Past Residents
Past Resident2013: Christa von Siemens Foundation, Brigitte Henninger Art
Mojé Assefjah
In her paintings, Mojé Assefjah develops her own distinctive visual language. The broad, arching bands of color exploit the picture space in all directions and the brush strokes entwine themselves delicately yet dynamically across the picture carrier with characteristic chromaticity, becoming denser and overlapping as they lead the viewer’s gaze to deeper levels. By applying multiple thin layers using the almost-forgotten egg tempera technique and India ink, the artist produces color effects which evoke the Italian frescoes of the early Renaissance. The lush hues of the darker loops in the foreground of the picture contrast with the chalky tonality of the background. Although the artist is committed to non-representative painting, her pictures nonetheless convey a feeling of spatiality and conjure up associations with landscapes. Assefjah’s pictorial worlds are characterized by lightness and structural density, with the alternation of transparency and opacity, daytime and darkness creating a mysterious and atmospheric quality.
Mojé Assefjah (born 1970 in Tehran) moved to Munich, Germany where she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts 1999. She was awarded for Fine Arts of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, as well as the annual scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for a residency in Rome. Recent exhibitions include Down To The River, Galerie Graf & Schelble, Basel; Art Dubai, Gallery Tanit, Beirut, 2013; Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg, 2012; A vista d’ occhio, Galerie Tanit, Munich, 2011; Water for my flower…, Espace Kettaneh Kunigk, Beirut, 2010 and L’ Iran sans frontières, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris, 2009. Assefjah is represented by Gallery Tanit, Munich/Beirut; Gallery Graf & Schelble, Basel and Gallery Nanna Preußners, Hamburg.
Events & Exhibitions
Salon: Mojé Assefjah and Yang Yeung
August 6, 2013
Mojé Assefjah, Beyond the River, 2013, Egg-tempera on canvas, 393/8 × 271/2 in. (100.08 × 69.85 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Mojé Assefjah, Blackbird's Song, 2011, Egg-tempera on canvas, 393/8 × 271/2 in. (100.08 × 69.85 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Mojé Assefjah, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Tanit, Munich
Residents from Germany
Past Resident2013: Al-Riwaq Art Space
Mohamed Sharkawy
Mohamed Sharkawy uses minimalist forms, flat colors and clearly defined shapes to render images that have a universal appeal. Each form and figure are purposely deduced to the essentials; what is left is an image that is reminiscent of Egyptian wall painting- of a time of language through symbolism, where the focus was the message, rather than unnecessary details. Unadorned and unaffected, his work is a vision of childlike simplicity. Yet, what we witness is not naivety but rather an astute ability to communicate the fundamentals of life, rid of pretense and negativity- in a language for all to appreciate.
Mohamed Sharkawy (born 1982 Naga Hamadi, Egypt) began painting in 2000. His exposure to a variety of artists’ styles and approaches led to the development of his own visual vocabulary. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions in venues including the Townhouse Gallery and Al Riwaq Art Space, Bahrain. Sharkawy lives and works in Bahrain.
Events & Exhibitions
Salon: Jaffar Al Oraibi, Waheeda Malullah and Mohamed Sharkawy
August 27, 2013
Mohamed Sharkawy
Mohamed Sharkawy
Mohamed Sharkawy
Mohamed Sharkawy
Residents from Bahrain
Anastasia Ax
Each of Anastasia Ax’s performances is a new performance; this is essential to her practice. Each meeting between the performer and the audience, every destruction of the material at hand, points towards a situation of indeterminacy and free activity where inner and outer can switch place. The role of ink in these activities is double-edged. It belongs to the world of drawing, the physical acts of filling out the white spaces, but the black ink has an element of poison and bile, melancholy and destruction as well. The raw energies connected with the splashing, the spitting out, the havoc, transform time from linear dimensions into circular moments. New thoughts and new communions take shape through the unpredictable openness of the situation.
Anastasia Ax, born 1979, lives and works in Stockholm. Her recent solo exhibitions include Pan Theon, Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona, 2012; Bring New Life to Death, in collaboration with Marja- Leena Sillanpää, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, 2012; Pan Theon, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2012; Step into the current, AM art-space, Shanghai, 2012;Katarsis, in collaboration with Lars Siltberg, Göteborgs Konsthall, Göteborg, 2012; Exile,Way out West, Göteborg, 2011; An Experimental Conference on Art and Science, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2011; Reactor, Luleå Konstmuseeum, Luleå, 2011; Trunk, Göteborgs konstmuseum, Göteborg, 2010; The Kid Below, Taidihalli, Helsinki, 2010; L&A in collaboration with Lars Siltberg, Galleri Verkligheten, Umeå, 2010; 2010, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Göteborg; 2010, The Kid Below, Reykjavik Art Museum, 2010; The Kid Below, Konstakademin, Stockholm, 2010; Exile, Galleri Christina Wilson, Copenhagen, 2010 and New drawings and sculptures, Natalia Goldin gallery, Stockholm, 2009. In 2010, Ax was shortlisted for the Carnegie Art Award 2010. Her works are on display at several museums and arthalls such as; Moderna Museet, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, the Carnegie Art Award collection and Gävle Konstcentrum.
Anastasia Ax, Pan Theon, 2012, Paper, water, ink, and sound equipment. Courtesy of the artist and Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Anastasia Ax, Pan Theon, 2012, Paper, water, ink, and sound equipment. Courtesy of the artist and Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Anastasia Ax, Pan Theon, 2012, Paper, water, ink, and sound equipment. Courtesy of the artist and Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Anastasia Ax, Exile, 2011, Plaster, ink, water, clothes, books, and sound equipment. Courtesy of the artist and Way Out West, Göteborg
Anastasia Ax, Step into the current, 2012, Paper, ink, and sound equipment. Courtesy of the artist and Am art Space, Shanghai
