23 Sep 2013

Muted Fanfare for the Shy, Patrik Aarnivaara & Shirin Sabahi

Muted Fanfare for the Shy

Exhibition by Patrik Aarnivaara and Shirin Sabahi
27 September – 9 November 2013

Private View on Thursday 26 September 2013, 6 – 8 pm
35 Riding House Street
London W1W 7EA

For its inaugural exhibition, narrative gallery is proud to present recent works by Patrik Aarnivaara and Shirin Sabahi, shown side by side for the first time. The two artists have been working in different mediums: Aarnivaara's practice being mainly sculptural while Sabahi mostly works with moving image. Yet both artists have been preoccupied by the cinematic and the architectural and the relation between the two, especially when it comes to primary methods of viewing and engaging the viewer.

The exhibition is an invitation to look at various surfaces, either directly or through secondary measures such as film, still image and sculpture. Aarnivaara plants his viewing devices in the scenery as well as the gallery space: objects resembling studio tools reflecting, filtering or mirroring light and images of the location. Mounted on tripods, they are mobile and possible to dismantle, resembling equipment with changeable parts that can be used for different purposes: a projection surface or a prop for a photo shoot. Sabahi's body of work consists of documentation and replication of the exhibitory function of a greenhouse; the presentation and protection of fragility in hope of simulating the natural habitat. On the stage, the plants transform into fine objects. Filming the glasshouse structure from outside, the building and its contents are animated for Sabahi's camera. Both Aarnivaara's viewing devices and Sabahi's reproduction of the greenhouse blind suggest an unclear function: one that is inept, uneasy and at best redundant.

*The title of the exhibition is taken from Farnoosh Fathi's 2013 book of poems, Great Guns.