Downtown, Los Angeles
Orkideh Torabi
New Works
Yes, Please & Thank YouOrkideh Torabi makes paintings that lampoon Iran’s patriarchal society, depicting Iranian men as absurd clown-like figures, drawing attention to the personal, political and social issues facing Iranian women. Her caricatures of male Iranian archetypes are made by painting on a silkscreen with fabric dye, then transferring the image onto the canvas using a squeegee, like a monoprint. This technique generates lurid, vividly saturated surfaces, relying on chance and imperfections. She mocks the complex and fragile masculinity of the Iranian society in which women appear completely absent. By portraying them with cartoonish whimsy, she strips the male oppressors of their power by undermining the culture of machismo that pervades Iranian society. Torabi says, “In demasculinizing them, and through repetition and displacement, I allow myself, as a female, to possess their power.” Orkideh Torabi received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016, and she received her MA and BA from The University of Art in Tehran. Her work has been exhibited in Chicago, Austria, Tehran and, now, in Los Angeles. This is her second solo exhibition in the U.S. and her first in Los Angeles. She lives and works in Chicago.