Elham Bayati
Lester Monzon
Exhibition: October 29 – December 5, 2024
Reception: November 7, 6-8 PM
Gallery Hours:
Monday – Thursday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm or by appointment
Admission is free
Intimate Spectacles is a two-person exhibition featuring paintings by Elham Bayati and Lester Monzon. Initially, the artists’ creative approaches seem somewhat incongruous with one adhering to representational imagery and the other focused on fictional abstraction, but before long a visual crossover emerges – Bayati’s figurative works start to dissolve into imaginary color fields and Monzon’s distinct structures begin to register as tangible analytical data.
Lester Monzon’s abstract paintings are a visual orchestration of several components – drawn grids, brushstrokes, and dot patterns. In these works, the dots are a design element as well as a symbol of marketplace, distribution, and capitalism. A keen attention to interplay and counterbalance is present as expressive brushstrokes obstruct and rebel against the dot patterns. His finely tuned visual systems – where graphite draftsmanship scaffolds the composition, luscious brushwork glides across the surface, and geometric color animates the atmosphere – are perpetually in flux. Each canvas has a compositional anomaly where a collision or regeneration is actively occurring. These state changes appear to be triggered by an energy overload or an unsustainable momentum, reinforcing the notion that the beauty of these imaginary places is precious and temporary.
In Elham Bayati’s paintings layers of drawing, printmaking, and collage present a dream-like space. These dense colorful works interweave patterns and overlapping imagery. Intricate compositions are playful and feel like mazes and puzzles inviting viewers to participate and explore. With a focus on cultural identity and portraiture, female figures hover amid patterns, flowers, and textiles; her canvases become a catalyst to narrate and navigate the emotional experiences of Persian women past and present. Drawing inspiration from the floral patterns of her grandmother’s scarf and her mother’s dressmaking fabrics, elegantly designed color fields become highly personal and radiate a sense of vulnerability and beauty. When viewers take a step back from these rich visual experiences a dynamic balance seems to be revealed – an aura energized by sadness and joy, darkness and light, uncertainty and hope.
The Harris Gallery is located across from the Abraham Campus Center at 2000 Second Street on the La Verne campus. For more information, please visit https://artsci.laverne.edu/art/exhibition or contact Dion Johnson djohnson@laverne.edu or 909.593.3511 x 4383
University of La Verne | 1950 Third Street | La Verne, California | 91750
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Elham Bayati
Untitled 2, 2024 acrylic on canvas 16 x 16 inches |
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Elham Bayati
Ouroboros 2023 acrylic and collage on canvas 36 x 36 inches |
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Lester Monzon
Fail Better Exhale 2022 acrylic, oil, graphite, gesso and color pencil on Belgian linen over wood panel 60 x 48 inches |
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Lester Monzon
Fail Better Exhale 2022 acrylic, oil, graphite, gesso and color pencil on Belgian linen over wood panel 60 x 48 inches (detail) |