in more than seventy solo, joint and group exhibitions and her paintings are in private collections in Germany, France, England, Sweden, Iran, Russia, U.S.A. and Canada. Shahla’s early artistic influences along with her extensive migrations for the last 30 years have had an evident impact that leads her to explore new realms, and experiment in various media.
Artist Statement: “Nostalgia Museum” is a series vested in a fragmented history, capturing the ancient art of a bygone Iran in a new light and within the bounds of a modern home. In 2008, I set about collecting images of various Iranian artifacts that had been dispersed through time, and are not too familiar to the Western eye, nor readily accessible to my own countrymen and women. I then projected these images onto the canvas, creating a virtual exhibition by way of the tradition of painting. Each of these paintings reflects dynamic layers of these singular, still, and enduring artifacts. Through the contemporary presentation of these artifacts, historical object hood and modern identity fuse into one another, allowing me to redefine our relationship with a more fluid past and present not bound to physical realities. Through this ongoing project I intend to share these artifacts I cherish, which at the same time is a reconstruction of my own personal relationship with the subjects.
Website: www.shahlajamal.com
