ART-PRESENTATION: Shirazeh Houshiary-Nothing Is Deeper Than The Skin
Shirazeh Houshiary came to prominence in the ‘80s as a sculptor, however her practice now encompasses painting, installation, film, and architectural projects. At the core of her practice lies a fascination with the tension between the process of disintegration and erosion of the universe, and our efforts to try and stabilise it.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Lisson Gallery Archive
In 1992 Houshiary began making works on canvas in addition to sculptures, as the artist said in 2000: “I set out to capture my breath”. Bringing together new paintings and sculpture Shirazeh Houshiary in her solo exhibition “Nothing is deeper than the skin” investigates the friction between the conscious and unconscious, control and chance, reflecting on the physical and immaterial qualities that shape art and human life. Skin functions as a membrane, a barrier but also a soft boundary between the human body and the outer world. It is the conduit to the primeval sense of touch, but equally it is exposed to warmth, light and the pleasure of embrace. The works explore the complex relationship between the interior and the exterior, manifesting permeability and flux in their mercurial surfaces composed of pigment, pencil, aluminium and glass. Creating the paintings is an act that involves the artist’s whole body, as she moves around within the reinforced canvas on the floor, overlaying several coats of water and pigment, to produce an enigmatic ground punctuated by pooling sediment and irregular apertures. Over this layer, the artist’s hand is introduced through rigorous mark-making, in some paintings manifesting as words and in others as lines creating a steady abstraction that radiates its own frequency and energy. Houshiary’s sculptures implement Islamic decorative motifs and maintain a minimalist geometry. Her early work consisted of allusive environments and biomorphic sculptural forms, demonstrating an attempt to embody spiritual concepts physically In her new sculptures comprised of a twisting arrangement of glass bricks, Houshiary further explores the notion of transparency and the possibility of transcending three-dimensional space. The sculptures’ helical forms, created through the careful rotation of each layer at precise angles to produce a spiralling effect exemplify the interplay between form and formlessness.
Info: Lisson Gallery, 504 West 24th Street, New York, Duration: 3/11-22/12/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.lissongallery.com
