Chicago Invitational: Booth 4.13

With a diverse array of artists, Carbon 12 is proud to present works by Amba Sayal-Bennett, Bernhard Buhmann, Amir Khojasteh, Sara Rahbar and Anahita Razmi for the 2019 edition of Chicago Invitational.

German-Iranian Anahita Razmi video, installation and performance works focus on issues of identity and gender and examine processes of cultural appropriation in which the meanings of existing images, artefacts and thus identities are put into question by situating them in another context. 

Austria-born Bernhard Buhmann will present new works in the vein of his kaleidoscopic compositions of whimsical, layered imagery. In his surreal, dream-like medley of fantastical protagonists, there is an unfurling of multiple geometric forms, surreal machines envelop the canvas, gradually sweeping gradients and a multitude of hues.

Meanwhile, Iranian Amir Khojasteh's subjects remain on the verge of ambiguity. Touching on the concept of “fear maker”, his vague evocations of notorious dictators reflect on the socio-political occurrences within the Middle East, portraying vivid, dark ideas of brutality and sovereignty through expressive brushstrokes. His painterly technique is utilised as the main vehicle in which he suspends, blurs and warps our perception of the object before us.

Artists Sara Rahbar and Amba Sayal-Bennett, are both distinct in their practise and in the pieces they produce. Born in Iran and based in US, Rahbar’s practise ranges from sculpture to installation. She is compelled by the instinctual obsession to piece together and dissect. Her approach is reflective of the relationship between individual and society wherein her many compositions act as a physical cacophony, driven by central ideas of pain, violence and the complexity of the human condition.

Closely resembling architectural plans, building blocks, and modernist altarpieces, UK based artist Sayal-Bennett's sculptural creations are playful experimentations of formal elements or relationships between certain objects that can generate references outside of the work's physical material boundaries. She will be exhibiting new drawings as an extension of her ruminations on the way in which experience can be reduced to basic terms of line, color and shape.