Continental Divide: East of L.A. / West of Tehran

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Continental Divide: East of L.A / West of Tehran

On Exhibition: July 17th – August 22nd , 2015

The Artists:

Arya GhavamianLaleh MehranJustin Mashouf, + Amitis Motevalli

Curatorial Statement:

NOW, as we witnesses the historic events unfolding with a nuclear deal being forged between Iran and six world powers, lead by the United States, the artwork presented within this exhibition is more relevant than ever. Leon is proud to present four exceptional Iranian-American artists whose unique perspectives give a powerful voice to their own personal experiences, as well as larger, more universal truths. Through their use of critical content ranging from global economic forces to political propaganda, from pre-war nostalgia to contemporary hip-hop culture, they express the diversity of their ancestral heritage in a manner which challenges stereotypes and dispels myths.   

How important is American identity within the work of immigrant artists? How important is the inclusion of ancestral traditions within their art? Is it possible for first-generation American artists, born of immigrant parents, to express their American identity while retaining and honoring their cultural heritage?

Continental Divide: East of L.A / West of Tehran features select American artists of Iranian descent, who are encouraged to present work that explores issues they have faced in being of Persian descent, the struggles they have encountered in exploring their artistic voice, and their connection, if any, to their ancestral homeland- while also growing up within an American culture that is too often misinformed and antagonistic toward their ancestral homeland.

Featuring artwork by electronic time-based media artist and associate professor of Emergent Digital Practices at DU, Laleh Mehran; Justin Mashouf, 3 time Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker; Arya Ghavamian, photographer and video artist featured recently in Vanity Fair, and Performance and mixed media artist Amitis Motevalli. 

Photography by: Amanda Tipton

Nobody Deserves You The Way That I Do – Jackie Barry

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Jackie Barry

Opening Reception: June 13th, 2015

Exhibition: June 13th – July 11th, 2015

Artist Statement:

This grandiose statement echoes a sentiment I witness in my media-driven generation: a generation that thrives off of larger-than-life, often misguided declarations of adoration.

It is my experience that this is a product of the denial of self-love. The result is a perpetual projection of lofty promises and false affectations toward other people exhibiting the ways in which we wish to love ourselves.

This is about the struggle of selfish vs. selfless love.

About the Artist:

Jackie Barry grew up in the woods outside of Philadelphia. She received her BFA in Printmaking/Book Arts from The University of the Arts in 2011. 

While in art school, Jackie was an active participant in the printmaking community in Philadelphia, working for The Print Center, apprenticing at Space 1026, and assisting in screen printing demos for SGC International. She also spent a summer teaching screen printing, public art, and zine-making courses to high school students in New Haven at Yale University’s pre-college program. In 2011 she received The Library Award from The University of the Arts for her offset lithography book entitled, “In His Time: A Quick, Visual Biography of Ernie Hemingway”, which was then was placed in the University’s permanent collection. In subsequent years, her work was collected by The Free Library of Philadelphia and The Brooklyn Art Library.
Her last few years in Philadelphia were spent on the Delaware River building and restoring wooden sailboats at The Independence Seaport Museum. She was apprentice to master boat-builder John Brady at the museum’s Workshop On The Water. It was during this time that Jackie began incorporating traditional nautical signaling flags (and flags in general) into her work.

Since her move to Denver in 2012, she has taken time to explore other art forms beyond printmaking. In 2013 she was commissioned by The Allen Ginsberg Estate to create an illustration of “Ginzy” for various retail wearables in their online store and new brick-and-mortar shop in New York. That same year, she founded Front Range Flag Co., a passion-project turned full-fledged custom flag company with a focus on adventure, inspired by her new Colorado landscape. She has also had the pleasure to work on various illustration projects for PechaKucha, Denver Bicycle Café, Our Mutual Friend Malt and Brew, and Girls Rock Denver.  

Jackie has shown around Philadelphia, New York, Denver, and the Netherlands. This is Jackie’s first solo show in Denver.

Instagram: @jackiebarry

Photography by: Amanda Tipton