Dameseq
November 7 – December 23, 2015
Gallery Two

Exhibition Text

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ANDREW RAFACZ is pleased to announce Dameseq, a solo exhibition of new work by Assaf Evron in Gallery Two.

Chicago, IL, November 7, 2015- ANDREW RAFACZ continues the fall season with Dameseq, a solo exhibition of new sculptural works by Assaf Evron in Gallery Two. The exhibition continues through Wednesday, December 23, 2015.

For Dameseq, Assaf Evron presents metal sculptures based on a window bar ornament from a restaurant in Tel Aviv called The Syrian. Evron’s own series of sculptures directly relate to the language of the originals. Constructed from a series of overlapping geometric shapes and handcrafted from thin steel, they form a representational skyline that references the landscape of the owners’ homeland. Their narrow contours and open design place them in a space between drawing and sculpture.

The low skyline of buildings that is the source of Evron’s wall sculptures characterizes not only Damascas but also a more symbolic vernacular of the Middle Eastern village, a place once described as a landscape of architecture without architects. The artist recreates this very iconic design, placing it in the context of the gallery where it occupies the intersection of drawing, sculpture, history and architecture. They describe an idealized and aestheticized landscape, while opening a dialogue with the unique topography of the Middle East. They engage in the narrative of immigration and post-colonization in a place with a complex, multi-layered history ever unfolding in the present.

ASSAF EVRON (Israeli, b. 1977) lives and works in Tel Aviv and Chicago. He received his MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013 and his BA from Tel Aviv University in 2007. Recent solo exhibitions include Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York (2014) and Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa (2010). Group exhibitions include the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago (2015); Party Beuys, Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York (2015); Imaginary Landscape, Chicago Urban Art Society, curated by Allison Glenn, Chicago (2015); Ground Floor, Hyde Park Art Center, curated by Allison Peters Quinn and Dawoud Bey, Chicago (2015); Numima, Vox Populi, Philadelphia (2014); and Phantoms in the Dirt, MOCP, Chicago (2014).