BEYOND PERSIA's Norooz Art Opening

At a time when the President of the United States solicits support for war against another "Axis of Evil"—a group of 7 Iranian American artists hope to alter dominant ideology through their art.

A Contemporary Iranian American art exhibit opens on March 17^th, 2007 at Gallery One in San Francisco's Financial district, and runs through the end of March in observance of No-Rooz, the Persian New Year.  

"No-Rooz, literally 'New Day' is celebrated on the vernal equinox, or the first day of spring, and represents new beginnings.  So it's a timely opportunity to showcase some of Iran's less talked about assets in the form of it's art for a change" says Lalé Shahparaki, the founder of Beyond Persia, the non-profit organization behind the exhibit.  "With our shows, we hope not only to boost our own self-image, but hopefully to transcend cultural barriers and finally enter mainstream consciousness as something besides oil-rich terrorsits.  We see this as a sort of needed 'cultural upgrade' for those on both sides of the cultural fence, since both our image and our self-respect have been wounded with the President's words."   

The exhibit features the work of Contemporary Masters like Amir Salamat & Sara Rahbar whose body of work includes complicated, abstract and often political pieces such as Salamat's "The Human Pyramid" and tongue-in-cheek "George, Dick & Donald" or Rahbar's well-known "Terrorist".   However, this special No-Rooz exhibit will feature several of Ms. Rahbar's softer works the heart of which is her stunning mixed media installation, "Flag" which is a carefully constructed US flag made up of strips of traditional Persian fabrics, the kind usually worn by colorful peasants.   Other artists in the show are Shiva Pakdel whose popular collages of Qajar men and women always strikes a nerve with 1^st generation Iranian Americans who straddle the difficult East/West/Old/New barrier with equivalent grace.   Highly talented emerging artists like Maneli Jodat, Taraneh Mina, Arien Valizadeh and respected Ceramic artist,  Babak Daleki will be on display and available for sale to the public from March 17^th through March 30^th, 2007.

A special VIP Reception for the press, collectors, and those interested in previews will be held at 7-11PM on Saturday, March 17^th, 2007 and will feature a rare acoustic performance by Persian/Flamenco master Emad Bonakdar and percussionist Mohamad Mohsenzadeh, at: