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Sussan Deyhim Image #2 from the Dawn of the Cold Season series, Rauschenberg Residency print, 2013.

Dawn of the Cold Season An Exhibition Inspired by the Poet Forough Farrokhzad

November 15, 2014 Ð January 10, 2015

Private VIP and Press Preview: Saturday, November 15, 2014 4:00 Ð 7:00pm Public Opening Reception: Saturday, November 15, 2014 7:00 Ð 9:00pm Gallery hours: Tuesday Ð Saturday, 10:00am Ð 6:00pm

Shulamit Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of mixed media performance installations by the internationally renowned performance artist, vocalist and composer, Sussan Deyhim. Based in Los Angeles, Deyhim recently completed an artist residency at the acclaimed Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in Captiva Island, FL. Forough Farrokhzad, the influential 1950’s Iranian literary heroine, feminist existentialist poet and filmmaker, inspired Deyhim’s art works created as part of a larger media stage production “The House is Black” to be presented by CAP UCLA at Royce Hall on January 23, 2014). The prints were produced during Deyhim’s residency fellowship at the Rauschenberg Residency/Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

17 North Venice Boulevard • Venice, CA 90291 • 310.281.0961 • shulamitgallery.com

Each performance installation on view at Shulamit Gallery is from Sussan Deyhim’s personal explorations into Farrokhzad’s potent feminist existential poetry. During Dawn of the Cold Season, the gallery will be transformed into a multi-level performance installation space showcasing Deyhim’s saturated photographs, videos, haunting vocals and music in collaboration with Golden Globe winning composer Richard Horowitz. The installations are inspired by Forough Farrokhzad poems: I Will Greet the Sun Again, Let us Believe in the Dawn of the Cold Season, Sin, Oh Bejeweled Realm and Wind up Doll. In addition to the installation the gallery will host a series of live performances by Sussan Deyhim throughout the run of the show. These performances will include Forough Farrokhzad poetry readings in both Farsi and English with original music and elements of sound throughout the gallery space. Viewers will step into an intimate and provocative secret world.

Dawn of the Cold Season refers directly to Forough Farrokhzad’s collections of poems “Let us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season” 1974, one of the most discussed books of original writing by an Iranian literary figure. This poem is the poet’s brave admission that she has passed on from the vibrancy, beauty and joy of youth and is inescapably deteriorating into old age. Deyhim’s video installation and prints titled Dawn of the Cold Season are the artist’s empathetic expression of the poem. In the video, Deyhim’s mesmerizing and hypnotic voice recites the poem as she passes in front of a mirror and then behind distorted sheets of Mylar. The effect is a gradual and severely uncomfortable distortion of a beautiful woman into a non-human form. The deeply saturated prints in the exhibition from this series are a selection of powerful still images from the video installation. Deyhim interprets Farrokhzad’s work because she is deeply inspired by the poet’s life, which much like Deyhim’s, was lived true to herself and her artistic vision. Both Iranian artists have bravely confronted issues related to gender politics and prefabricated cultural and social stigmas. Deyhim acknowledges Farrokhzad’s 50s and 60s era as an even more difficult time to deal with the same issues in Iran. Farrokhzad died tragically in a car accident at the age of 32. In the short time she created a historically significant body of work that changed the lives of Iranian women and the face of Iranian poetry. Through the process of creating work for Dawn of the Cold Season, Deyhim has gotten to know the poet intimately and she humbly presents her work and performance as in recognition of a dear friend.

“For me, the most inspiring aspect of this project is the opportunity to introduce the great work and sensibility of an Iranian female icon to the international community. Many Iranian intellectuals consider Forough a cultural godmother of modernist literature in Iran, but she died so young (at the age of 32) that I also think of her as our cultural daughter. A rebel with a cause, Forough spoke with awe-inspiring rawness and maturity. She was an existentialist, feminist provocateur. She was Iran’s Simone de Beauvoir, Frida Kahlo, Maya Deren and Patty Smith all rolled into one. Her work has given me the inspiration to continue my own artistic journey during my 30 years in exile from Iran.” - Sussan Deyhim

17 North Venice Boulevard • Venice, CA 90291 • 310.281.0961 • shulamitgallery.com

In addition to Shulamit Gallery’s presentation of Dawn of the Cold Season, Sussan Deyhim will be present the live media performance The House Is Black on Friday, January 23, 2015, 8pm at Royce Hall, CAP UCLA. This incredible opportunity to see Sussan perform in front of a live audience is sponsored by a generous grant from the prestigious Farhang Foundation, which supports Iranian arts and culture and by a residency fellowship at CAP UCLA. Deyhim weaves a series of nonlinear tableaux inspired by Forough’s writings together with archival images and footage, including Forough’s 1965 interview with Bernardo Bertolucci in Tehran.

The most-anticipated solo exhibition Dawn of the Cold Season was recently highlighted in a Los Angeles Times article profiling gallery owner and director, Shulamit Nazarian:

“Mid-November, Shulamit will present a solo show by Iranian musician and performance artist Sussan Deyhim. It will feature multimedia performance pieces inspired by Iranian feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad that the artist created as part of a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation residency. The exhibition will include framed photographs from previous performances and a roster of new, live performances.” Ð Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2014.

Dawn of the Cold Season will be on view November 15, 2014 Ð January 10, 2015 and is accompanied by an exhibition catalog with essay by Peter Frank, Los Angeles art critic, writer and editor of Fabrik Magazine. Shulamit Gallery Hours are Tuesday Ð Saturday 10:00am Ð 6:00pm. Parking is available at the parking structure located across the street from LA Louver Gallery or at the Venice Beach parking lot at the end of North Venice Blvd. Please email or call us if you would like to attend one of the special events or schedule an appointment to view works with the curator or one of the gallery directors.

More information can be found on our website: http://www.shulamitgallery.com

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Dawn of the Cold Season Performance and Event Schedule

Saturday, November 15, 2014 Ð 4:00 Ð 7:00pm VIP/ Press Preview Saturday, November 15, 2014 Ð 7:00 Ð 9:00pm Opening Reception With Special Performance by Sussan Deyhim 7:00pm Thursday, December 11, 2014 Ð 7:00 Ð 9:00pm Performance by Sussan Deyhim Saturday, December 13, 2014 Ð 4:00pm Art Talk with Peter Frank Thursday, January 8, 2015 Ð 7:00 Ð 9:00pm Young Collectors Night With Performance by Sussan Deyhim 7:00pm 17 North Venice Boulevard • Venice, CA 90291 • 310.281.0961 • shulamitgallery.com

Artist Biography Sussan Deyhim is an Iranian composer, vocalist, performance artist and activist. She is internationally known for creating a unique sonic and vocal language imbued with a sense of ritual and the unknown. She was part of the national ballet company in Iran from the age of thirteen and traveled all across Iran studying with master folk musicians and dancers. In 1976, she joined The Bejart Ballet in Europe after receiving a scholarship to attend Bejart's performance art school Mudra where she was trained in many of the great world, dance, music and theater traditions as well as in classical ballet. Her music remains true to the spirit of her ancient heritage while pointing to the future with a very personal and poetic dramatic sensibility. In 1980, she moved to New York, embarking on a multifaceted career encompassing music, theatre, dance, media and film.

Deyhim's wide-ranging collaborations with leading artists from across the spectrum of contemporary art have included Ornette Coleman, Bobby McFerrin, , , Richard Horowitz, Rufus Wainwright, Joe Jackson, Marius De Vries, Hal Winer, , Branford Marsalis, , Will Calhoun, Karsh Kale, , and The Blue Man Group and with prominent female visual artists Sophie Calle and Lita Albuquerque. Her longtime collaboration with acclaimed visual artist Shirin Neshat began with Neshat’s “Turbulent’ in which she starred and composed the music for. Turbulent won the Venice Bienniale Golden Lion First International Prize in 1999. Deyhim’s music and sound design became a potent element of 6 other video installations by Shirin Neshat currently in permanent collections of numerous prominent international museums.

Her composition "Windfall/Beshno Az Ney" was recently used by throughout the US and Europe in U2's 360 tour in one of the largest scale tock tours to this day. "Beshno Az Ney" is an intro to U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" a moving number in solidarity with Iran's Green movement. Deyhim has performed with international orchestras such as the Polish Radio Orchestra and the Kraków Philharmonic and has received commissions as a composer from international ensembles such as Bang On A Can. She has performed her music at Lincoln Center Summer Festival, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, The Old Vic, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royce Hall and many other major venues. Deyhim’s recent sound-based work includes vocals for the soundtrack of the Academy Award winning film Argo. Sundance 2015 will be presentation artist and director Sibylle Szahhars Redford’s “The Way of Rain” with a special appearance by Robert Redford. Sussan will perform as the persona and voice of Mother Earth in this anticipated world premiere.

Deyhim has been a frequent participant at humanitarian events and benefits, including a performance at the gathering of the spiritual leaders of the world at the United Nations General Assembly in 2001; the first Gathering of Female Spiritual Leaders in Geneva at the United Nations and the Royal Hope Gala in the Royal Albert Hall, London, England with Plácido Domingo, The Royal Ballet and many others, for medical aid to Iraqi children. In 2009, she performed in a sold-out concert at the UN General Assembly organized by Pakistan's biggest rock musician and activist, Salman Ahmad to raise funds for misplaced children in Pakistan with other participants such as Jeffrey Skoll, Bobby Sager and Gavin Rossdale.

17 North Venice Boulevard • Venice, CA 90291 • 310.281.0961 • shulamitgallery.com