On 7 May 2024, The Third Line is to launch The Sky of the Seven Valleys, a solo exhibition by artist Ala Ebtekar presenting the large-scale artworks from his ongoing series Zenith. Produced by combining multi-wavelength photographic processes with distinct brushstrokes, the displayed art pieces depict clouds on the blue sky overlain by glimmering stellate inclusions, resembling portals to the cosmos and to the spectator’s inner world. The show will be open to the public until 28 June 2024.
The Zenith series is inspired by Conference of the Birds, an ancient poem by famous Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar that describes the journeys of 30 birds through seven valleys of enlightenment: (The Valley of) the Quest, Love, Knowledge, Detachment, Unity, Wonderment, Poverty, and Annihilation. The show takes the poem into the realm of spatial and architectural form.
Taking place in a single room, the exhibition comprises seven sections (each one to four doorway-sized panels), providing a continuous view of these seven portals. The sections are one choreographed installation, all spacious with combinations of exposures. Ebtekar created the exhibited works employing the cyanotype process, exposing them to the sun, the moon, or starlight. Then, the artist painted swirling clouds and wind formations with graceful brushstrokes across the saturated canvases, so spectators become skydivers, feeling minuscule in the immensity and majesty of the sky surrounding them.
About the artist
Ala Ebtekar (b. 1978, Berkeley, CA, USA), a visual artist whose work involves painting, drawing, collage, alternative photography, text, ceramic, and installation, divides his time between San Francisco and Tehran (Iran). He received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute (CA) in 2002. In 2006, Ebtekar earned an MFA from Stanford University (CA), where he has been a lecturer since 2009.
In his mixed-media art pieces, Ebtekar, who takes cues from Persian miniature painting, often combines antique imagery with that of the present and imagined future. As he says: “[I capture] a visual glimpse of a crossroads where present-day events meet history and mythology”. The artist’s research-based practice includes borrowing and physically reworking ancient image-making traditions up to the newest technological advances in production. One of the key elements in Ebtekar’s art is exploring the phenomenology of light. For him, light is both a concept and a medium. He utilises a range of radiation to produce works birthed by daytime UV light emitted from the sun or by moon- and starlight.
Ebtekar has displayed his artworks in several monographic shows, such as Safina (The Third Line, Dubai, 2018); au(ro)ra (Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, 2017); Xinjiang Biennale (Xinjiang, China, 2014); and cylinder.us (Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2013), to name a few. Since 2004, he has also participated in a plethora of collective exhibitions, which include A Boundless Drop to a Boundless Ocean (Orlando Museum of Art, FL, USA and the American University in Cairo, Egypt, 2021); The Moon: A Voyage Through Time (The Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada, 2019); and California Biennial (Orange County Museum of Art, CA, USA, 2006), among others.
The list of Ebtekar’s achievements includes residencies at ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, France), Sazmanab (Tehran), and others. The artist’s works are part of many public and private collections, for example, the Whitney Museum of Art (USA), Devi Art Foundation (India), Facebook HQ (Menlo Park, USA), and Deutsche Bank Collection (Germany).
To learn more about The Sky of the Seven Valleys, please visit the show’s official web page.
You might also be interested in attending Fashioning an Empire: Textiles from Safavid Iran.
To stay tuned and be sure that you will not miss our latest art news, you can join our Telegram channel.
