Matilda Aslizadeh, Moly and Kassandra, 2018, Video Installation
May 10 - October 27, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 10, 6 - 9 pm
A Featured Exhibition in Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival 2018.
Pari Nadimi Gallery is pleased to present Moly and Kassandra, a solo exhibition by Matilda Aslizadeh.
Matilda Aslizadeh’s new body of video and photographic work, Moly and Kassandra, explores the tensions between abstract and material forces in the economy through the juxtaposition of statistical charts, fortune-telling predictions coming from mysterious sources, and large holes permanently left in the earth.
Standing amid an open-pit molybdenum mine, evocative of an ancient amphitheatre, the prophet Kassandra sings the history and fate of this commodity from the point of view of 1979-a pivotal date marking the shift from Keynesian to neo-liberal economic policy in Western democracies. Clad in the year’s haute couture clothing, her songs are musical scale translations of economic charts that trace the production and value of molybdenum, an element used primarily in strengthening steel alloys and inextricably linked to the weapons industry. From the standpoint of the not-too-distant past, Kassandra, whose name means “to raise,” foresees the volatility and environmental devastation wrought by neo-liberal capitalism; unfortunately, similar to her Ancient Greek namesake, she is cursed to inspire only disbelief.
Aslizadeh’s work will be featured in Believe, the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada’s inaugural exhibition at its new location.
Matilda Aslizadeh (b. 1975) is a visual artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Throughout her career, Aslizadeh has developed a dense visual language positioned between photography, video and animation that evokes the complexity and saturation of the contemporary media landscape. Her video installations and photo-based works draw on a vast array of visual influences -both esoteric and popular - to rethink narrative structures that persist in Western culture. She reworks narrative tropes that range from Greek mythology to science fiction to shift conventional thought in relation to contemporary social, political and economic conditions. Aslizadeh received a BFA from the University of British Columbia and an MFA from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has been exhibited internationally and has been the subject of several solo exhibitions including: Foreman Gallery (Sherbrooke, Quebec), Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (Kitchener, Ontario), Simon Fraser University Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia), La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse (Montreal, Quebec), SKOL Centre des Arts Actuels (Montreal, Quebec), Or Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Artspeak Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia).
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