Farshid Bazmandegan in conversation with Erika Hirugami

Saturday, December 14th - 5 pm at Track 16 Gallery

Bendix Building | 1206 Maple Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90015 | First floor - Suite 100

“Within Bazmandegan’s landscapes of exile an absence is both palpable and aesthetically in/visible. Inside the endless fractures and crevices of the works in this exhibition a sui-generis topography emerges which directly points toward that which is omitted; the smell of the spring flowers of Bazmandegan’s hometown of Shiraz, his home’s garden, the trees on the sidewalk that led toward his parent’s home. Quotidian and often ignored visuals of everyday life of minuscule importance to most, within Bazmandegan’s work become monumental outcries for nearly forgotten and simultaneously impossibly overlooked remembrance of a life in exile.” – Erika Hirugami

About Farshid Bazmandegan:

Bazmandegan’s work explores the intersection of memory, violence, and the material world to examine the complexities of exile and displacement. Through his practice he looks at how Western imperial interests have shaped the lives of many in the Middle East, including his own. By delving into personal, political, and historical narratives, Bazmandegan reflects on the idea of a body without a home in the landscape of exile.

Farshid Bazmandegan was born and raised in Iran. He is an Iranian-American artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. Bazmandegan received his MFA from UCLA and his BA from UC San Diego.

About Erika Hirugami, MA, MAAB:

First-generation transnational Japanese Mexican immigrant, formerly undocumented.

Hirugami holds an MA in Art Business from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, in conjunction with the Drucker School of Management and Getty Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University. As well as an MA in Chicanx Studies from UCLA entitled “Political Art Action: The Aesthetics of Undocumentedness.” She also holds an MPhil and BAs from UCLA in Art History, Chicano Studies, and Mexican Studies. Hirugami is currently a teaching fellow and doctoral candidate at UCLA, where she epistemologically braids the aesthetics of undocumentedness to challenge immigration policy and politics.

Hirugami is the founder and CEO of CuratorLove, Co-founder of the UNDOC+Collective, the ED at AHSC, a Professor at SMC, LAMC, and CGU’s CBMArts, as well as CGU’s School of Arts and Humanities’ MFA Department. She is an Arts for LA Fellow, NALAC NLI Fellow, DAICOR Fellow, and CCI Catalyst. Currently in Los Angeles, California—the unceded land of the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash peoples. Image courtesy of Mercedes Zapata.

Farshid Bazmandegan's Drifting in Between: Where Absence Becomes Infinite continues at through December 21 in our first floor space. Hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 12-6pm and by appointment.