HK Zamani                zamani6-_v2

Iconoclast as artist and gallerist, HK Zamani’s recent paintings dispense with the all-too-familiar conventions defining current abstraction where too much is almost never enough. Spare, rigorous, often near-defiant, physical works that flirt with representation but never accede, are hallmarks of his current practice. In the artist’s words, “My dome paintings were portraits. Perhaps even self-portraits, fragile portrayals. Some were ruins; some were vessels for transport, chrome and against corrosion, DeLorean, stellar. Many of the dome and tent paintings were less about paint than image. Their more recent transmutations have been about paint. The new images in these paintings continue to grow out of, or away from their predecessors. They are sometimes devils, then angels. Some are on land, in sky or sea, occasional remnants, reformed or transformed. They are a return as well as departure, departure from the dome image and back to the way I used to paint.”

Iranian-born artist HK Zamani (Habib Kheradyar Zamani) lives and works in Los Angeles. He has shown here and there, from LA to Saigon, New York to Seoul and in-between. He’s also shown at some museums and received some grants. Zamani is the founder and director of PØST (1995-present), a subversive venue for contemporary art, where over four hundred exhibitions have been presented. He encourages unorthodoxy, and argues against any dogma.

Organized by TransVagrant, Around Black runs through April 11. For visuals or additional information please call 310-600-4873. Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday, 11 AM – 6 PM, and by appointment.