OUT OF CHARACTER by Pouya Afshar - Closing Reception + Artist Led Tour

About

Pouya Afshar will lead a tour of his solo exhibition, OUT OF CHARACTER, at the Closing Reception of the exhibition by discussing his process for the limited edition digital prints and the historical characters who are the subject of the whimsical drawings.
Sunday Feb. 16, 2020
Closing Reception from 1-3pm | Tour at 2 pm
THE SPACE BY ADVOCARTSY
924 S. San Pedro St.
Downtown Los Angles, California 90015
info@advocartsy.com

• Free and Open to the Public •
• Parking Available on Premise •
• Kindly RSVP to info@advocartsy.com •

OUT OF CHARACTER is a playful exhibition by artist and animator Pouya Afshar exploring some of Iran’s most influential historical figures with a whimsical twist. Digitally created and printed on eco-canvas, these works seek to shed light on the personalities of previously opaque public figures. Shahs, empresses, military commanders, and Persian mythical creatures are among those depicted in this expansive series. The opening will take place on Sunday, January 12th from 4 to 7 pm and the show will be on display at The SPACE by ADVOCARTSY extended thru Sunday, Feb. 16th.

Artist Bio:

Pouya Afshar is an alumnus from the California Institute of Arts Character Animation department and is a graduate of University of California Los Angeles Graduate Department of Film and Television focusing in Animation and Digital Media. He has exhibited his work as an animator and visual artist throughout Los Angeles and United States at renowned locations such as Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center, Bovard Auditorium at University of Southern California, Royce Hall at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Santa Monica Art studios, 18th street Art Center, and numerous galleries and art fairs around the world. Pouya has presented his research at Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Southern California, School of Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Residency Unlimited NY. He is also the recipient of a Create Economy Grant in the state of Massachusetts as well as a Fulbright Scholar award. Pouya is the creator, character designer and producer of the animated series "Rostam in Wonderland" and the co-creator of 1PA2PA comics. He is currently an art professor at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Artist Statement:
Artists are the ones recording the history.
In storytelling, it is imperative to understand a character’s personality and behavioral tendencies in order to capture an appealing characterization of that persona within the narrative structure. One has to live, breathe, and feel the surroundings alongside the characters he/she creates. For me, within this context, I intend to restructure real personalities visually and create a new persona. In a way, I am distorting history by projecting these characters through a humorous lens.
I am implementing fictional characterizations of these individuals within the audience’s mind regardless of the reality. My intention is to build these characters from the inside out, investing them with a past and a persona only hinted at in the history.
For the creation of these characters, I tend to concentrate more on the refinements than general aspects. I intend to re-imagine their roles within specific time periods of our contemporary culture and crystalize the clichés about them. I intend to creep up on my audience hinting on the importance of reviewing the history and how characters carry the weight of its narrative.

About ADVOCARTSY:
ADVOCARTSY is a collaborative visual arts platform specializing in Iranian contemporary art. Roshi Rahnama is the founder, principal and director of ADVOCARTSY.

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