TAHA AFSHAR

The Official Pavilion at Palazzo Zenobio, in conjunction MUSA Contemporary is pleased to announce Reflections on Birth, Bounty and Joy, the first solo exhibition of Taha Afshar in Venice. The exhibition will feature 23 new oil paintings completed in 2019. It will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with supporting essays.

Taha Afshar’s work captures the delicate tension between the objective and the subjective, the particular and the universal, the momentary and the timeless. For Afshar, the process of painting seemingly operates as a form of meditation, where meaning is generated through the durational practice of working itself. Finished images thus reflect the thickness of human experience and sense perception, building layers of meaning into a single unique scene.

The following twenty-three oil paintings are divided into two main series, both of which began with an en plein air stage next to an isolated lake in early 2019. The landscape is nothing more than a scaffolding for the first series, entitled Birth, Bounty and Joy. These works are more like a series of abstract portraits of a new born child, and are further divided into two cycles: Rainbow and Utopia. The landscape is the core source of content for the second series, whose core themes are revisitation, revision and reflection. These paintings aspire to capturing the sublime, whilst tapping into the creative spirit.

The Reflections on Birth, Bounty and Joy series can be understood to document a momentary instantiation of a continuous process of development and growth by the artist. The works point to an unending process of psychic work and meditative labour which binds together aspects of Afshar’s earlier work and wider oeuvre. Repetition of themes, processes and compositions help highlight this series as part of a developing narrative: a durational process of artistic interrogation which ultimately documents the work of subjective transformation itself.

T H E   M I N S T E R    G A L L E R Y

Taha Afshar – Letting Light In

28 September – 30 October 2018

 PRESS RELEASE

Light upon Light, 2016, Oil on linen, 95 x 95 cm

The Minster Gallery is pleased to announce Letting Light In, the first solo exhibition of local British artist, Taha Afshar in Winchester. The exhibition will feature 14 new paintings completed between 2016-2018. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with a foreword written by Alexandra Reynolds.

Taha Afshar’s work captures the delicate tension between the objective and the subjective, the particular and the universal, the momentary and the timeless. For Afshar, the process of painting seemingly operates as a form of meditation, where meaning is generated through the durational practice of working itself. Finished images thus reflect the thickness of human experience and sense perception, building layers of meaning into a single unique scene.

His latest series of works expand on earlier Swedish landscapes, and feature painterly strategies including duration, iteration and an alchemical merging of inner and outer worlds. These landscapes capture light at various times of the day on an isolated lakeside in Alignsås, Sweden. Afshar retreats fully into the meditative process of working, so much so that the lakeside is barely visible in many of the canvases. Light emanates out of this work not so much from the movement of the sun across the land, but from an inner, subjective space. Its compositional setting becomes almost an intimation of itself, a sort of artistic scaffold.

Art historical antecedents also remain discernible here, alluding to histories of impressionism, expressionism and abstraction. However, the work’s motivation for personal transformation seemingly translates and internalises these influences, rendering them an essential part of the artist’s inner journey. The external world thus acts within this series as a subtle second canvas upon which to navigate and visualize internal processes, documenting an exploratory inner search for light where worldly matter and historic facticity is of little consequence.

The Letting Light In series can be understood to document a momentary instantiation of a continuous process of development and growth by the artist. The works point to an unending process of psychic work and meditative labour which binds together aspects of Afshar’s earlier work and wider oeuvre. Repetition of themes, processes and compositions help highlight this series as part of a developing narrative: a durational process of artistic interrogation which ultimately documents the work of subjective transformation itself.

Notes to editors

About Taha Afshar

Taha Afshar is an internationally exhibited painter and sculptor born in Winchester, UK. Light, with both its physical and metaphysical properties, is often the subject matter of his landscape and figurative works. Born in 1983, in Winchester, Taha studied Art and History of Art at Winchester College, where he was also awarded the Drew Scholarship. From a young age, he has exhibited in local galleries and gained local awards. He graduated from UCL , followed by a PhD from the London School of Economics. Throughout this time, his painting evolved through various styles of portraiture, still life, landscape painting and sculpture. Recent exhibitions have included shows at Cadogan Contemporary (2016) and the Jonathan Cooper Gallery (2016). In 2017, he exhibited alongside Gagosian Gallery artist Y.Z. Kami and Monir Farmanfarmaian, in an exhibition entitled the Garden of Mystery, at Asia House, London, which was supported by a panel of speakers from the British Museum and Courtauld Institute of Art. In 2018, he was shortlisted for the Sunny Art Prize and Royal Society of Marine Artists awards.  His work can be found in several private collections across the world.

About The Minster Gallery

Located in the heart of Winchester, Hampshire, facing the Cathedral, The Minster Gallery shows figurative and abstract paintings and sculpture by contemporary British and international artists. As well as a continuously changing display of work by its core artists, the Gallery organises periodic one-man shows, group exhibitions and exhibitions on specific themes.

Exhibition Details

Website: www.minstergallery.com

Instagram: tahaafshar

Twitter: @tahaafshar

Facebook: TahaAfshar110

#lettinglightin

Press Release can be found here.

Letting Light In Minster Gallery Catalogue 2018- email –

For press enquiries and images please contact Fiona Waters.

Email: info@minstergallery.com

Tel: +44 (0)1962 877601