"Pearls" Interview

MY SUPER HERO

Morono Kiang Gallery in Los Angeles and Aaran gallery in Tehran are pleased to announce their collaboration to present My Super Hero, an exhibition of new works by Iranian contemporary artists. My Super Hero will open simultaneously in Tehran and Los Angeles in March 2011.

This unprecedented set of exhibits will be a historic first presented by two leading galleries in their respective cities. My Super Hero consists of new works created exclusively for these exhibits by a diverse group of over 20 artists from Iran.

An illustrated catalog of both exhibitions will be available in March 2011.

About Aaran Gallery:
Aaran Gallery is one of the most influential galleries in Iran that has been in the forefront of promoting contemporary Iranian art with special emphasis on new media, original artistic ideas and projects. For more information please visit: www.aarangallery.com

Details about My Super Hero exhibit will be published as they become available.

"Pearls" Interview

"READ"

A NIGHT OF READING OF NEW WORK BY THE WRITERS GROUP IN TANDEM WITH THE GROW EXHIBIT

Morono Kiang Gallery presents READ, a night of reading of new work by The Writers Group in tandem with the GROW exhibit. READ will be held on Saturday July 17th, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The event is free to the public. The Writers Group is a collective of local writers, founded by Tomas Benitez and Dr. Amy Shimshon Santo.

READ is inspired by the many themes that are presented in the exhibit, GROW, and explores various aspects of growth, from organic to personal, political and spiritual, as presented by the visual artists featured in the exhibit. The group was invited to participate in the show by Morono Kiang Gallery as part of the exhibit’s ongoing focus on books and reading as a natural component of self-growth.

The Writers Group was formed late last year by Dr. Amy Shimshon Santo and Tomas Benitez, two longtime personalities in the local cultural scene, and includes an eclectic roster of writers from novices to published writers, convened for the simple purpose of writers writing together and reading each others work. READ will be the first public presentation of the group, which includes Hector Tobar, Azucena Maldonado, Camila Crespo, Kym Ghee, Carol Ojeda-Kimbrough, Ken Cho, Simeon Den, Amelita Pascual Spear, Rose Portillo, as well as Benitez and Santo.

"Pearls" Interview

Shirin Neshat and Robert Adanto
Photo By Lee Wells

"Pearls on the Ocean Floor"

A Documentary in progress
by Robert Adanto

Morono Kiang Gallery presents a special preview screening of Pearls on the Ocean Floor, a new documentary (in progress) by Robert Adanto, about the lives and work of Iranian female artists living in and outside the Islamic Republic. The segment being presented includes interviews with Afshan Ketabchi, Sara Rahbar, Leila Pazooki, Parastou Forouhar, Shirin Neshat, Negar Ahkami, Malekeh Nayiny and Pooneh Maghazehe. The film features music by Nalepa. The director will be present for question & answer after the film. This program is presented in tandem with the current exhibition Traces of Being: Iran in the Passage of Memories.

The screening will start at 3 pm on Sunday, November 15, 2009 at Downtown Independent Cinema, just over a block away from the gallery, followed by a reception at Morono Kiang Gallery.

Admission is free. RSVP is required due to limited space.

Links for more information :

click here for press release

click here for downtown independent cinema website

click here to rsvp via website

Condemed to Freedom

"Condemned to Freedom"

A Panel discusion on TRACES OF BEING

Morono Kiang Gallery presents "Condemned to Freedom". A very special panel discussion on the current exhibit Traces of Being, Iran in the Passage of Memories.

The program will start at 3 pm on Saturday October 17, 2009, followed by a reception with light refreshments.

The panel includes the artists and curator of the exhibit as well as guest speaker Ali Ashouri.

Admission is free. RSVP is required due to limited space.

Links for more information :

click here for press release

click here to rsvp via website

Cult of the Divine Close-up

Date: Sept 25, 2009

Traces of Being featured on NPR's
All things considered.

Madeleine Brand interviews gallery director Shervin Shahbazi and artist Hushidar Mortezaie for a segment on the Sept. 25, 2009 episode of NPR's All Things Considered.

Links for more information :

Listen to the All Things Considered Segment

Pictures of the show in NPR's The Picture Show blog

Date: July 12, 2009

Ai Wei wei's Chang'an Boulevard
on exhibit at MOCA Grand Ave.

Preeminent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's epic 10 hour video piece Chang'an Boulevard will be part of MOCA's Collecting History exhibition from July 12, 2009 to Oct. 19, 2009. This work was first shown at Morono Kiang Gallery as part of the Chord Changes in the Megalopolis exhibition and subsequently collected by MOCA for their permanent collection.

Links for more information :

MOCA Collecting History:
Highlighting Recent Acquisitions


Los Angeles Times article
"Ai Weiwei's 10-hour 'Chang'an' video comes to MOCA