The work of Abbas Akhavan ranges from site-specific ephemeral installations to drawing, video, sculpture and performance. The direction of his research has been deeply influenced by the specificity of the sites where he works: the architectures that house them, the economies that surround them, and the people that frequent them. The domestic sphere, which he proposes as a forked space between hospitality and hostility has been an ongoing area of study in his practice. More recent works have wandered onto spaces and species just outside the home: the garden, the backyard, and other domesticated landscapes.
Artwork description
This edition of Dazibao satellite features two works by Abbas Akhavan. While the artist has carefully responded to each site individually and separately, both works seem to conjugate ambiguities relating to public or domestic spaces and to function in elliptical reflections spanning the course of many years, eras even.
At Café Cherrier, Omay, Djamal, Albert. hiver 1982, features a photo that the artist found in 2006, on the ground, not far from the billboard in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood. The title is borrowed from the inscription on the back of the photo, which captures what appears to be a convivial moment between three young men, but very little is known for certain. As of yet, these figures are unknown to the artist, making their large and public display a gesture of curious status and potential.
was uncertain about the billboards’ intent, unsure if I was looking at advertising or art. Those ambiguities in such a public space kept my attention for a long time — evidently sixteen plus years. In 2004, after completing my degree at Concordia University, my studies took me from Montréal to Vancouver, but I returned to Montréal as frequently as I could afford. In 2006, walking down Duluth street, just past Saint-Denis, I found a photograph on the ground. The black and white image shows three men sitting around a table. The back of the photo reads: “Omay, Djamal, Albert, hiver 1982″. This photograph has been hanging on my wall for many years but I have always wanted to return it to its original context. Thank you for considering my proposal.” — Abbas Akhavan